Texas A&M University's National Science Foundation (NSF)-reported research expenditures topped $500 million for the first time, according to figures released today by the Office of the Vice President of Research.

The fiscal year 2003 research expenditures are $505 million, reports Richard E. Ewing, vice president for research at Texas A&M, and this includes research expenditures for Texas A&M and the research agencies and Health Science Center headquartered in College Station. Expenditures refer to dollar amounts spent on research or other projects as reported to the NSF.

The amount places Texas A&M among the top-tier schools nationally for research expenditures, Ewing said.
Texas A&M, the state's first public university established in 1876, has the largest NSF-reported research expenditure of any university in Texas.

This expenditure figure means that the university will continue to be a major player in research activities that have regional, national and international influences, Ewing said.

One component of research expenditures is the amount of money generated locally and across the state.

Recent figures show that Texas A&M -- and other members of the Texas A&M University System -- have a record $2.25 billion economic impact on the Bryan-College Station area.

The direct economic impact is $900.8 million. When the economic multiplier effect is applied -- the number of times each dollar is spent and re-spent before it leaves the community -- the overall economic impact on the area is $2.252 billion, studies show.

Increasing research funding will be a priority for new Texas Woman's University (TWU) Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Cheryl Samuels. She will begin her duties at TWU on Aug. 2.

Dr. Samuels comes to TWU from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., where she is dean of the College of Health Sciences and professor of community and environmental health. Previously, she served as dean of the College of Allied Health and Nursing at Minnesota State University and acting vice president for academic affairs and chair of the department of dental hygiene at the University of Maryland.

Samuels earned her doctorate in policy sciences from the University of Maryland, Baltimore; master of science in dental hygiene education from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and her bachelor of science in education and certificate of dental hygiene from Ohio State University.

In a statement, Dr. Rebecca Krepper, co-chair of the search committee and interim dean of the College of Nursing Houston Center, said she was impressed with Dr. Samuels' assessment of the university's strengths and weaknesses. "Dr. Samuels realizes we have to increase research funding and she has some ideas on how to make that happen," she said. "With her background, she also understands the different needs of diverse programs, such as health sciences and liberal arts."

Dr. John E. Miller has been appointed director of The University of Texas at Tyler Longview University Center.

Dr. Miller, who was named UT Tyler LUC interim director in October 2003, succeeds Dr. Jolene Lampton, who resigned to accept a position at Park University in Austin.

Miller joined UT Tyler in 2003 as a visiting assistant professor of technology, after serving as dean of administrative services, dean of the East Texas Center, chairman of the computer networking department and instructor at Texas State Technical College in Marshall.

Prior to becoming a member of TSTC in 1992, Miller held the position of industrial engineering manager with Thiokol Inc. in Karnack. He served in the U.S. Army Reserves from 1981 to 1995 and is a retired lieutenant colonel with the Corps of Engineers.

Miller holds a doctorate with a specialization in educational human resource development from Texas A&M University, a master of science with a major in technical professions from UT Tyler and a bachelor of science in industrial distribution from Clarkston College of Technology in Potsdam, N.Y.

Located at 3201 North Eastman Road, the LUC offers four undergraduate degree completion programs and five graduate programs, in addition to courses in liberal arts and computer science.

Bachelor's degree completion programs available include business administration, nursing, technology and teacher education. Master's level degree programs include business administration, nursing, educational administration, public administration and technology.

Several Abilene Christian University (ACU) faculty members received grants for research studies this summer.

Cullen or Math-Science grants were awarded to twelve faculty members, one faculty member in the Bible, Missions and Ministry Department received a national grant, and KACU-FM, the community radio station operated by ACU's Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, has received a community service grant worth $86,733 from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The Cullen and Math-Science grants are awarded annually to full-time ACU faculty members at or above the rank of instructor to complete a research project resulting in a tangible product by the end of the fiscal year.

Math-Science funds -- applied to agriculture and environmental sciences, biology, chemistry, computer science, math, and physics -- originate from limited endowment sources and contributed sources, such as gifts from individuals, restricted funds, and university-budgeted funds. Cullen funds are applied to those faculty and departments not included in the Math-Science group and are generated by an endowment from the Cullen Foundation.

Recipients of this year's Math-Science award are:
-Brian Cavitt, instructor of chemistry
-Dr. Jason Holland, assistant professor of mathematics
-Alexander Karabegov, associate professor of mathematics
-Autumn Sutherlin, assistant professor of chemistry

Those faculty receiving the Cullen awards include:
-Dr. Richard Beck, assistant professor of psychology
-Dr. Jackie Halstead, associate professor of marriage and family therapy
-Dr. David Perkins, associate professor of accounting and finance
-Dr. Scott Perkins, associate professor of psychology
-Adam Hester, professor of theatre and chair of the theatre department
-Greg Straughn, visiting instructor of music
-Dr. Brad Reid, professor of management sciences
-Dr. Jerry Whitworth, professor of education

In addition, Dr. Jeff Childers, associate professor of Bible, ministry and missions, has received a summer stipend from the National Endowment for the Humanities to work on "Syriac Version of John Chrysostom's Homilies on John."

Jose Lopez-Ribot, Pharm.D., Ph.D., associate professor of medicine in the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, has been appointed to serve as a member of the Bacteriology and Mycology 2 Study Section in the Center for Scientific Review of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Study sections are responsible for reviewing and making recommendations on grant applications submitted to the NIH and surveying the status of research in their fields.

"Members are selected on the basis of their demonstrated competence and achievement in their scientific discipline," a letter from Brent Stanfield, Ph.D., acting director of the Center for Scientific Review at the NIH said. "Service on a study section requires mature judgment and objectivity as well as the ability to work effectively in a group, qualities we believe Dr. Lopez-Ribot will bring to this important task."

Masroor A. Khan, MD, assistant professor of medicine at The University of Texas Health Center at Tyler, has been elected to fellowship in the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.

Election to the SCAI fellowship is a lifetime achievement award granted by the society.

Dr. Khan will receive his certificate of fellowship at a banquet during the SCAI Annual Scientific Sessions, which will be held April 28-May 1 in San Diego. He also is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology.

Khan, who joined the Health Center in 2000, is board certified in cardiovascular diseases, internal medicine, and interventional cardiology. He completed a two-year fellowship in interventional cardiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Khan is an editorial consultant to the American Journal of Cardiology and to Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions.

He is the author or co-author of 15 scientific papers published since 2000. Khan was lead author of an Oct. 1, 2003, American Journal of Cardiology article outlining results of a major study of scar tissue formation inside stents after they were inserted in patients' carotid arteries, the two major vessels that carry blood to the head. It was the first study to examine the risk factors associated with scar tissue in carotid artery stents.

The SCAI is a primary professional association for invasive and interventional cardiologists. It promotes excellence in cardiac catheterization, the threading of a slender tube up a major blood vessel until it reaches the heart, and angiography, in which x-ray pictures of the inside of blood vessels are produced. Interventional cardiologists also clear blocked vessels using angioplasty, the insertion and inflation of a balloon-tipped catheter, and stenting, placing a tiny mesh cylinder, or stent, to keep the formerly blocked vessel open. The society focuses on physician education and representation, clinical guidelines, and quality assurance to improve patient care.