June 1, 2001
Contact: Elizabeth Conlisk (614) 292-3040
Two Ohio State professors receive highest faculty honor
Chemist and veterinary bioscientist named Distinguished University Professors
COLUMBUS -- Two Ohio State professors considered pioneers in their fields and holders of some of their disciplines’ most prestigious awards have received the university’s highest faculty honor: designation as a Distinguished University Professor. The 2001 honorees are Charles C. Capen, professor and chair of veterinary biosciences and professor of internal medicine, of WESTERVILLE; and Matthew S. Platz, Melvin S. Newman Professor of Chemistry, of COLUMBUS (43235).
At the university’s Board of Trustees meeting Friday (6/1), Executive Vice President and Provost Edward J. Ray granted each recipient the title and an annual budget of $10,000 for three years to support academic work.
“Dr. Capen and Dr. Platz are phenomenal scholars and teachers who have also served as excellent department chairs, and Ohio State is very fortunate to have these two world-class scientists on our faculty,” Ray said.
Distinguished University Professors continue their regular program of teaching; research, scholarly or creative work; and service. They are nominated by their colleagues both at Ohio State and internationally. Evaluators from outside the university are invited to assess the quality and significance of each nominee's academic accomplishments.
Capen is one of only two Ohio State faculty members inducted into the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and is one of the few veterinarians ever selected as an institute member. His induction cited his achievements in comparative medicine and pathology, endocrine toxicology and the endocrinology of calcium-regulating hormones. Considered by most to be the world authority on veterinary endocrine pathology, he is renowned for his work in the use of animal models to study human diseases.
Capen also is credited by colleagues for shaping the veterinary biosciences department into a significant link between the veterinary and human health communities. His joint appointments, in addition to his veterinary medical positions, as a specialist in endocrinology and metabolism in the College of Medicine and Public Health and as a member of Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, are a rarity on campus. “These appointments reflect his groundbreaking expertise and international renown in both animal and human illnesses,” a colleague wrote.
In additional to citing Capen’s status as a world-class scholar, external evaluators of his award nomination also lauded his ability to carry on such a distinguished research career while serving as a department administrator for some 20 years. Capen has chaired his department (previously the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology until the integrated Department of Veterinary Biosciences was established in 1994) since 1982, and was acting chair for a year before that. He joined the faculty in 1965 after serving as an instructor for three years while pursuing his Ph.D. in veterinary pathology at Ohio State. He also earned his master’s degree at Ohio State and his D.V.M. degree at Washington State University.
Capen has received dozens of honors, including being named a Distinguished Member of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists – one of only 22 diplomates of 1,300 in the college to receive such a designation. He also received Ohio State’s Distinguished Scholar Award in 1993. “He is without a doubt the most distinguished scientist and administrator in veterinary medicine,” a Stanford peer wrote. “Dr. Capen’s department sets a very high standard of excellence in veterinary medicine and in the broader area of biomedical research.”
Students and scholars alike have benefited from Capen’s dedication, said colleagues. “It is nationally accepted that as a consequence of his influence, his students will be outstanding both through the quality required for their acceptance as well as having benefited from Dr. Capen as a mentor,” a peer asserted. Another colleague wrote, “Chuck Capen is a luminary in the world of comparative pathology, a true role model for the rest of us.”
Platz is receiving this high university honor at the conclusion of a very good year. He was one of 10 recipients of the 2001 Cope Scholar Award of the American Chemical Society, which recognizes excellence in organic chemistry, and was recently named to three prestigious lectureships: The Gustafson Distinguished Lectureship at the University of Denver, the Berson Lectureship at Yale University and the Ingersoll Lectureship at Vanderbilt University. Platz also received renewal funding from the National Science Foundation through January 2003, which means he will have maintained a record of 24 consecutive years of NSF funding at Ohio State.
A researcher in the broad area of physical organic chemistry, Platz’s most recent work has led to the development of light-activated molecules that can react with viruses to make them biologically inactive, which has potential to assure the safety of blood supplies used for transfusions from HIV and other viruses. Long before those studies, Platz became a world leader in the chemistry of carbenes, whose interactions lead to complicated energetics and electronic structure.
“In my opinion, Professor Platz is the world’s expert on carbene chemistry today, bar none,” a colleague wrote. “He has attained this enviable position by a series of fundamental discoveries made possible by ingenious application of a variety of experimental techniques, extraordinary power of observation, keen insight and thoughtful interpretation of data.”
Academic peers also praise Platz for his commitment to the discipline, specifically in tirelessly organizing speaker programs and conferences that “maintain the communication that keeps the science alive,” a colleague wrote. He also is cited by an evaluator for carrying out a productive research program “without losing sight of his role as a mentor and developer of students.”
At Ohio State, Platz is credited, as department chair for four years after serving as acting chair for a year, with spearheading chemistry’s successful application for a Selective Investment award from the university and for his instrumental role in the hiring of 14 bright young scientists and two top-quality senior faculty members. He is one of few scholars nationally to have received both an Alfred P. Sloan fellowship and a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and has received both Ohio State’s Distinguished Scholar Award and the Colleges of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award. He joined Ohio State’s faculty in 1978 after earning his Ph.D. from Yale University and a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York at Albany.
Trustees also heard a report from Linda Meadows, assistant vice president for research, on opportunities for undergraduate research at Ohio State. Meadows said that research universities like Ohio State offer a learning space where facilities and distinguished faculty support student creativity.
“Inquiry, investigation, and discovery are the heart of education,” Meadows said. “Everyone at a university should be a discoverer and a learner. It’s the responsibility of faculty to create an intellectually stimulating environment where students can mine treasuries of scholarship as well as contribute new understandings. Research is one way curious minds can explore their universe.”
On May 21, the fifth annual Richard J. and Martha D. Denman Undergraduate Research Forum gave about 150 undergraduates the opportunity to showcase their research, Meadows said. Students presented research on subjects ranging from uncovering causes for Alzheimer’s disease to the social implications of genetic testing for Huntington’s Disease.
“The caliber of their work reminds us that undergraduates are capable of making valuable contributions to science and society,” she said.
The Outreach and Engagement Committee heard an update on the continuing work of the Distance Learning Committee, headed by Bobby Moser, vice president for agricultural administration and executive dean for the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The committee will present further findings at the board’s June 29 meeting, with a final comprehensive plan positioning the university as a “Knowledge Provider to the World” due in the fall.
Kefla H. George of COLUMBUS (43202), who will receive her Doctor of Optometry degree on June 8, received the board’s Student Recognition Award. George, a member of the National and American Optometric Student Associations, the Optometric Honor Society and treasurer of the International Optometric Honor Society, has done volunteer vision screening for the Junior Olympics and the Special Olympics World Games and has worked at the Veterans Administration Hospital and the Faith Mission homeless shelter.
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