Virginia Tech Faculty And Students Honored
Virginia Tech faculty and students have recently been honored with various awards and nominations, as well as for their publications.
Dennis Dean, professor of biochemistry and acting director of the Fralin Biotechnology Center, and Edwin Lewis, assistant professor of entomology, each received $5,000 awards for Excellence in Research from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS).
The two awards, which were presented on Feb. 10, are the first awards to be given annually to CALS faculty members in order to promote research in the college.
Dean was honored for his achievements in basic research, which focuses on the function of proteins and their regulation. This research has helped lay the groundwork for further progress in understanding protein interactions, their contribution to bodily functions, and it has helped to advance the opportunities to explore the area of protein function using microbial genetics. Dean has also been recognized as an international leader in nitrogen fixation research.
Lewis was honored for his achievements in mission-oriented research. His research focuses on developing biorational approaches to pest management in Virginia> and throughout the U.S.> This research is important due to new regulations imposed by the Food Quality Protection Act.
Robert Porter, program development manager in the office of the Vice Provost for Research, has had his article, "Facilitating Proposal Development: Helping Faculty Avoid Common Pitfalls", accepted for publication in the Society of the Research Administrators (SRA) Journal.
Porter serves on the steering committee of the Initiative for Nanotechnology in Virginia (INanoVA), and was the lead moderator at Virginia's first conference on nanobusiness development, which was held at Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology (CIT).
The first national conference of state and regional nanotechnology alliances will be held on April 1 at CIT. With a grant from the National Nanotechnology Initiative, Porter will plan the agenda and moderate the event.
Robert Dyck, professor of urban affairs and planning emeritus, has a chapter, "Plecnik's Ljubljana>: Classical Urban Design Revisited", featured in the Exhibition Catalog, Joze Plecnik and Ljubljana: the Architect and his City.
The chapter has been published in German, English, and Slovene for the International Exhibition that will run Jan. 12 through March 31 at the Stadtsmuseum Graz in Austria.
Dyck also has a recently published chapter with Wei Huang in, Emerging Issues in the 21st Century World-System. The chapter is entitled, "Hyperurbanization of China's Pearl River Delta".
Jay Lambe and Jim Brown, marketing faculty members, and Stephan Grzeskowiak, a Ph.D. student in marketing, received the Best Overall Paper Award at the 2003 American Marketing Association Winter Marketing Educators' Conference. The paper was co-authored with Kare Sandvik of the Oecon Buskerud University College in Norway, and entitled "Antecedents of Relational Norms in Developing and Mature Relationships.
Sattar Mansi, assistant professor of finance, is one of sixteen nominees for the Brattle Prize for the best paper in corporate finance. His paper, "Corporate Diversification: What Gets Discounted", has been published in the Journal of Finance.
VTAlumNet has been nominated for a 2003 Award for Excellence in Distance Learning Programming from the United States Distance Learning Association.
Written by Emily Cummings, Intern in the Office of University Relations
