New Goodrich C. White chairs honor
the legacy of a former Emory president
The Board of Trustees confirmed the appointments of seven members of the
Emory College faculty to distinguished professorships at its Dec. 12 meeting.
The appointments are effective immediately.
Three faculty members were appointed to existing professorships. Frans de
Waal was named the Charles Howard Candler Professor of Primate Behavior;
Frances Smith Foster was named the Charles Howard Candler Professor of English
and Women's Studies; and V. S. Sunderam was named the Samuel Candler Dobbs
Professor of Computer Science.
Established by the Board of Trustees in 1960, the Charles Howard Candler
Professorships represent the highest standards of outstanding teaching,
creative scholarship, and distinguished service to the University.
Dobbs professorships were created in 1985 to recognize and honor achievements
of younger Emory College faculty who have attained the rank of full professor.
Four faculty members were appointed to new named chairs honoring former
Emory President Goodrich C. White. The White professors were proposed by
College Dean David Bright last year "as a way of acknowledging the
growing population of remarkable faculty in the College," said Bright.
"Goodrich C. White Professors are exemplary members of the College
community, admirable for their teaching and research and also for their
selfless citizenship in the College." In selecting the first four White
professors, Dean Bright consulted with associate deans of Emory College,
department chairs and distinguished professors for recommendations. Five
more Good- rich C. White professors will be named within the next two years,
bringing the total to nine by 1999.
Faculty appointed to the inaugural White chairs are: Martine Watson Brownley,
professor of English; Craig L. Hill, professor of chemistry; George H. Jones,
professor of biology; and Robert Pastor, professor of political science
and director of Latin American and Carribean Studies at The Carter Center.
Each professor has been recognized not only for research projects significant
in their fields, but also for their contributions to Emory as a teaching
and learning institution. Following are some of the research and accomplishments
each has achieved:
Frans de Waal, a Dutch-born zoologist and ethologist, published his
third book, titled Good Natured: Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and
Other Animals last March (Harvard University Press), and has received wide
popular and scientific acclaim for his work. De Waal has authored two other
award-winning books on primate behavior, in addition to numerous scientific
papers. De Waal wants to "keep doing what [he's] doing," which
is collective and individual research in several areas: food chaining in
species or the reciprocity of sharing; conflict resolution in primates;
and social cognition in primates and the degree to which it is based on
decision making. He is currently working on a book titled Bonobo: The Forgotten
Ape with National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting.
Frances Smith Foster, who just finished editing The Norton Anthology
of African-American Literature, recently received a Fulbright scholarship
to teach in the spring semester at the University of Leiden in Holland as
the Walt Whitman Professor of American Literature. English department Chair
John Sitter called her work "invaluable and groundbreaking" not
only in the area of 19th century slave narratives, but also in her recovery
of early novels in her field. Foster plans to "get serious on her next
project"-the study of African American literature as a moral imperative-after
her return from Holland. "This is the first time someone in women's
studies has received a Candler professorship, which is kind of fun,"
Foster said. "It helps people realize there are scholars in women's
studies out there."
V. S. Sunderam, whose research is in distributed computing systems
and includes computer networking and concurrent processing, is currently
leading the Collaborative Computing Frameworks (CCF) project that involves
several Emory faculty, postdoctoral fellows and students. The goal of CCF
is to create virtual work environments or "collaboratories" (a
location-independent laboratory in which researchers can collaborate) using
computer workstations, campus networks and the Internet. "People at
different universities, offices or even at home, can collaborate on a project
in real time, as if they were simultaneously in the same laboratory,"
Sunderam said. "Our research involves inventing the enabling technologies
and tools for such systems, and we are fortunate to have an excellent multidisciplinary
team working on this project. The Dobbs professorship will help this project
and others tangibly by providing supplemental research support."
Martine Watson Brownley, formerly director of women's studies, spans
several fields of literature in her work. She works in 18th-century British
literature and in "contemporary literature by women," according
to Sitter. "She has universal breadth, both historically and generically,"
Sitter said. "The convergence of literature and politics is a consistant
thread, and she is also interested in political themes in narratives by
women." Brownley said she is "interested in women novelists in
the political state, which comes out of my four years as women's studies
director. I was trained in 18th century literature and taught a lot of women's
literature."
Craig L. Hill, who works on several major scientific topics, aims
to "develop innovations that impact society in a significant way."
One of his main projects, the development of an environmentally friendly
paper-making process, has received high acclaim and engages key laboratories,
top research and development administrators, scientists and engineers from
several pulp and paper companies. The project is funded by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy. In addition, Hill is working
on the development of "intelligent molecules as catalysts molecules
that have a sense of their own properties, sense damage and try to heal
themselves." The result, according to Hill, would be "applicable
to any number of things that degrade." This project is funded by the
National Science Foundation.
George H. Jones, former dean of the Graduate School, studies the
mechanisms and regulation of antibiotic synthesis, which can be used in
"clinical and veterinary medicine worldwide." His research into
these systems is funded by the National Institutes of Health. "The
system I'm studying is susceptible to other systems and is not as well characterized
as other systems," Jones said. "There's a lot we need to learn
before we come to an ultimate outcome."
Robert Pastor, whom political science department chair Thomas Walker
lauded for his "extensive service to both the College and The Carter
Center," is currently working on several projects in Latin American
and Carribean Studies, as well as projects in other regions. "Even
though he's had incredible demands on his time, Pastor has kept a high quality
research and teaching agenda," Walker said. Pastor is currently organizing
a conference on hemispheric agriculture and will accompany the Carters on
a trip to Latin America this month. He also is working on several books
and articles. Pastor's topics include the role of Congress in North American
policies, the evolution of the foreign policies of the six major world powers
in the 20th century, and the Clinton administration's Latin American policy
and how it should be modified in his second term.
-Danielle Service
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