Measures of Excellence
Noted Accomplishments/Honors
- The College of Science is leading some of the first biomedical research projects underway at the newly formed Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute. These include research on infectious diseases, nanoscale optics, and neuroscience.
- Several researchers in the College of Science are the first to head up projects in a new drug discovery partnership between Virginia Tech and Georgetown University Medical Center. The venture was established to form a joint program for drug discovery and development. Initial research projects include the effectiveness of natural products against malaria, the use of fatty acids to fight microorganisms, and the use of enzymes to prevent Alzheimer’s disease.
- The college has unique joint degree programs with law schools at the University of Richmond and Washington and Lee University that enables students in as little as six years to obtain a bachelor of science and a law degree with an emphasis in intellectual property law.
- The Ph.D. program in clinical psychology in the Department of Psychology is a member of the Academy of Psychological Clinical Science Programs, comprised of the top 40 research-oriented programs in the United States and Canada. In addition, the department was named the 33rd best in clinical psychology in U.S. News and World Reports’ “Best Graduate School 2010.”
- The College of Science has a Nobel-prize-winning alumnus: Robert C. Richardson (B.S. physics ’58; M.S. physics ’60).
Outstanding Faculty
- The College of Science has a faculty member who is a member of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences (John Cairns, biology emeritus) and another faculty member who is a member of the equally prestigious National Academy of Engineering (James McGrath, chemistry).
- The college has six faculty members who are University Distinguished Professors (Robert J. Bodnar, geosciences; Michael F. Hochella Jr., geosciences; David G.I. Kingston, chemistry; James McGrath, chemistry; Thomas H. Ollendick, psychology; and John Tyson, biological sciences).
- The college has three faculty members who are Alumni Distinguished Professors (Ezra “Bud” Brown, mathematics; Art Buikema, biological sciences; and E. Scott Geller, psychology).
The college has two faculty members who have received the internationally acclaimed Alexander von Humboldt Research Award (Michael F. Hochella Jr., geosciences; and Royce Zia, physics). - Four faculty members from the college have been named Virginia Outstanding Scientists since the year 2000: Neal Castagnoli, chemistry, 2000; David Kingston, chemistry, 2002; John Tyson, biological sciences, 2004; and Michael Hochella Jr., geosciences, 2005.
- One faculty member has received the Lifetime Achievement in Science Award (Duncan Porter, biological sciences, 2006).
- Three faculty members (Robert Bodnar, Michael Hochella, and Patricia Dove) in the Department of Geosciences are Fellows in the American Geophysical Union. Bodnar has also received a Silver Medal of the Society of Economic Geologists.
- The college has two Fellows in the American Association for the Advancement of Science: Robert J. Bodnar and Michael F. Hochella Jr.
- David G.I. Kingston, University Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, has two plants named in his honor. Taxus kingstonii is a yew tree that grows in India, China, and Taiwan. Cordia kingstoniana is a South American tree.
- Beate Schmittmann, professor of physics, is a Fellow of the American Physical Society.
- Royce Zia, professor of physics, is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and the American Physical Society.
- Three faculty members from the Department of Chemistry were recently named CAREER Award winners by the National Science Foundation: Edward Valeev, Theresa Reineke, and Lou Madsen.
- The Department of Psychology has six faculty members who are Fellows of the American Psychological Association (Martha Ann Bell, Jack W. Finney, E. Scott Geller, Russell T. Jones, Thomas H. Ollendick, and Richard Winett).
Student/Student Group Achievers
- Ashley Morgenstern (chemistry) and Kevin Finelli (physics and mathematics), were awarded prestigious Goldwater scholarships in 2009.
- Brian Skinner (physics, ’07) was awarded the Goldwater Scholarship in 2006 and was a finalist for the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship.
- Virginia Tech’s only two Rhodes Scholars majored in disciplines within the College of Science: William Lewis (physics ’63) and Mark Embree (mathematics, computer science ’96).
- Four students from the College of Science have been awarded prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships 2009. They are: Shiv Dutt Kale (biochemistry and biological sciences), Laura Hamm (geosciences), Bradley Shapiro (mathematics and economics), and David Abrams (physics and computer science).
- Jessica Lu, a graduate student in chemistry recently received a Fulbright Scholarship to conduct research in Israel.
Laura Freeman (statistics) was named Virginia Tech Woman of the Year in 2009. - Two students from the college serve as the student representatives on the university’s Board of Visitors. They are Rebecca French, graduate student in geosciences, and Kristina Hartman, biological sciences.
- COS Alumnus Joseph DeSimone (Ph.D. Chemistry ’90) recently received the university’s 2009 Graduate Alumni Achievement Award for his accomplishments as a scholar and innovator. He currently holds two chaired professorships at the University of North Carolina.
- Christine George, a 2008 biological sciences graduate, was named to the 2008 All-USA Academic First Team.
