|
 |
Distinguished Dissertation Award
Winner Ahmed Sayed (middle)
and wife with David Williams,
Professor of Parasitology (right). | Ahmed Sayed, Department of Biological Sciences, has won the 2006 Clarence W. Sorensen Distinguished Dissertation Award for his outstanding dissertation, “Biochemical Characterization of 2-CYS Peroxiredoxin Enzymes from Schistosoma Mansoni and Validation by RNAi as Essential Parasite Proteins and Potential Drug Target.” This award recognizes the University’s most outstanding dissertation. Sayed’s dissertation focuses on his research of peroxiredoxins, considered an important new class of defense proteins, as being essential for the viability of a human parasite that is a major cause of morbidity in Egypt, Sayed’s homeland. “Dr. Sayed’s work was critical in our ability to obtain funding from the National Institutes of Health to conduct a high throughput screen for novel anti-schistosomiasis drugs and has resulted in two publications in the Journal of Biological Chemistry,” said David Williams, Professor of Parasitology and Dissertation Committee Chair. “Dr. Sayed’s efforts have produced perhaps the most comprehensive analysis of peroxiredoxins in any system to date.”
Read More...
|
|
 |
| Dr. Curtis White | Professor of English Curtis White’s article “The Spirit of Disobedience: An Invitation to Resistance” was published in the April 2006 issue of Harper’s Magazine. White, who is internationally known as a postmodern fiction writer and a social critic, is the author of the provocative book The Middle Mind: Why Americans Don’t Think for Themselves, which was named in the top ten books of nonfiction in 2003 and is an expansion of another article White published in Harper’s in March of 2002. The current article focuses on the cultural split between a Christian and an Enlightenment viewpoint in the United States and discusses capitalism, theology, and the importance to our current culture of Henry David Thoreau’s ideas on disobedience and imagination.
Read More...
|
|
 |
Fulbright Winner
Lauren Fraser | Lauren Fraser and Rafiq Ahmed, both Foreign Language majors, were recently honored with prestigious Fulbright teaching assistantships to Germany and South Korea, respectively. Fraser, a senior German Teacher Education major, was one of about 140 chosen to teach English to middle and secondary students in Germany. “Lauren stands out especially for her commitment to international understanding,” said Lisa Huempfner, Assistant Professor of Spanish and Second Language Pedagogy. “As a teacher candidate in Foreign Language Education, she has displayed a very natural talent for the creation of excitement around the learning of the German language. I am certain she will be an excellent teaching assistant in Germany.” Ahmed, a senior French major and Italian minor, was one of 70 chosen to teach English to high school students in South Korea. “I am very impressed but not surprised that Rafiq Ahmed won a prestigious Fulbright teaching assistantship,” said Jonathan Druker, Assistant Professor of Italian. “Ahmed always excelled in the nuts and bolts of language learning and in all of the skills associated with communication. He will be an excellent ambassador for the United States.”
Read More...
|
|
 |
| Ole Bly Pace, III | On Saturday, April 29, the Illinois State University Pre-Law program celebrated the sixth Annual Pre-Law Awards Banquet. Students, faculty, staff, and University attorney alums gathered in the Old Main Room for the Banquet honoring six distinguished students of the Pre-Law program. The Honorable Ole Bly Pace III, partner in Ward, Murray, Pace & Johnson, P.C. in Sterling, Illinois and former President of the Illinois State Bar Association, delivered the keynote address.The banquet is sponsored by the Attorneys Advisory Board—a group of 30 attorney alums who support the University's pre-law program through advising, mentoring, and providing financial support.
Read More...
|
|
|