Dubois Outlines Recent UW Accomplishments

Sept. 25, 2004 -- President Philip L. Dubois today (Saturday) presented to UW trustees a report of recent major accomplishments at and gifts to the University of Wyoming. Among them were:

The university received $61 million in external contracts and grants in fiscal year 2004, breaking its own record for the 19th consecutive year. Bill Gern, vice president for research, says guidance provided by the university's Academic Plan, in terms of identifying areas to strengthen, is starting to show rewards. UW strengthened its capabilities and received increased funding in areas such as natural resources and materials and computational sciences.

A record 24,700 alumni and friends contributed $21.7 million to UW during fiscal year 2004. For the past seven years UW has averaged $20.8 million in private gifts. Ben Blalock, UW Foundation president and CEO, says the state of Wyoming UW Matching Endowment Program has encouraged many donors to contribute to the university.

A national peer review study recognizes UW's Rocky Mountain Herbarium (RM) as the nation's leader in plant inventory and regional vascular plant biodiversity documentation. The study, the first of its kind that documents plant collecting activity across the United States, was published recently in Systematic Botany, a journal devoted to taxonomy, biogeography and evolution of all plant groups, including fossils. The authors exclaim that UW has produced "remarkable" results in local plant collecting and "the number of specimens in the RM from the 1990s is more than 40 times that of the average for the other 70 herbaria."

The Wildlife Society has presented one of its top research awards to Merav Ben David, a UW wildlife ecologist who helped lead a study that assessed how the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill affected river otter populations. Ben David and several colleagues received the society's 2004 Wildlife Publications Award for Outstanding Monograph. She is the first UW Department of Zoology and Physiology faculty member to receive this award.

Stephen Ropp, UW professor of political science and specialist in comparative politics, is serving as a visiting research professor at the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa. A former Army sergeant in Panama during the Vietnam era, Ropp says his goals are to research the long term national security implications of the rise of populism and populist politicians in Latin America and Europe; to discuss his findings in workshops hosted by other "think tanks" within the global security community; and to advise the military leadership of the War College.

UW Dean of Libraries Maggie Farrell was elected vice president/president elect of the Online Computer Library Center's Member's Council, the world's largest library consortium. The Member's Council is composed of 60 librarians representing the more than 49,000 OCLC libraries in 84 countries around the world. Libraries use OCLC services to locate, acquire, catalog, lend and preserve library materials.

The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy reports that 100 percent of students graduating from the UW School of Pharmacy this year passed the North American Pharmacy Licensure Exam. Of the 44 UW students taking the examination, 32 scored above average on the test, designed to assess how well candidates can apply their knowledge, learning, and skills to actual practice situations.

The International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors presented Kent Becker, department chairman and associate professor of counselor education, with its "Best Training and Mentorship Award." The award honors "an individual who has been a significant mentor to graduate students, and emerging professionals, educators or supervisors in the field of marriage and family counseling."

The Western Agricultural Economics Association named UW Professor Dale Menkhaus of the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics as its 2004 "Distinguished Scholar." It is the highest recognition given by the organization for "an enduring career contribution to agricultural, resource and/or environmental economics in the western states and provinces."

The American Society of Agronomy (ASA) has named UW Professor David Koch of the Department of Plant Sciences as a distinguished fellow. He joined the society in 1971 and has presented more than 30 papers to his peers at its gatherings. The agronomist has given research demonstrations in the fields of more than 100 producers throughout the state, promoting the importance of forage in sustainable livestock production.

Paul Ludden, an associate professor in the UW Department of Animal Science, received a Teaching Award of Merit from the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture, a professional society that promotes and recognizes excellence in the teaching of agriculture and related areas. Ludden serves as the course coordinator for livestock production and teaches the principles of animal nutrition and the physiology of ruminant digestion.

The UW chapter of Sigma Chi received the fraternity's highest undergraduate honor, the Peterson Significant Chapter award. The award recognizes strong performance in all areas of chapter operations, including scholarship, retention, financial stability, campus activities and leadership, campus and community service, and faculty and alumni relations. This year, only 29 chapters nationally received this award, sponsored by the Sigma Chi Foundation.

The UW Delta Delta Delta chapter won the national sorority's most distinguished chapter honor, the "Three Star Award," tops among 134 other chapters in the nation and Canada. The award, given only periodically, recognizes a chapter that "has shown continued excellence in organization and programming, campus participation and recognition, and the intangibles of unity and sisterhood."

Posted on Saturday, September 25, 2004