Spectrum - Volume 21 Issue 07 October 8, 1998 - ACHIEVERS

A non-profit publication of the Office of the University Relations of Virginia Tech,
including The Conductor , a special section of the Spectrum printed 4 times a year

ACHIEVERS

Spectrum Volume 21 Issue 07 - October 8, 1998

Heather Hall and Angela McCoy have earned the Virginia Contracting Officer (VCO) professional certification. This designation is awarded to those who complete four courses dealing with technical-procurement information and practices and the successful completion of a competency examination.
Paul Lancaster , broadcast media coordinator in University Relations, has been elected president of the College News Association of Virginia and the District of Columbia. CNA represents news and information officers at colleges and universities in the two jurisdictions.
Rebecca Scheckler, graduate student in the Department of Teaching and Learning, presented a paper and participated in a panel at the Teleteaching Conference of the International Federation of Information Processing-World Computer Congress 98 in Vienna, Austria, and Budapest, Hungary, recently. The title of her paper was "Educating the Mind without the Body."
Scheckler was partially sponsored by a grant from the FOCUS committee of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM).
The national University and College Designers Association (UCDA) recently selected the Virginia Tech Horticulture Gardens direct mail piece to receive an Award of Excellence in the 1998 UCDA Design Competition. The creative director/designer was Michele Moldenhauer of University Relations/Publications. Horticulture professor Robert E. Lyons was both writer and photographer. Winning entries were exhibited at the 1998 UCDA Conference held in New Orleans in September.
Biochemistry professor Jiann-Shin Chen , and lab specialists A.A. Ismaiel , and J. Toth , participated in the 1998 General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in Atlanta, in May. They presented two papers titled: "Purification of the aldehyde-alcohol dehydrogenase encoded by the ad gene from Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824," and "Organization of the acetone-butanol production genes in Clostridium beijerinckii NRRL B593."
Brian Storrie , professor of biochemistry, continues his investigations during research/study leave until January 1999 at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany. He is performing collaborative research on bio-genesis of the sub-cellular organelle, the Golgi apparatus, using equipment such as confocalmicroscopy, cryosectioning, and molecular techniques.
Norman G. Marriott , professor of food science and technology, recently spoke at two pork industry meetings in Colombia. He addressed industry members and conducted cutting demonstrations in Bogota and Medellin, Colombia.
Susan Duncan and Susan Sumner , both associate professors of food science and technology, coordinated a symposium on "Marketing Dairy Value through Technology" for the Dairy Foods Division of the American Dairy Science Association at the organization's annual meeting in July. Joe Herbein , associate professor of dairy science, was an invited speaker with the topic "Enhancing the Intrinsic Value of Milk through Dairy Herd Management Practices."
Marsha L. Sickler took second place in the master's student poster competition at this year's American Meat Science Association Reciprocal Meat Conference. The conference was held at the University of Connecticut. The poster presented was titled "Efficacy of TBARS Determination by use of Rapid Extraction and Cryogenic Freezing."
James R. Claus , associate professor of food science and technology, was elected as the chairman of the 1999 Reciprocal Meat Conference (RMC), to be held on the campus of Oklahoma State University. He is responsible for coordinating and developing the scientific aspects of the meeting including the general sessions, reciprocation sessions, and update sessions. Also at this year's American Meat Science Association Reciprocal Meat Conference Mark Tolbert , Virginia Tech meat lab manager, was elected chairman of the Meat Lab Managers Committee. Finally an invited poster entitled "Prolonging Oxymyoglobin on Pork Surfaces in Vacuum Packages Using Leghemoglobin" was presented by department members Paul P. Graham , R. K. Espinel , J.R. Claus , H. Wang , J.E. Marcy and W.E. Barbeau in a special session on "Current Advances in Meat and Poultry color".
Heather McMahon , master's candidate in the food science and technology, received the award for the best student paper in enology presented at the annual meeting of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture. Also at the organization's annual meeting, Bruce Zoecklein , assistant professor in the department, was re-elected as a director of the society. Zoecklein has been invited to give two presentations at society-sponsored international symposium on Issues in Sparking Wine Production.
Thomas A. Walbridge Jr., retired professor in the College of Forestry and Wildlife Resources, has been granted the International Forest Engineering Award by the Council of Forest Engineering. The award recognizes individuals for outstanding service and sustained contributions to the profession through education extension, research, development, or administration. Walbridge, a 51-year Society of American Foresters member, taught at the college from 1973 to 1989 and is currently active as a consultant.
Robert Bush, director of the Center for Forest Products Marketing and Management, coordinated a successful seminar where students learned preparation for job searches. More than 60 forest products undergraduate and graduate students attended a seminar in September, at which industry representatives gave tips on the first part of any job search and how to prepare an effective resume. Topics included what companies look for in a resume; the importance of balancing academic, employment, and other activities; and the value of internships and similar work experience.
Christopher Neck, assistant professor of management at the Pamplin College of Business, discussed leadership and team empowerment in his presentation, "Best Practices in Marketing Leadership," at the 63rd annual Sales and Marketing Executives International Convention in Dearborn, Mich., on September 25. Neck was one of only two academic presenters at the meeting, which primarily featured speakers who are senior corporate executives such as the CEO's of Chrysler, Borders Group, Hallmark Cards, Amway, Siemens Automotive Corporation, Bose, and Federal Mogul.
Julie Ozanne, associate professor of marketing, was a panel discussant at the conference, "No Purchase Necessary: Building the Voluntary Simplicity Movement" at the USC on September 19. Ozanne, who has authored research papers on the "simplicity" movement, which advocates shunning consumerism in favor of simple living, was on a panel that discussed "The Best Things in Life Aren't Things." Participants included simplicity advocates, authors, and environmentalists, including Duane Elgin and Cecile Andrews.
Ernest J. Pavlock, professor of accounting, presented a paper, "Accountability: The Focus of the New Millenium" at the 15th International Conference of the World Association for Case Method Research and Application in Marseille, France, on July 9-13. The conference theme was "Interactive Teaching and the Multimedia Revolution." Pavlock, who teaches in the MBA program at the Northern Virginia Center, is also a member of the association's executive board and participated in board meetings during the conference.
Warren Stutzman , the Thomas Phillips professor of engineering in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, presented the keynote address at the 22nd Antenna Applications Symposium in September at the University of Illinois. Stutzman's talk was titled "Antennas for Industry and Government in the Next Century."
Tom Dingus, professor of industrial and systems engineering and director of the Center for Transportation Research, and Jonathan Hankey, research scientist at the Center for Transportation Research, are the recipients of the 1997 Jerome H. Ely Human Factors Article Award. The award was given for a paper with Daniel McGehee, Natarajan Manakkal, Steven Jahns, and Cher Carney, titled "Human Factors Field Evaluation of Automotive Headway Maintenance/Collision Warning Devices."
Virginia Tech's National Residence Hall Honorary Society (NRHH) was named the Chapter of the Month in the South Atlantic Region for September. These awards are presented at the university, regional and national level each month. This is the first time that the Virginia Tech chapter has been recognized. Larry Robertson is the NRHH advisor and assistant director of residence education.
NRHH members are selected to represent the top 1 percent of residence-hall leaders across the country. Virginia Tech's membership includes residence-hall staff member, Residence Hall Federation (RHF) and Hall Council leaders, and students who have made a major contribution to the residence-hall community. Currently, there are approximately 40 individuals who are active members.
Virginia Tech's NRHH officer team includes: Adam Childers, president; Greg Bonessi, vice president-Membership; Todd Miller, vice president - Recognition; Holly Swanson, recording secretary; Heather Dunahoo, treasurer; Drew Chadwick, SGA representative; and Andrea Williams, RHF Representative.