Spring 2010
Message from the Dean
Myron B. Salamon, PhD
Dean
The 2010-2011 academic year marks a number of milestones for the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NS&M). The new Math, Science and Engineering Teaching-Learning Center (MSET) is scheduled to open in July. The building will feature more undergraduate laboratories, two new lecture halls and UT Dallas’ first implementation of a SCALE-UP classroom. The Student-Centered Activities for Large-Enrollment Undergraduate Programs (SCALE-UP) concept consists of interactive classrooms with open designs that foster team learning and break away from traditional lecturer/listener classes. NS&M staff members are busy ordering the equipment needed to bring all the new labs into service for the fall semester.
The Founders Building, one of the original structures on campus, is nearing the end of a two-year renovation project. It will reopen with new offices for the Department of Mathematical Sciences, among other units, and offer new classrooms. A new façade has been constructed that opens the first floor to the newly landscaped area on the campus mall.
The University has recently acquired a building on Waterview Parkway that will house research laboratories and offices for the geosciences department along with other university operations. Research on geomagnetism, plate tectonics, 3-D imaging of geologic features and monitoring sea level and ice-sheet thickness are among the projects to be located there.
Finally, an addition designed to house our rapidly growing UTeach Dallas program was completed in Founders North. The new facility, built above the Science and Engineering Education Center, will provide space for UTeach students to prepare for lessons they will teach in area schools. Nearly 200 students are engaged in preparing for careers in science education in parallel with their regular degree programs in science, mathematics and engineering. This program has been supported recently by generous gifts from the Texas Instruments Foundation and the O’Donnell Foundation.
As part of the UT Dallas strategy to reach Tier One, NS&M is adding new faculty members in each department, including a new Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry and a senior appointment in the Department of Geosciences. By the fall semester of 2010, the faculty headcount will be approximately 90 tenure and tenure-track faculty, a new high for the School.
School and Research News
RESEARCH
Race for New Superconductors Shrinks to Nanoscale
Researchers from UT Dallas, Clemson University and Yale University are using science on the nanoscale to address one of the most elusive challenges in physics—the discovery of room temperature superconductivity.
Prof Lands Grant from Texas Cancer Initiative
Molecules that attempt to trick cancer cells into killing themselves off are the latest weapons being tested to wage and win the war on cancer.
NASA Funds Investigation of a Cosmic Mystery
Cosmologist Dr. Mustapha Ishak-Boushaki received a $180,000 NASA grant to embark on a two-year study of new models to explain why our universe is picking up speed while it tears itself apart.
Team Finds Way to Clean Up Coal, Harvest Hydrogen
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy has awarded researchers at UT Dallas $1 million over three years to create a new class of membranes that produce hydrogen from coal while scrubbing out greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide.
FACULTY
Polymer Expert Fills Welch Chemistry Chair
Dr. Dennis W. Smith Jr., a leading scientist in polymer chemistry, has joined UT Dallas as professor and holder of the Robert A. Welch Chair in Chemistry.
NSF Award Recognizes Researcher on the Rise
Dr. Mihaela C. (Iovu) Stefan has received a distinguished National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Award, given to junior faculty members who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research and education.
STUDENTS
American Chemical Society Lauds Student Group
A UT Dallas student group has been named one of the top chapters of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the fifth year in a row that the organization has drawn praise from the world’s largest scientific society.
Views of Our People
Math Student Takes on Teaching, Too
Junior statistics major finds joy in learning, then teaching
Therri Usher fell in love with science first. Then she fell in love with teaching.
Therri Usher
Junior Statistics Major
Usher, a junior statistics major, grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, studying fine arts and playing the piano. She studied sign language and played golf, basketball, and ran track—winning the district championship in back-to-back years.
An accomplished student with broad interests and abilities, Usher came to UT Dallas in 2007. She assisted Dr. Steve Goodman with research in the Sickle Cell Disease Research Center. She quickly fell in love with Dallas and the pursuit of research as a career.
Usher began her college career with scholarships from the Terry Foundation, the National Achievement Scholar program and her high school. She initially studied for a career in medicine but changed her mind when she discovered a passion for math, and for biostatistics, in particular. During her first general chemistry class, she was introduced to the UTeach Dallas program by Master Teacher Bill Neal. UTeach Dallas is part of a national program aimed at increasing the number of science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors interested in becoming new secondary science or math teachers.
Usher said Neal’s presentation and description of teaching science and math were so compelling that she thought, “Why not give it a try?” For Usher, the spark of interest in teaching had been ignited.
Of all her pursuits at UT Dallas, she enjoys UTeach the most.
“Teaching is a challenge!” Usher says. “Learning to teach 20 students simultaneously, all with different learning levels and skills, is tough!”
Despite the challenges, she highly recommends UTeach to other science and math majors.
Usher was in the very first Step One class (the introduction to UTeach that provides in-classroom exposure with mentoring by full-time teachers) at UT Dallas in the spring of 2008. Now, she is one of 150 students in the UTeach Dallas program.
She advises other students, “Try Step One - it's just one hour, the expense is reimbursed, and you've got nothing to lose. Teaching, as a skill, is useful knowledge, and you will always have that. It applies to so many areas of your life - and you'll have fun!”
Usher said she enjoys seeing students “get it.”
“You've changed that person's life for the better,” Usher said. “If nothing else, you've learned that’s possible.”
Usher’s goal is to obtain a PhD in math while focusing on research. Classmates and instructors consider her a high-achieving, vibrant and multi-faceted student who is already contributing to the society around her.
Usher is a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and the National Society of Black Engineers. In addition to studying statistics, she holds down two jobs. Usher helps the Department of Mathematical Sciences with grading three sections of applied calculus. She also works for the Sci Tech Discovery Center, in Frisco, Texas.
To learn more about UTeach Dallas, visit: http://www.utdallas.edu/uteach/
- Updated: May 20, 2010
