Purdue Notebook

October 7, 2005

Campus activities

– The Purdue Alumni Association and the Indiana Alumni Association have joined forces with the Indiana Blood Center and the American Red Cross for the 2005 Purdue vs. Indiana University Blood Donor Challenge. Until Nov. 11, blood donations will be accepted at Indiana Blood Center and American Red Cross locations throughout the state. The university with the most blood donations will be honored at the Purdue-IU Old Oaken Bucket football game in Bloomington on Nov. 19. In addition, the alumni association and the Purdue Student Union Board are conducting a Purdue staff and student blood drive 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. Oct. 12 in the South Ballroom of the Purdue Memorial Union.

Faculty and staff honors

– Mary Louise Foster and William D. (Bill) Kisinger will receive the Purdue Alumni Association's Special Boilermaker Award during a presentation at the Purdue vs. Iowa football game on Saturday (Oct. 8). The award recognizes individuals who have contributed significantly to improving the quality of life and betterment of the educational experience for Purdue students. Foster is a 1942 graduate of Purdue University and earned her master's degree in family economics in 1954. Foster served as a Purdue faculty member from 1955 until her retirement in 1987, and is a part-time academic adviser in the College of Consumer and Family Sciences. Kisinger is completing his 37th and final year at Purdue as a member of the Purdue University Bands faculty, having worked with thousands of Purdue students as associate director of the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band, director of the Collegiate Concert Band and director of the Boiler Brass Band.

– Gordon R. Pennock, an associate professor in Purdue University's School of Mechanical Engineering, received the A.T. Yang Memorial Award in Theoretical Kinematics in September at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' 29th Mechanisms and Robotics Conference in Long Beach, Calif. The honor was established in memory of A.T. Yang and is awarded to the best theoretical kinematics paper at the society's annual Mechanisms and Robotics Conference. Pennock received the award for his paper, "The Duality Between Kinematics and Statics," which was co-authored by Offer Shai, an engineering faculty member at Tel Aviv University, Israel.

– Thomas J. Webster, an associate professor in the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering and in the School of Materials Engineering, will teach a course in nanotechnology at the Nano Science and Technology Institute as part of its fall 2005 U.S. Program in Washington, D.C. The institute is an internationally recognized organization that promotes integration of nano and other advanced technologies through education, technology and business development. Webster's research involves study, design and development of nanophase materials that will assist in the application and use of artificial limbs and other synthetic implants. He has received grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, was awarded the Rita Schaffer Young Investigator Award from the Biomedical Engineering Society and has received 13 patents.

— Kirk Clark, head of the Department of Veterinary Clinical Science and professor of swine production medicine in the School of Veterinary Medicine, was given the 2005 Alumni Faculty Award for Excellence at the school's annual fall conference for veterinarians and veterinary technicians on Sept. 29. He was recognized for excellence in research, scholarship and/or creative endeavors; instruction and related activities; and public and professional services and relations. A member of one of the first classes to graduate from Purdue's School of Veterinary Medicine, Clark earned his doctorate in veterinary medicine in 1965 and spent 17 years in general veterinary practice in Indiana. He joined the faculty at Purdue in 1985 after earning a doctorate in swine reproduction. Clark is internationally recognized as an authority on mycoplasmal pneumonia, the most common respiratory disease in swine, and has won numerous awards and recognitions, including the Howard Dunne Memorial Award in recognition of significant contributions and outstanding service to the swine industry.

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