Notables

Members of Truman State University’s Academic Competition Organization (ACO) team competed at Washington University’s 12th Annual Gateway Invitational Tournament March 24. Truman’s A team took first place. William Regot, a sophomore psychology major from Holts Summit, Mo.; Ryan Stander, a freshman history and political science double major from Kansas City, Mo.; Christopher Stone, a junior linguistics major from Springfield, Ill.; and Paul Strauss, a senior history pre-MAE major from Bellflower, Mo.; were members of Truman’s A team. Stander placed first overall in individual points.

Matthew Beaky, associate professor of physics, received a grant from the American Astronomical Society. The grant will be used to purchase an astronomical spectrograph that will be a key component in ongoing student research in variable star spectroscopy.

Brent Buckner, professor of biology; Mark Campbell, associate professor of agricultural science; and Diane Janick-Buckner, professor of biology; recently attended the 2007 Maize Genetics Conference, an international conference attended by approximately 500 scientists each year, in St. Charles, Ill. Current students Kelsey Aurand, a senior biology and psychology double major from O’Fallon, Mo.; Courtney Bonney, a senior physics major from Cape Girardeau, Mo.; Kate Browning, a senior biology major from Columbia, Mo.; Ashleigh Fritz, a senior biology major from Kansas City, Mo.; Zhian Kamvar, a senior biology major from Cupertino, Calif.; Eneda Hoxha, a junior biology and psychology double major from Tirana, Albania; Julie Meyer, a senior agricultural science major from St. Louis; Jessica Ponder, a senior biology and chemistry double major from Kirksville; Heath Smith, a senior biology major from Unionville, Mo.; Kayleigh Swaggart, a senior biology major from Belton, Mo.; and Cheryl Wong, a senior music and biology double major from Florissant, Mo.; also attended and presented the results of their research activities. Truman alumni Ryan Douglas, Ashley Lough, Louis Meyer and John Woodward also attended the conference. The majority of participants are Ph.D. principal investigators, post-doctoral research associates and graduate students, few undergraduates attend and present.

Taner Edis, associate professor of physics, will give a talk at the University of Kansas April 3, based on his new book, “An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam.”

Liubov Kreminska, assistant professor of physics, and co-authors recently filed a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) International Patent Application on the invention of “Electronically-Controllable Polarization Independent Liquid Crystal Optical Medium and Devices Using Same.” The PCT number is PCT/US06/48416.

Daniel Mandell, associate professor of history, participated in a workshop at Creighton University in Omaha, Neb., to make final preparations for a collection of essays (including his) on “Crossings: Reexamining North American Indian Mission History.”

Matthew Tornatore, associate professor of foreign languages and linguistics, recently had his article, “In Defense of an Endangered Species: Historical Romance Linguistics,” published in Romance Notes, Vol. XLVI, Number 2.
Previous Next