Author: Cheryl Miller

Whit Gibbons, professor emeritus of ecology at the University of Georgia and Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, will present a public lecture, “Turtle tales from a long life in the slow lane: Mysteries and discoveries in a never ending story” at 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 23 in 218 Hubbard Hall.

Gibbons has written 30 books and more than 250 scientific publications on conservation and the environment, with a focus on reptiles and amphibians. He has given environmental commentaries on National Public Radio and written more than 1,000 popular articles published in magazines and newspapers. His weekly environmental column, Ecoviews, was initially distributed by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group and has appeared for more than 40 years. He wrote the merit badge booklet Reptile and Amphibian Study for the Boy Scouts of America in 1993.

The Watkins Visiting Professorship was created in 1974 by the Watkins Foundation This grant is now provided through the Watkins fund, a part of the Wichita State University Foundation’s endowment.

Three native Kansans who rose to great heights in their careers will be inducted into the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3 in Wiedemann Hall. Induction is the highest recognition of outstanding Fairmount College alumni who have had a significant impact on the region, nation and world.  

Warren E. Pickett, physicist; Robert E. Shields, career trial attorney; and Scott Stucky, senior judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces, have been selected as this year’s cohort. To learn more about each of them and previous years’ inductees, go to wichita.edu/las/HoF.

Dr. Anna Chandler, former chairperson of the ethnic studies department, died Sept. 20. Her teaching extended far beyond the classroom — she was known as a visionary educator, a captivating historian and a mentor who encouraged her students to dream beyond their own imagination.

Anthropology sophomore Lucy Walters has been interested in anthropology since her dad introduced her to Indiana Jones when she was little. Now, much like Indiana Jones, Walters has contributed to the unearthing of a lost city ー only instead of being a fictional character in Egypt, she did so as a Wichita State University freshman in Kansas.

Cheryl Miller, Senior Assistant Dean for Academic and Staff Operations in the Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, was recognized with third place – “Publications Regularly Written by Entrant,” Fairmount College Newsletter, Spring 2024; third place – “Personality Profile,” Fairmount College Newsletter, Fall 2024; honorable mention – “Publication Regularly Edited by Entrant,” Fairmount College Newsletter, Fall 2024.

As the next academic year approaches, Fairmount College announces its newest chairs and directors.  

• Elliott School of Communication: Lisa Parcell is a professor and the Kansas Health Foundation Director of the Elliott School of Communication. Her main research area is media history, particularly the promotion of American food products between 1880-1960.
• Geology: Andrew Swindle is associate professor and chair of the Department of Geology. He researches the reactivity of nanoscale materials in the subsurface, which play major roles in the chemistry that happens in the soils, sediments and rocks near the Earth’s surface. 
• School of Social Work: BreAnn Gilkey is a clinical professor and the interim director of the School of Social Work. She holds professional affiliations with the State of Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board as a Licensed Master Social Worker and the Kansas Council on Social Work Education.  

David Charbonneau, Fred Kavli Professor of Astrophysics at Harvard University, will present a public lecture, “The terrestrial worlds of other stars,” at 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 16 in 127 Jabara Hall.

Charbonneau works with his students and postdoctoral fellows to develop novel methods and instruments for the detection and characterization of planets orbiting other stars, and studies how the life cycles of the parent stars affect the presence and properties of the atmospheres of any attendant worlds. Charbonneau has pioneered many of the methods that are now widely used to discover and study these worlds, including the first exoplanet transit, the first detection of an exoplanet atmosphere, and the first estimate of the number of habitable worlds in the galaxy. He recently co-chaired the National Academies study, commissioned by Congress, that describes the national strategy for exoplanet research, including the search for life in the universe. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In September 2024, he was awarded the Kavli Prize in Astrophysics from the King of Norway at a ceremony in Oslo.

The Watkins Visiting Professorship was created in 1974 by the Watkins Foundation This grant is now provided through the Watkins fund, a part of the Wichita State University Foundation’s endowment.

Janet Iwasa is an assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Utah and director of the Genetic Science Learning Center. Iwasa will present “Visualizing the tiny worlds inside our cells,” at 4 p.m. Thursday, March 27 in 211 Hubbard Hall. An exhibition of her work illustrating molecular and cellular visualizations, “Tiny worlds,” will show March 21-31 in the Clayton Staples Gallery, McKnight Art Center.

Iwasa is the head of the Animation Lab at Utah, and her broad goal is to create accurate and compelling molecular and cellular visualizations that support research, learning and scientific communication. Her award-winning illustrations and animations have appeared in scientific journals including Nature, and Science and Cell, as well as in the New York Times. Her work has also been featured on television and in museum exhibits. As a postdoctoral fellow, she created a multimedia exhibit with Nobel Laureate Jack Szostak of Harvard University and the Museum of Science, Boston, and later worked on biological visualizations as a faculty member at Harvard Medical School. She received her doctorate from the University of California, San Francisco for her work on the actin cytoskeleton in the laboratory of Dyche Mullins, and completed 3D animation training at the Gnomon School of Visual Effects.

Fairmount College, the School of Digital Arts, and the School of Art, Design and Creative Industries are co-sponsoring her visit. The Watkins Visiting Professorship was created in 1974 by the Watkins Foundation. The grant is now provided through the Watkins fund, a part of the Wichita State University Foundation’s endowment.

The next Faculty Senate meeting will be held 3:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 24 in 211 Hubbard Hall. To learn more, visit the Faculty Senate webpage or email the Faculty Senate.

Evan Williams, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Biophysics at the University of California at Berkeley, will present “A Window into Molecular Complexity with Mass Spectrometry: From Physics to Chemistry to Biology and Beyond at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19 in 209 Hubbard Hall.

Williams’ research aims to develop novel instrumental and computational techniques in mass spectrometry, separations, chemical imaging and laser spectroscopy for improved molecular structure elucidation, and to apply these methods to interesting chemical problems of both practical and fundamental interest. He is the faculty director of the QB3/Chemistry Mass Spectrometry Center and he holds a joint appointment in molecular biophysics and integrated bioimaging at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

The Watkins Visiting Professorship was created in 1974 by the Watkins Foundation. This grant is now provided through the Watkins fund, a part of the Wichita State University Foundation’s endowment.