Four IUB scientists honored for lasting contributions to fields of study

Kaufman

Heiser

Peters

Four IU Bloomington scientists received major professional honors during the course of the summer months.

Andrew Feig, assistant professor of chemistry at IU Bloomington, was named a 2002 Cottrell Scholar by Research Corporation. The award includes $75,000 to fund research and teaching projects. Feig joins 13 other awardees in chemistry, physics and astronomy throughout the United States “who are beginning their careers and who wish to excel at both teaching and research,” according to nomination guidelines.

Feig’s commitment to teaching excellence has been reflected by his membership in IU’s Society of Teaching and Learning as well as the five-campus Peer Review of Teaching Project. Among his current research projects is an investigation of the kinetic and thermodynamic properties of RNA folding. RNA is a molecule that plays a central role in the expression of genes into proteins.

Created in 1912, Research Corporation is a private foundation that aids basic research in the physical sciences at U.S. and Canadian colleges and universities. It supports ideas independently proposed by college and university faculty members and carries on activities related to science advancement.

Visit the Feig Lab at this Web site:
http://php.indiana.edu/~afeig/Lab/

Marcus Singer Award presented for pioneering research in developmental biology

Thomas Kaufman, IU Distinguished Professor of biology, received the Marcus Singer Award for his pioneering research in developmental biology at the Midwest Developmental Biology annual meeting in June. The medal, first given in 1982, is bestowed upon researchers recognized as having made lasting contributions to the study of developmental biology or cellular regeneration. Among Kaufman’s coups in fruit fly developmental genetics was his 1980 discovery of a cluster of mutations in Drosophila melanogaster, called the Antennapedia Complex. One of the genetic members of the complex causes legs to grow where the fly’s antennas should be, while another causes legs to replace the mouth parts. The find represented a major step forward in scientists’ understanding of animal body plan development.

Biologist sharing the wonders of plant classification receives Raven Award

Fellow biologist and Distinguished Professor emeritus Charles Heiser received the 2002 Raven Award from the American Society of Plant Taxonomists in August. The award recognizes exceptional efforts in sharing the wonders of plant classification with non-scientists. He also received the Asa Gray Award in 1988 for forwarding the society’s research and teaching goals. His latest book, Weeds in My Garden: Observations on Some Misunderstood Plants (Timber Press), will be released next spring.

Distinguished teacher receives 2002 Henry B. Linford Award

Dennis Peters, the Herman T. Briscoe Professor of chemistry at IUB, was awarded the 2002 Henry B. Linford Award for distinguished teaching from the Electrochemical Society, Pennington, N.J., at its centennial meeting in Philadelphia in May. The award consists of a silver medal, a wall plaque and a monetary prize. Peters will receive this recognition based on his distinguished teaching in subject areas of interest to the Society.