Biostatistics: Science by the Numbers
Google Search for "Work-Life Balance"
At the Intersection of Need, Science and Market
How Oats, Peas, Beans and Barley Grow
Brain Studies Yield Clues to Desire and Motivation
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Al Dorof, Editor
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©2007
AAAS Fellow
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Nancy L. Craig '73 |
Nancy L. Craig '73, professor of molecular biology and genetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences on April 30. According to Academy President Emilio Bizzi, "Fellows are selected through a highly competitive process that recognizes individuals who have made preeminent contributions to their disciplines and to society at large." Craig was honored for her lifetime achievements in biochemistry and molecular biology
Craig's basic research focuses on transposons, discrete pieces of DNA that move to different locations within a cell and between cells. They are present in virtually all organisms and contribute to genome structure and function. She uses the Tn7 and Hermes transposons to examine, at a molecular level, how these "jumping genes" move, and to ascertain the functions of genes and the behavior of mutated genes. Her work has many applications — for example, to understand how retroviruses like HIV replicate or to tackle the problem of antibiotic resistance.
Craig is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator. She received her Ph.D. in biochemistry at Cornell University. Craig was profiled in the April 2002 issue of Bryn Mawr S&T.
APS Leader
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Mary Patterson McPherson, Ph.D. '69 |
Bryn Mawr College President Emeritus Mary Patterson McPherson, Ph.D. '69, took the reins as executive officer of the American Philosophical Society on July 1. In making the announcement of her appointment in May, APS President Baruch S. Blumberg said, "Her philosophy, her experience and her dedication will certainly continue the Society's tradition and strengthen its mission."
The APS is the nation's first learned society, founded in Philadelphia by Benjamin Franklin in 1743 with the goal of "promoting useful knowledge." Its more than 900 elected members are top scholars from a variety of academic disciplines in the sciences, arts and humanities, including some 100 Nobel laureates. The society supports research, discovery and education through grants and fellowships, lectures, publications, prizes and exhibitions. It also serves scholars through a research library of more than 200,000 books and seven million manuscripts, as well as special collections of prints and maps.
McPherson succeeded Mary Maples Dunn, M.A. '56, Ph.D. '59 , and Richard S. Dunn, who retired after serving as APS co-executive directors for five years. Mary Maples Dunn was the College's dean before she became president of Smith College. She had also served as interim director of the Radcliffe Institute and was succeeded by Drew Gilpin Faust '68, who became president of Harvard University in July.
Prior to joining the APS, McPherson was vice president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and its program officer for liberal arts colleges from 1997 through March 2007. She served as the College's president from 1978 to 1997. She was elected a member of the APS in 1983 and is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. McPherson earned her A.B. at Smith College and an M.A. at the University of Delaware.
EDGE Honored
EDGE — Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education was one of two programs nationwide to be designated Mathematics Programs That Make a Difference by the American Mathematical Society in 2007. EDGE was recognized for "its significant efforts to increase the presence of women, with a special focus on women of color, in the upper ranks of mathematical scientists."
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Rhonda J. Hughes |
EDGE was launched in 1998 as a collaborative effort between Bryn Mawr College and Spelman College. It's co-directors since its inception are the College's Helen Herrmann Professor of Mathematics Rhonda J. Hughes and Spelman's Sylvia T. Bozeman. More than 100 women from diverse racial and educational backgrounds have participated in EDGE to date. Of these, the AMS points out, more than 90 percent are either actively pursuing or have already completed graduate degrees in mathematics."
A cornerstone of the EDGE program is its four-week Summer Program, which has both academic and social components. The academic program, designed to provide intense exposure to advanced mathematics, includes two four-week core courses as well as a mini-course, guest lectures and presentations by program participants. The social program, which seeks to build a sense of community in a supportive environment, includes a diversity seminar, panel discussions about graduate school, dinners and reunions with past participants. EDGE also offers a Follow-Up Mentoring Program. The EDGE program was featured in the April 2001 issue of Bryn Mawr S&T.
Making Hay
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Virginia "Ginger" McShane Warfield '63 |
Virginia "Ginger" McShane Warfield '63, senior lecturer in mathematics at the University of Washington, Seattle, received the 17th annual Louise Hay Award from the Association for Women in Mathematics at its annual meeting in New Orleans, Jan. 5-7. The award recognized Warfield's "long career of dedicated service to mathematics and mathematics education" and her "contributions to education through her teaching, graduate student training and mentoring, work on the didactics of mathematics, and outreach and collaborations with K-16 communities."
The award citation highlighted Warfield's long association with Project SEED, a program designed to promote "sense-making" mathematical activities for fourth- through sixth-grade students, which was founded by her fourth-grade teacher, William F. Johntz. The citation also noted her leadership in three major teacher enhancement projects funded by the National Science Foundation — Creating a Community of Mathematics Learners, Extending the Community of Mathematics Learners, and Graduate Teaching Fellows in K-12 Education.
Warfield earned her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Brown University.