June 28, 1999
KALAMAZOO -- More than 50 grants for research were among 78 grants totaling nearly $5.2 million awarded to Western Michigan University in April and May, according to a report presented to the University's Board of Trustees at its June 25 meeting.
Grants received by WMU for the two months totaled $5,186,245, bringing the total of grants received since the July 1 start of the fiscal year to $77,328,249.
Two new grants totaling nearly $950,000 from the National Science Foundation were among the largest grants received. Dr. Arlen R. Gullickson, chief of staff of the Evaluation Center was awarded $439,866 to study the productivity, impact and effectiveness of the NSF's Advanced Technological Education centers and projects. The 10 centers and 120 projects nationwide provide training for technicians in advanced technological fields. This is the first year of a 32-month, $1.28 million grant.
A second NSF grant for $507,490 was awarded to Drs. Kathleen Kline and Theresa J. Grant, both assistant professors of mathematics and statistics, to provide more than 250 teachers and administrators with support in implementing the NSF's "Investigations in Number, Data, and Space" elementary mathematics curriculum.
The largest grant received during April and May was $614,592 awarded to the University's College of Aviation from Emirates Airlines to continue pilot training for Emirates cadets at the International Pilot Training Centre, located at the school's Battle Creek facility.
A number of federal grants from agencies including the NSF and the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Energy will boost research projects and academic activities at the University. Among the federal grants reported were:
A $371,771 award from U.S. Department of Education to Dr. Martha Warfield, director of the Division of Minority Affairs, to fund the 33rd year of Upward Bound at WMU. The pre-college program provides academic, social and cultural support to high school students from disadvantaged families to help them prepare for success in college. Warfield also received a $40,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Education to provide support for ethnically underrepresented students to complete degrees in business and find jobs working in business and industry.
A $325,983 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to Dr.
William R. Wiener, chair of the department of blind rehabilitation,
and Dr. Elizabeth Whitten, chair of the department of educational
studies, to continue providing training for graduate students
on how to meet the
education, orientation and mobility needs of visually impaired
children. This a continuation of a $322,913 grant received by
Wiener and Whitten in 1998.
A $202,249 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to Kathi Fuller, director of the Rural Health Education Project in the College of Health and Human Services, to support the ninth year of a program that provides interdisciplinary training to students interested in heath care careers.
A $135,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to Dr.
Nora Berrah, associate professor of physics, to establish a state-of-the-art
facility for high resolution extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray
spectroscopy at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.
Berrah is leading a national team of researchers conducting studies
on atomic and molecular structures at the Advanced Light Source
facility at Berkeley National Laboratory.
Three grants from the National Science Foundation, totaling $138,650,
will support the University's mission of being a premier student-centered
research institution by increasing research opportunities for
undergraduate students. Dr. Susan R. Stapleton, associate professor
of chemistry, and Dr. Stephen Malcolm, associate professor of
biological sciences, received $51,400; Dr. Osama Abudayyeh, assistant
professor in construction engineering, materials engineering and
industrial design was awarded $77,250; and Dr. Anil Sawhney, assistant
professor, and Carl Wendell, adjunct assistant professor of construction
engineering, materials engineering and industrial design, received
$10,000 to implement programs giving undergraduates meaningful
scientific research experiences.
In addition to Gullickson's NSF award, the University's Evaluation
Center was awarded seven grants totaling $716,399. Among these
are two grants to evaluate charter schools around the nation,
including the previously announced award of $174,958 to Dr. Gary
J. Miron, principal research associate at the center, from the
Pennsylvania Department of Education, and a new grant for $30,000
awarded to Dr. Jerry G. Horn, principal research associate, from
California State University to evaluate CSU - Los Angeles' Charter
School of Education. Other grants awarded to the Evaluation Center
include a $30,000 grant to Gullickson to evaluate the impact of
the Appalachia Educational Laboratory, Inc. upon participants
in rural schools; a $25,836 grant to Lori Wingate, assistant to
the director, from the Law Offices of William Azkoul, P.C. to
survey female athletes in Michigan high schools regarding the
realignment of high school sports season to conform to intercollegiate
seasons; and a $10,665 grant to Dr. Pamela J. Zeller, project
director, from the Calhoun Intermediate School District to evaluate
and revise the Michigan Department of Education's Technology Literacy
Challenge, grant application and evaluation process.
A number of grants from private corporations will fuel University
research activities. Among these are a previously announced $205,000
grant from Seismic Micro-Technology of Houston to Dr. William
A. Sauck, associate professor of geosciences, to provide five
of the firm's KINGDOM Suite software packages, which will allow
faculty and students to produce two- and three- dimensional subsurface
seismic models; and a $120,000 grant from K-QUAY Enterprises,
LLC, of Edmonds, Wash. to Dr. Robert C. Eisenberg, professor of
biological sciences, to study the chemical basis for how bacteria
forms films on objects.
Other grants received include:
A $149,988 grant to Wiener from the National Easter Seal Society/Project
Action to develop and implement a curriculum for a travel instruction
program that would teach students how to instruct persons with
disabilities on orientation, independent travel and the use of
public transportation. In related action June 25, the WMU Board
of Trustees approved the establishment of a bachelor of arts degree
in travel instruction.
A $117,698 award from the Michigan Department of Education to
Griselda Daniel, director of diversity recruitment and assistant
to the dean of the Graduate College, to provide doctoral fellowships
to underrepresented students.
Media contact: Marie Lee, 616 387-8400, marie.lee@wmich.edu
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