Release date: Sept. 19, 2002
Contact: Deb Hammacher, Associate Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-727-0644 or dhammac@emory.edu

Emory Chemist Awarded Million-Dollar Grant

Emory University chemistry professor David Lynn has been selected as one of 20 inaugural Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) professors who will receive $1 million over the next four years to bring scientific research into undergraduate classrooms. The grants are believed to be the largest of their kind, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

As an HHMI professor, Lynn plans to establish a new training program for undergraduate science students. "Mentoring of independent undergraduate research has proven to be the single most important and influential educational experience in encouraging students to pursue careers in science," says Lynn. Research-intensive universities such as Emory have the means and the responsibility to link their dual research and education missions, according to Lynn.

"Our principal, long-range goal is to build a collaborative science curriculum, characterized by integration of faculty research into education, and the linkage of content, theory and practice across disciplines," Lynn says.

A key component is to use graduate students as peer role models for undergraduates, and create opportunities for graduate students to demonstrate the excitement and opportunities available in science careers, he says. A research competition is planned for graduate students that will allow undergraduates to learn more about the diverse avenues research has to offer.

"It is gratifying to have it confirmed by this award that Emory is indeed one of the handful of universities in the front ranks of innovative scientific research and education in the country," says Emory College Dean Bobby Paul.

"Science is not just a body of facts but a way of questioning the world around us so that it gives back answers in which we can have confidence. With proper guidance from more senior scientists, undergraduates can participate in this exciting and open-ended enterprise right from the start, and indeed it is the best way for them to develop real engagement with the process of scientific investigation," says Paul. "David Lynn's leadership as both a researcher and as an educator is a great asset to Emory College students and it now will be even more effective thanks to this well-deserved HHMI award."

The grant money also will be used to support and expand ongoing HHMI-sponsored programs such as the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience, which brings sophomores and juniors to Emory for a summer-long research program. Undergraduate lab visitations and research opportunities during the school year also will be expanded.

"Emory University is a great place to do science," says Lynn, the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Chemistry and Biology. "Research and teaching are seamlessly unified, and it is possible to freely experiment, adjust and evolve new learning strategies."

Lynn’s own research involves analyzing the self-assembly of biological organisms. "The complex structures of biology seem remarkably, almost magically, to self-assemble. We hope to understand the structures and forces that enable supramolecular self-assembly, that is, how chemical information can be stored and translated into new molecular entities," says Lynn. Such research can play a role in new drug design and genetic engineering, and can provide a better understanding of the origins of living systems, he says.

HHMI invited 84 research universities to nominate faculty members for the professorships. A panel of scientists and educators reviewed 150 proposals and eventually selected 20 HHMI professors at 19 universities in 13 states.

As researchers recognized in their fields, the HHMI professors will participate in scientific meetings at the HHMI headquarters in Chevy Chase, Md. They also will serve as a resource for scientists striving to improve undergraduate education nationwide.

"Research is advancing at a breathtaking pace, but many university students are still learning science the same old way, by listening to lectures, memorizing facts and doing cookbook lab experiments that thousands have done before," says HHMI President Thomas R. Cech. "We want to empower scientists at research universities to become more involved in breaking the mold and bringing the excitement of research to science education."

HHMI is a private philanthropy dedicated to biomedical research and science education. The institute employs 324 investigators who conduct basic medical research in HHMI laboratories at 69 of the nation’s leading research centers and universities, including Emory. Through its complementary grants program, HHMI supports science education in the United States and a select group of researchers abroad. For more information, go to www.hhmi.org.

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