· For 10th year, OSU welcomes its brightest class
· Research funding tops half-billion dollars for í04
· OSU receives $12.9 million for nanotech center
· Holbrook issues statement on State Issue One
· Trustees approve FY 2005 spending plan
· $5.6 million CDC grant to fund preparedness centerr
· University welcomes new eminent scholar
· Eminent scholars receive faculty appointments
· Sullivan nominated to National Science Board
· ATI ranked tops in awarding ag associate degrees
· McGee named one of 50 most important in research
· Buckeyes are co-chairs of Columbus school levy
· Systems in place to achieve millions in savings
· 2004 Fiesta Bowl DVD now available in stores
· Business magazine ranks Fisher's MBA program

Commercials feature student talent If you watch broadcasts of Buckeye football, you may have already seen one of our new public service announcements, featuring our own undergraduate and graduate students talking about what they love — their research. In case you didn't catch them on TV, you can see them on the university's web site. See how many campus locations you recognize, plus a few neighboring businesses that have always been student favorites. READ MORE >

For 10th year, OSU welcomes its brightest class

For the 10th consecutive year, Ohio State welcomed its best academically prepared freshman class as school began last month. In a trend that began 10 years ago, first-year students have continuously improved in measures of academic quality. First-year students this year have entered Ohio State with higher than ever average ACT and SAT scores, while more are in the top 10 percent and top 25 percent of their high school class. The university also has more University Scholars, who are students in the top 3 percent of their graduating classes and achieve an ACT composite score of 29 or above or a combined SAT score of 1300 or above. READ MORE >

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Research funding tops half-billion dollars for ’04

For the first time in the institution’s history, Ohio State University researchers have received more than a half-billion dollars in research funding during the last year. The funding total is a milestone reached by only a select few national research universities. Total research awards for the 2004 fiscal year reached $528,157,120 — a 13.9 percent increase over the previous year. “This is a monumental accomplishment by our faculty,” said President Holbrook. “The fact that our work fared this well shows the strength of the faculty at this great university.” READ MORE >

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OSU receives $12.9 million for nanotech center

L. James Lee wants to see an Ohio industry that is as adept at wielding individual molecules as it is at wielding large chunks of sheet metal, rubber, and plastic. The professor of chemical and molecular engineering and his team of researchers have just been awarded $12.9 million from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to help make that happen. The funds, doled out over five years, will support research into nanotechnology, the science of building devices molecule by molecule. A Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC) will be headquartered at Ohio State, and draw on the expertise of more than 30 faculty. The center will boast partners in Ohio industry, as well as prominent institutions around the country and the world. Nanotechnology could potentially be used to detect very small amounts of biowarfare agents and could even diagnose cancer before tumors have a chance to form, by detecting the antibodies that our bodies produce in early response to cancer. READ MORE >

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Holbrook issues statement on State Issue One

President Holbrook issued a statement on a proposed amendment to the Ohio Constitution that restricts the definition of marriage and states, in part, that "this state and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance or effect of marriage." "If it is determined that Issue One prevents Ohio State and others from offering health care benefits for sponsored dependents, it will be harmful to our institution's ability to remain competitive with other employers and institutions of higher learning," Holbrook said. "Such an outcome would have negative consequences for our community and state." READ MORE >

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Trustees approve FY 2005 spending plan

Ohio State’s Board of Trustees last month completed its current funds budget process for the 2004-05 fiscal year by approving the university’s annual spending and income framework. For the whole university — including regional campuses, hospitals and other auxiliary units — revenues are projected to be $3.06 billion, while expenditures are set at $3.04 billion. Because there is virtually no increase in state support from last year, the university will continue to focus its efforts on generating revenues from other sources. READ MORE >

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$5.6 million CDC grant to fund preparedness center

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has awarded OSU’s School of Public Health a $5.6 million grant to create one of only 23 Public Health Preparedness Centers in the country and the only center in Ohio established to provide training and experience to public health workers statewide. The Center for Public Health Preparedness at The Ohio State University, funded for five years, will focus on three initiatives: integrated community response, consumer/risk communication and academic programs. The center will work with the public health community in developing preparedness capacity in the event of a terrorist attack, and in general preparedness for natural disasters like tornadoes, drought, blizzards and floods. READ MORE >

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University welcomes new eminent scholar

Richard P. Dick, a professor of crop and soil science at Oregon State University, Corvallis, since 1996, has joined Ohio State’s School of Natural Resources as Ohio Eminent Scholar in Soil Microbial Ecology. His role is to further expand the school’s ambitious soil-science program by providing expertise in microbiology and biochemistry of soils. As a professor in the program, which now boasts 14 faculty member-scientists in Wooster and Columbus and which trains master’s- and doctoral-degree students, Dick will conduct research, participate in outreach, and teach and advise students.

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Eminent scholars receive faculty appointments

Two new Ohio Eminent Scholars were appointed to the College of Engineering faculty at the university’s Board of Trustees meeting last month, and named endowed funds were established by the board to support the salary and programs of the two scholars. Imrich Chlamtac has been named professor and the Ohio Eminent Scholar in Networking and Communication Research in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering/ Electrical and Computer Engineering, effective Oct. 1, 2005. He currently is president of CreateNet Research Consortium and distinguished chair in telecommunications, professor in of electrical engineering and professor of computer science at the University of Texas at Dallas. Michael E. Paulaitis has been named professor and Ohio Eminent Scholar in Nanotechnology: Molecular Self-Assembly in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, effective Jan. 1, 2005. He is currently professor of chemical engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md.

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Sullivan nominated to National Science Board

Kathryn D. Sullivan, an adjunct professor of geological sciences, president and CEO of COSI, and former astronaut, has been nominated by President Bush to serve as a member of the National Science Board of the National Science Foundation. If confirmed by the Senate, Sullivan will serve for a term expiring May 10, 2010. The NSB is the governing body that oversees the National Science Foundation and acts as a major policy advisor to the president and Congress. Members are selected on the basis of their distinguished service in science and engineering research and education. The first American woman to walk in space, Sullivan is a veteran of three shuttle missions.

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ATI ranked tops in awarding ag associate degrees

Ohio State’s Agricultural Technical Institute in Wooster has been ranked No. 1 in the country by Community College Week in the awarding of associate degrees in agriculture and related sciences. Using the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education, Community College Week identified the top 100 associate degree producers among two-year and four-year colleges and universities. Degree programs included in the category of agriculture and related sciences include horticulture programs such as landscaping, greenhouse management, turfgrass management, and floriculture. The category also encompasses power machinery and machine technology, including hydraulics. ATI is an associate degree-granting program in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.

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McGee named one of 50 most important in research

The editors of Science Spectrum magazine and US Black Engineer and Information Technology magazine have selected Oliver G. McGee III, professor and chair of civil and environmental engineering and geodetic science, as one of the “50 Most Important Blacks in Research Science” for 2004. Honorees are chosen for this annual list based on their work in making science part of global society. During the year that the list is publicized, its members are presented to young people as role models, and their accomplishments are upheld as examples of the important contributions made on a daily basis by the small but growing cadre of African Americans in the field. McGee and the other honorees were featured in the September issue of Science Spectrum. READ MORE >

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Buckeyes are co-chairs of Columbus school levy

Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel, former football star Archie Griffin and former basketball star Katie Smith helped kick off the Columbus Public Schools levy campaign last month. The three are co-chairs of the 6.9-mill operating levy that will go before voters on Nov. 2. Passage of the levy would generate $62.3 million a year to finance the district for four years without more cuts. “Like thousands of people here in Columbus — and all over the world — I am an alumnus of Columbus Public Schools,” Griffin said. “This levy is about every student from Columbus being able to earn admission to Ohio State.”

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Systems in place to achieve millions in savings

Ohio State’s three procurement organizations — Central Purchasing, OSU Health System and the OSU Research Foundation — have instituted university-wide purchasing initiatives anticipated to generate savings of $12 million to $15 million this year and between $26 million and $32 million during the next two years, according to William J. Shkurti, senior vice president for business and finance. READ MORE >

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2004 Fiesta Bowl DVD now available in stores

The 2004 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl is now available in its entirety on DVD in major retail outlets, at the official OSU Team Shop at the Schottenstein Center and online. The commemorative edition DVD includes the television broadcast presented by ABC Sports in its entirety, commercial free, in full-screen digital video with chapter points on the DVD’s main menu that allow viewers to jump directly to the action, quarter by quarter. The suggested retail price is $24.95. READ MORE >

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Business magazine ranks Fisher’s MBA program