COLUMBUS -- New techniques to diagnose and treat heart disease, the appointment of a nationally renowned author, and intensified research collaborations across the university are among five proposals that have been chosen to receive Ohio State's Selective Investment Awards this year.

The Selective Investment Award recipients have been identified as those that hold the most potential to propel Ohio State into the highest ranks of public research institutions. Each unit will receive up to $500,000 in continuing funds, which will be used primarily to hire scholars intended to enhance already strong departments' educational mission, attraction of talented students and overall national reputation.

"The concept of strategic investment is a core element of our new Academic Plan," said President William E. Kirwan, referring to a strategic plan unveiled this week to elevate Ohio State into the top ranks of teaching and research institutions. "The strategic allocation of resources will be a key tool in making us one of the world's truly great universities."

Selective Investment winners this year are an interdisciplinary proposal in cardiovascular bioengineering forwarded by the colleges of Medicine and Public Health and Engineering; the departments of Economics, English and Mathematics; and the College of Law.

"The proposals chosen are exceptional in both vision and planning effectiveness. They have the potential to create extraordinary benefits for the entire university and to the larger public community that we serve," said Edward J. Ray, executive vice president and provost. "The selection committee made a very convincing case that these five proposals should be funded, even though the original intention was to fund four new proposals. The president and I strongly agree with their assessment."

Recipients provide matching funds from their own departments or colleges, bringing total targeted funding of up to $1 million to each unit. The highly competitive program, now in its third year, requires applicants to present detailed proposals; recipients are chosen by a faculty committee in consultation with external experts in each field.

The recipients this year join the University's eight previously named Selective Investment recipients: Chemistry, History, Neuroscience and Political Science in 1999; and Electrical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Physics and Psychology in 1998.

The selection committee, chaired by Paul Beck, chair of political science, evaluated and selected proposals based on their positioning related to the university's academic mission; plans to build on strengths and expectations for substantial benefit; demonstration of interdisciplinary potential; plans to monitor progress and evaluate achievement; and emphasis on outreach.

According to one funding recipient, Ohio State's commitment to Selective Investment bodes extremely well for the University's future.

"This is a new era," said Robert Michler, chief of cardiothoracic surgery, co-director of the Heart and Lung Research Institute, and the Karl P. Klassen professor of surgery. "It's an era of great, palpable energy and interest in being world-class and really reaching for the stars."

Other leaders of the winning departments and programs spoke to the Board of Trustees during an Oct. 6 presentation.

Cardiovascular Bioengineering

Mauro Ferrari, director, Biomedical Engineering Center; associate director, Heart and Lung Research Institute

Robert Michler, chief of cardiothoracic surgery; co-director, Heart and Lung Research Institute

Already the national leader in the use of robotics surgery and renowned for research in microdevices that could be used for drug delivery (nanotechnology), Ohio State expects to become a world leader in biomedical engineering by combining the expertise of engineers and clinicians to find innovative ways to diagnose and treat heart disease.

The Colleges of Medicine and Public Health and Engineering joined in a proposal to strengthen multidisciplinary collaborations by bringing together six units: the Biomedical Engineering Center, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Cardiology, the Heart and Lung Research Institute, Chemical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering.

Those spearheading the proposal say this multidisciplinary approach will eliminate college barriers and create a seamless environment for clinicians and engineers to work together to bring new technologies into the domain of patient care.

Nine hires, who will spend time in more than one college, are proposed over four years to complement the current faculty and researchers specializing in these combined disciplines. Researchers envision advances in the development of metal alloys and drug-delivery systems that will increase effectiveness of treatment and reduce patient side effects in the fight against the leading cause of death in the United States.

"The people we hire are going to be living and breathing more than one discipline," said Robert Michler, chief of cardiothoracic surgery, co-director of the Heart and Lung Research Institute, and the Karl P. Klassen professor of surgery. "As a result of that, the natural kinds of collaborations that you want to occur will occur. We'll see some world-class events happening right here at Ohio State."

Mauro Ferrari, director of the Biomedical Engineering Center and associate director of the Heart and Lung Research Institute, said the Selective Investment proposal was designed to position Ohio State as home to a top U.S. biomedical engineering program.

"We expect to attain leadership by focusing on classes of diseases," said Ferrari, also professor of internal medicine, mechanical engineering and materials science. "We are starting with cardiology, and plan to follow up in the areas of oncology and endocrinology."

Department of Economics

Masanori Hashimoto, chair

The Department of Economics has conducted a careful analysis of what it will take to achieve the goal set forth in its own 2010 plan -- to become a top 20 department overall nationally and in the top 10 among public universities by the year 2010. In 1998, U.S. News & World Report ranked the department 30th overall and 12th among public schools.

In recent years, faculty productivity has increased substantially. Since 1995, the department also has hired a number of promising junior scholars and three full professors, including one of the top three producers worldwide in econometrics research. "We want to continue, and indeed accelerate, this momentum," said department Chair Masanori Hashimoto, adding that the department plans to recruit a combination of up-and-coming young scholars and established scholars who would increase the department's performance in external research funding and original research, and help move the department to a rank of seventh or eighth among public universities. "We want not only to reach the goal, but also to sustain it well into the future -- that's why we want to recruit young scholars, as well. We are very close to this goal and, according to our analysis, it is within our reach. A judicious use of the SI funding will put us over the hump and get us there."

Economics, which serves numerous departments by instructing about 12,000 undergraduates annually, plans to hire up to nine faculty in the areas of macroeconomics, microeconomics and econometrics. The department operates from a position of faculty strength, housing many award-winners as well as those who have received prestigious temporary outside appointments.

Richard Steckel, who holds a joint faculty appointment in economics and anthropology and is a recent winner of the University's Distinguished Scholar Award, said the department has benefited from Ohio State's support for interdisciplinary exchange, which will be useful in recruiting new faculty.

"The people we hire will know this is a department on the move," he said. "That will help lead to our recruitment of great graduate and undergraduate students, and we all know as faculty that we learn a great deal from our students."

Department of English

James Phelan, chair

A creative writer of distinction, perhaps even an author with a household name, is likely to join the Department of English faculty, thanks to Selective Investment funding. That appointment, along with five others, is part of the department's plan to move from its current ranking of 16th among public universities into the top five.

English will maintain its identity as a comprehensive department even as Selective Investment allows it to strengthen particular subfields and to build on its strong commitment to diversity through the planned appointment of a scholar in African-American literature, said department Chair James Phelan.

The department has a strong history at Ohio State, and touches the lives of virtually every undergraduate student at one time or another. "English is one of the central disciplines in a liberal arts education. We train people to be good readers, writers and critical thinkers, and we keep alive a significant part of our cultural heritage by making literature of the past relevant to the present," Phelan said. "The core of what we do is central to the university, and educates the citizenry of the state and country."

A winner of the 1998 Departmental Teaching Award and home to eight recipients of the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching, the department seeks to hire six total new faculty in the areas of British literature, American literature and writing (both creative writing and rhetoric/composition). British and American literature are central to any English department, and the already high rank of the department is largely dependent on its current strength in literature. The rhetoric/composition program is among the university's and the nation's best, and boasts that 100 percent of its graduates over the past 12 years have been offered academic jobs. The relatively young creative writing program also will be enhanced, but already is attracting students who are choosing Ohio State over other highly respected programs.

College of Law

Gregory H. Williams, dean

The College of Law seeks to hire new experts in various areas of law with its Selective Investment funding, but also seeks to create an opportunity for Ohio State faculty across campus to undertake law-related research in a new distinguished visiting research professorship. Under the proposed program, faculty from other disciplines would maintain residence in the college during fall semester and collaborate in research with members of the law faculty; college leaders say the program will build lasting connections between law faculty and the rest of the university.

The college seeks to increase the size of its faculty by hiring five new full-time professors in the areas of criminal law, intellectual property/cyberlaw, corporate law, law and society, and professional ethics. In fact, earlier this week, the college received a commitment to join the faculty from one of the top five criminal law professors in the nation. Two joint professorships also are proposed, one with political science and another with the Mershon Center. The Mershon Center position would expand the college's already top-ranked alternative dispute resolution program by adding an international component to the college's investigation of and expertise in this increasingly important area of law practice.

Dean Gregory H. Williams said Selective Investment support should allow the college to achieve its goal of becoming a top 10 public law school with respect to its academic reputation by 2005.

A highly interdisciplinary college, with numerous clinics in place in areas of dispute resolution and civil and criminal law, the college also is home to a Center for Research on Law, Policy, and Social Science. It has an emerging national reputation in intellectual property and health-related law, houses nationally recognized faculty and is one of the university's more diverse units -- all of which contributed to its selection for targeted funding.

"I think it's always important for an institution, particularly a university, to recognize its strengths and nurture them," Williams said. "We feel very flattered to be recognized as one of the great strengths of Ohio State that will help propel the University into the highest ranks of public institutions."

Department of Mathematics

Peter March, chair

The Department of Mathematics bears the responsibility of grounding thousands of Ohio State students annually in the basics of math so they can pursue degrees in the sciences or engineering. Offering a core discipline, the department teaches virtually every undergraduate on campus. According to department Chair Peter March, the mathematics department is an important contributor to a university's reputation.

"Mathematics is at the absolute core of education in the modern world. If a university is going to be strong and prominent, it has to have a strong mathematics department," March said.

For the past several years, the department has been devoting much of its resources and energy to improving the student educational environment. A proposed senior faculty position in mathematics education research, which will bring cutting-edge research to bear on mathematical learning, will expand on that trend by further enhancing the educational program at the undergraduate level.

The department also seeks to hire four other senior faculty members in the areas of number theory, global analysis, mathematics and biology, and mathematics and computing.

An expansion of the advanced degree program also is proposed. The department plans to create a professional master's degree program, which recognizes the growing need for instruction in the kinds of mathematics needed for nonacademic jobs in the competitive global marketplace. To enhance its existing doctoral program, the department plans to create a small number of fellowships and to improve its computing environment.

Mathematics faculty hold a number of prestigious state and national fellowships and titles, and have received numerous high honors in the field. Six assistant professors, two full professors and one associate professor have been hired in recent years. With its new hires, the department seeks to become a top 20 program in the country within 10 years.

(LO)