Volume 7 | Sept. 4, 2018
Dear Students, Staff, Faculty, Alumni, and Friends,

Welcome to Fall 2018 semester! 2017-18 was a banner year for research, development and faculty and student awards in the College of Arts and Sciences. This year we welcome another large and immensely talented new class of undergraduate and graduate students into the college.

The current budget will enable the college to award around $350,000 in scholarships to over 250 students this academic year, which will be a new record. In addition, departments will award around $800,000 in scholarships. Nonetheless, we have to do more to help ensure that our mission as the cornerstone college of this public research university is properly met. Scholarships transform our students' lives.  To give click here and click on the Arts and Sciences Scholarships in the Use My Gift For box.
 
This is the first edition of the college newsletter for the 2018-19 academic year. From groundbreaking research, scholarship, and creative activity, to innovations in the classroom and partnerships in the community, our newsletter is intended to provide timely updates on the achievements of our students, faculty and staff while highlighting upcoming events we hope you’ll attend, and in doing so further strengthen the bonds of our community of learning and innovation. 
 
Have a fantastic fall semester,
ANNOUNCEMENTS
NEW LEADERSHIP IN THE COLLEGE
A celebrated educator, historian and author, David Wrobel was named dean of the University of Oklahoma College of Arts and Sciences . At the recommendation of OU President James L. Gallogly, his appointment was confirmed at the June meeting of the OU Board of Regents. Wrobel, who also holds appointments as David L. Boren Professor of History and Merrick Chair of Western American History, joined the OU faculty in 2011 on the Norman campus as the Ward Merrick Chair of Western American History and professor of history. Wrobel had served as interim dean of the college since 2017
Our departments, centers and institutes enjoy outstanding reputations, due, in large part, to the dedication and commitment of our deans, chairs and directors to our mission. The following are new chair and director appointments.

Karlos Hill - Clara Luper Department of African and African-American Studies
Christina Miller (acting Fall 2018-Spring 2019) - Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work
Scott Robinson - Department of Political Science
Jen Ross - Public and Community Health Programs
Laura Souza - Oklahoma Biological Survey
Zev Trachtenberg (acting Fall 2018) - Department of Philosophy
Karlos Hill
Christina Miller
Scott Robinson
Jen Ross
Laura Souza
Zev Trachtenberg
This summer, Heather Todd joined the college as executive director of operations. In her role, she will oversee the areas of budget, finance operational policies and procedures. Previously, she served as director of finance for the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication.
WELCOME NEW FACULTY MEMBERS
The college is pleased to welcome 40 new faculty members. We work hard to identify and recruit the most gifted scholars and teachers from around the country and across the world. Each one brings accomplishments to our university and we look forward to their contributions to our community for many years to come. Please visit the college website to view a complete list of new faculty members.
KAISER FOUNDATION GIFT EXPANDS REACH OF OU SOCIAL SIMULATION PROGRAM
The Herman and Kate Kaiser Foundation of Tulsa gave a $661,000 gift to continue the groundbreaking work of the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa’s Social Simulation Program and Haruv USA. The gift will provide students and community members with expanded training simulations targeting child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, suicide, mental health, patient and client interactions, and adverse childhood experiences.

STUDENTS STUDY ABROAD
Every summer, Arts and Sciences students travel the world. Along the way, they challenge themselves and extend their experience beyond the classroom. Logan Veal shared her experience in her own voice and pictures as she traveled to Seville, Spain, to complete her language requirement for a degree in psychology. Visit the college Facebook page to learn more about her trip. 
NEW PARTNERSHIP FORMED TO TRAIN TRIBAL CHILD-WELFARE WORKERS
OU-Tulsa, Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work, Eastern Oklahoma Tribal ICW and Social Service Program Leaders, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs for the Eastern Region of Oklahoma have partnered to develop a Tribal Worker Competency Training. The team began meeting in July of 2017 and rolled out the first pilot in July at OU-Tulsa. The training curriculum was led by tribal leaders to meet the demands of front-line workers entering Indian Child Welfare or Child Protective Services. The uniqueness of the training is a combined emphasis on culture and hands-on approach to interviewing through simulations. The first pilot was a success as participants praised the delivery and experience in a real-life setting. The intent of the project is to develop core competencies for tribal workers and staff through simulation. The workgroup is excited to begin the next pilot with six more sessions planned through 2019.
CIGNA PROVIDES SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY-ENGAGED PROGRAMMING
The College of Arts and Science thanks Cigna for its generous support of a number of community-engaged programs. The Department of Health and Exercise Science is pleased to announce Cigna is donating $5,000 to support its students participating in internships and research in areas related to health, wellness and sense of security.
 
Cigna is also providing $10,000 for three programs in the Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work: OKC Southside Initiative Project, Why I Matter and Double Up Oklahoma.
 
Additionally, $5,000 was awarded to two students who interned at CCFI this summer (Eric Rollerson and Ashley Hampton). Cigna is also providing $10,000 for the OU-Tulsa Campus Community Health for the Homeless program and $5,000 for the OU Food Pantry.
DREAM COURSE PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES BEGINS
Several faculty members were chosen to design presidential dream courses for the fall semester. In 2004-05, OU began a program to give extra funds to enhance courses already scheduled for the academic year. This fund provides the ability to bring in several experts in the field during the semester to interact with the students and to give lectures open to the public.

Fall 2018
Jennifer Davis-Cline  - "French and Haiti in Revolution: Race and the Rights of Man" 
Ying Wang  - "Numerical Analysis"
Janet Ward  ,  Karlos Hill  ,  Rachel Shelden  - "After Charlottesville: Race and Nation in American History"

For more information on the dream courses, click here .
BEAT TEXAS RECEPTION SET FOR OCT. 5
College of Arts and Sciences Dean David Wrobel and University Libraries Interim Dean Carl Grant invite you to join our team at the Beat Texas Reception from 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 5, at the Omni Dallas Hotel (Southside 1), 555 S. Lamar St. RSVP by Sept. 27 at link.ou.edu/CASBeatTexas or (405) 325-6201.
CELEBRATE THE DEDICATION OF THE DODGE PHYSICS COMPLEX AND CHUN C. LIN HALL OCT. 12-13
University of Oklahoma President James L. Gallogly, College of Arts and Sciences Dean David Wrobel and Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy Chair Phillip Gutierrez invite you to the celebration and dedication of the Dodge Physics Complex and Chun C. Lin Hall Oct. 12-13.
 
On Friday, Oct. 12, celebratory activities will begin with a public presentation by Timothy Gay, titled "Football: Its Physics and Its Future." The event begins at 7 p.m., in Nielsen Hall, Room 170, and is free and open to the public. On Saturday, Oct. 13, light refreshments will be provided in Nielsen Hall at 9 a.m., followed by the dedication of the Dodge Physics Complex and Lin Hall at 10 a.m., followed by a reception and tours of Lin Hall throughout the afternoon. The celebration will conclude with The Road to Excellence Gala at 6 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. Be sure to register by Monday, Oct. 1.
FACULTY AND STAFF ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Yihan Shao (Assistant Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry) received the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities. This award will foster his collaboration with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory on the development and application of accelerated hybrid quantum mechanical molecular mechanical (QM/MM) free energy calculations for accurately modeling enzymatic reactions.
Stephen Weldon (Associate Professor, History of Science) and Hunter Heyck (Chair/Professor, History of Science) recently concluded an agreement with the History of Science Society (HSS) to continue producing the Isis Current Bibliography of the History of Science at OU. Weldon has been editing the annual Isis Bibliography since 2002, and the new agreement continues that arrangement for another five years. 
Donna Nelson (Professor, Chemistry) was selected by business.org as “70 of the Most Inspirational Women Leaders Impacting the World in 2018.” Some other awe-inspiring women named were Oprah Winfrey, Chelsea Clinton, Bette Midler, Ginni Rometty, Melinda Gates, Marillyn Hewson and Adena Friedman.
Janet Ward (Professor, History) has been elected as vice president and president-elect of the German Studies Association (GSA). She will serve a term of two years as vice president (2018-19), prior to becoming GSA president for two years (2020-21), and then immediate past president for an additional two years (2022-23). The international German Studies Association is the premier multi- and interdisciplinary association of scholars focused on German, Austrian and Swiss history, literature, cultural studies, political science, economics, musicology, anthropology, as well as art and architectural history. 
Megan Denney (Academic Adviser, Health and Exercise Science) was named a 2018 Outstanding Advising Award winner in the Academic Advising – Primarily Advising Role category from NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising, as part of the 2018 Global Awards Program for Academic Advising. Denney will receive the award in Phoenix, Arizona, during the NACADA Annual Conference in the fall of 2018.
RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS
ALBERTO MARINO TO STUDY NEW POSSIBILITIES IN QUANTUM PHYSICS
Physics professor, Alberto Marino , is the recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER (Faculty Early Career Development Program) Award in the amount of $500,000 to study new possibilities for the use of spatial degree of freedom in applications ranging from long-distance quantum communications to quantum imaging. The compatibility of the spatial degree of freedom with long-distance quantum networks can bring about a revolution to the field of quantum information science by making it possible to transmit large amounts of information through a quantum channel.
RESEARCH TEAM IDENTIFIES GENETIC STRUCTURE OF PAINTED BUNTING
Researcher, Andrea Contina , and his team have identified the genetic structure of the Painted Bunting , a neotropical migratory songbird, using microsatellite DNA and single nucleotide polymorphisms to develop high-resolution markers to differentiate between individual birds breeding in different Oklahoma populations and across the United States. Through this research, Contina and his team now can differentiate between the eastern and western Painted Buntings and identify the species pattern of migration and population of origin.
DANIEL ALLEN TO LEAD U.S. STREAM-DRYING STUDY WITH $3 MILLION IN NSF GRANTS
Daniel Allen (Assistant Professor of Biology) will lead one of the first coordinated ecology research projects to study what happens to streams as they dry across the United States. The National Science Foundation funded the study with a $1.4 million grant to OU and $1.6 million in grants to researchers from the University of California, Berkeley; Northern Arizona University; University of Louisiana at Lafayette; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and University of
Arizona.
CLIMATE WARMING AFFECTS TALLGRASS PRAIRIE ECOSYSTEM
Jizhong Zhou (Professor of Microbiology) and his team have completed a new study on the effects of climate warming on soil microbes in a long-term climate change experiment at a tallgrass prairie ecosystem. The new study shows that climate warming will affect microbial communities in the future, and future community states will be more predictable under warmed climate. Eventually, microbial communities will produce different functions and feedbacks to climate warming.
EDWARD COKELY FEATURED BY BBC FUTURE
Edward Cokely's (Professor of Psychology) work in risk literacy was featured by David Robson in a piece for BBC Future . The article, "How Well Do You Think About Risk and Uncertainty," focused on how the capacity to weigh different potential outcomes is essential for good decision-making.
LEE KRUMHOLZ
MICROBIOLOGY AND PLANT BIOLOGY
$2 MILLION, FIVE-YEAR - NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

CYANOBACTERIAL BLOOM MICROBIAL INTERACTOME AS A MODEL FOR UNDERSTANDING BIOGEOGRAPHICAL AND SEASONAL PATTERNS IN FUNCTIONAL DIVERSITY

In recent years, harmful outbreaks of toxic cyanobacteria have reached new levels in water bodies all over the world. These cyanobacterial blooms are threatening freshwater lakes. The toxins pose substantial health risks to humans, pets, livestock and wildlife. This project will study the fundamental interactions between cyanobacteria and other bacteria co-occurring with blooms. It is hypothesized that these microbial consortia coevolved to form a community of synergistic species, each with unique metabolic capabilities that are critical to the growth, maintenance and demise of the bloom. The project will include global surveys of cyanobacterial blooms, targeted of metagenomic surveys, and experimental analyses of bacterial gene expression during blooms using lab and field studies at sites in China and the U.S. This project will also explore the roles of nutrient inputs, nutrient ratios and various forms of nitrogen. New analyses will investigate the taxonomic identities and functional outcomes of these cyanobacterial communities. The results of this project will lead to improved predictions about the toxicity of blooms threatening human activities. This research aims to mitigate harmful cyanobacterial blooms by using a realistic approach based on community ecology and evolutionary biology. 
$1.7 MILLION, FIVE-YEAR - U.S. DEPT. OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH

FACTORS INFLUENCING SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH CAREERS AMONG AMERICAN INDIANS

Even compared to other underrepresented groups, the American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) population is not well represented in STEM and disappointingly, is not always detailed in comparisons of workforce data because of their small numbers. Interventions to address risk factors of AIAN students have frequently been atheoretical, lacking in systematic evaluation, and developed without focus on explicit cultural terms that enable students to create a positive bicultural identity as scientists. This project is focused on understanding the experiences of AIAN undergraduate students through qualitative and quantitative methods in order to determine factors influencing persistence and success in STEM majors as well as other fields.  In addition, the project intends to approach the goal of increasing the number of AIAN STEM majors and biomedical/behavioral research scientists by considering the intersection between student interests and ability, community needs, and industry skill gaps to determine potential levers of change in policy as well as development of programming to increase student engagement and persistence.
DEADLINES AND FEATURED EVENTS




Sept. 11
The College of Arts and Sciences and Price College of Business will host an Industry Networking event for students Tuesday, Sept. 11, from 4 p.m. - 6 p.m. in the OMU Regents and Associates Rooms. All majors are invited and there will be free food. Employers include Cintas Corporation, Power Costs Inc., Paycom, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, U.S. Dept of State, Inceed, OKDHS, First Fidelity Bank, Goosehead Insurance, Love’s, Sendero Consulting, Shell, Koch Industries, AT&T, Northwestern Mutual and Chase/JPMorgan. Students planning to attend should RSVP to Adrienne Jablonski, ajablonski@ou.edu .

Sept. 25
OU Giving Day is an annual university-wide fundraising event that lasts ONE DAY to inspire students, alumni and friends to make a gift to the university or to the programs or schools on campus that are meaningful to them. Last year was our first ever OU Giving Day, raising $179,000 for student scholarships! 

Sept. 26             
CASFAM Staff meeting, 9 a.m., Dale Hall Tower 906

Sept. 27             
Chairs and Directors meeting by area, 9 a.m., Ellison Hall

Sept. 28             
Deadline for academic units to finalize and freeze tenure and promotion dossiers in the TPS system.

Sept. 28           
Sabbatical leave reports from spring 2018 only or both fall 2017 and spring 2018
(two-semester sabbatical) are due to the dean’s office.

Sept. 28    
Deadline to submit new graduate degree programs or graduate certificates (using State Regents forms) to the dean’s office.    

Oct. 5
Beat Texas Reception, 5:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., Omni Dallas Hotel, 555 S. Lamar St., Southside 1. RSVP by Sept. 27 at link.ou.edu/CASBeatTexas or (405) 325-6201.

Oct. 12 - 13
Celebration and dedication of the Dodge Physics Complex and Chun C. Lin Hall. To register and for more information about the event click here.

Nov. 1
A Meet the Dean event will be held in Dallas, Texas. Details will be announced at a later date.

March 22, 2019 - April 22, 2019   
EarthMonth@OU is the annual celebration of Earth Month®. Normally celebrated during the month of April and associated with Earth Day, EarthMonth@OU is celebrated during the 30 days between World Water Day (March 22) and Earth Day (April 22). EarthMonth@OU consists of a series of campus and public events focused on local and global environmental concerns.