 |
|
College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences Annual Report to the Provost 1999
The Ohio State University College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences 1999 Annual Report to the Provost Content outline The Year in Review * Quality of Academic Programs * Quality of the Student Experience * Diversity activities * Development activities * Outreach activities * Defining the College Agenda * Previously funded AE awards * Photo credit for above: These computer simulations of or physisorbed monolayer of methyl chloride on graphite, performed by Donsheng Lu (now a postdoctoral research at the University of Utah) in collaboration with Sherwin Singer in the Department of Chemistry. College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences:
The College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences has had a successful year. Obvious highlights include several excellent senior faculty hires, the receipt of a Selective Investment award and significant progression on major projects including the new Physics building, the large Binocular Telescope and Spectroscopy Institute, among others. Below are details of these highlights as well as others. 
Physics Selective Investment award and new physics building A major highlight of the past year has been the receipt by the Physics Departments of a Selective Investment Award. This award recognizes past and present achievements and underwrites recruitment initiatives and infrastructure improvements for enhanced excellence in the future. Backed by Selective Investment, Physics has instituted a new thrust in Experimental Particle Astrophysics, with searches at the junior and senior level underway. Other areas of potential investment include heavy ion nuclear theory, computational materials, physics education research, and, possibly, biophysics.A second highlight of the past year has been the beginning of the design process for the new physics building. Schematic design is now drawing to a close, and the current design is a truly exciting one. The building will be located on the site of the old welding engineering facility. Mass Spectrometry Plan The Department of Chemistry is working with the Campus Chemical Instrumentation Center (CCIC) to build a world class facility in Mass Spectrometry (MS). We have assembled a consortium of Ohio universities to seek equipment funds from the Hayes Investment Program. We are also seeking NSF and NIH funding for the MS facility. The initiative is led by Pat Hatcher in Chemistry and John Olesik of the Microscopic and Chemical Analysis Research Center (MARC) in cooperation with Ming-Daw Tsai of the CCIC. They have prepared an Academic Enrichment proposal that will be submitted through the Office of Research with strong support from the college. Environmental Sciences Initiative Previous Academic Enrichment awards have supported the appointments of Noel Cressie in Statistics and Pat Hatcher in Chemistry. (See page *) The college has formed an Environmental Sciences Faculty Advisory Committee/HEAD> < chaired by Frank Schwartz, Geological Sciences and comprised of representatives from Chemistry, Geological Sciences and Statistics. The committee is consulting with other academic units within he University and will propose a comprehensive plan for the development of the environmental sciences at Ohio State. Alain Connes The Department of Mathematics announced the appointment of 1982 Fields Medalist Alain Connes on a part-time basis. He offered a course in Autumn Quarter on non-commutative geometry, a field that he pioneered. Professor Connes is Professor at the Collège de France and holds the Léon Motchane Chair at l'Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques. He is a Foreign Associate Member of the National Academy of Science, Membre de l'Académie des Sciences, France and holds membership in the scientific academies of Canada, Denmark, and Norway. 
Large Binocular Telescope The Large Binocular Telescope and mirror construction on continues apace. Expenditures remain modestly in excess of original estimates but within the contingency plan. The Department of Astronomy is actively pursuing external funding opportunities (federal contracts and private support) to provide some offset of university funds currently supporting the project. First light for the LBT is still expected in 2002. Update information including a live-camera view of construction is available at: http://www-astronomy.mps.ohio-state.edu/LBT/index.html In the meantime, the department has finalized the partnership of OSU-Michigan-Dartmouth-Columbia in the ownership and operation of the two medium-sized telescopes at the MDM Observatory on Kitt Peak. The Web site for additional information including the actual schedule for observing time can be found at: http://www.astro.lsa.umich.edu/obs/mdm/ Spectroscopy Institute This past year the OSU Spectroscopy Institute was formally designated as an interdisciplinary center. The Institute together with the Chemical Physics Program, both under the direction of Terry Miller, have internationally recognized research and educational programs. In addition the Institute will continue to sponsor the annual OSU Molecular Spectroscopy Symposium. Junior appointments: The College is pleased to welcome several Junior faculty appointments in astronomy, mathematcis and chemistry. Jordi Miralda-Escudé, Astronomy, formerly Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania; PhD Princeton 1991, postdoctoral fellowships at Cambridge and Institute for Advanced Study arrived in September. Dr. Miralda-Escudés area of expertise is theoretical extra-galactic astrophysics. He will strengthen our outstanding astrophysics groups in Astronomy and Physics. Yuan Lou, Mathematics, formerly Dickson Instructor, University of Chicago; PhD Minnesota 1995 joined the department in September. Dr. Lou's expertise in nonlinear PDE begins to fill a need in the department. He bridges the gap between the more theoretical end of applied mathematics and various parts of analysis including probability and several complex variables. 
Wenzhi Luo, Mathematics, formerly Assistant Professor, Princeton; PhD Rutgers, 1993 was hired in April. Dr. Luo's expertise is in analytic number theory, which complements the department's strength in algebraic number theory. He will also serve as a bridge to our strong group in harmonic analysis and representation theory. Patrick Woodward, Chemistry, formerly a post doctoral scientist at Brookhaven National Laboratory; PhD Oregon State 1996 joined the department in November. Dr. Woodward's interests are in the synthesis, crystallography, and computer modeling of extended inorganic materials. Dr. Woodward has joined the Center for Materials Research and will be interacting with other members of the OSU materials community in Physics and Engineering. Awards and honors
A recent quality measure is the U.S. News and World Report 1996 survey of graduate programs. This survey correlates quite well with the NRC report and shows our strengths in many areas. The Departments with sub-disciplines that were ranked in the top 20 are listed below:
QUALITY OF THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE Overview Each of the departments in the college continues to create an atmosphere fostering academic achievement and encouragement for students. New honors courses developed in the past year in mathematics and geological sciences, as well as the continued popularity of the GED science sequence in astronomy attest to the increased emphasis being placed on this important area. Physics undergraduate program A thorough review of Physics undergraduate major programs is underway and is expected to result in a broadened, more flexible array of options reflecting the diverse interests and career goals of physics majors. The majority of our students go on to graduate school in physics, but many of them are opting for programs in other fields such as medicine, law and teaching, as well as immediate employment. Instructional initiatives in Mathematics The Mathematics and Statistics Learning Center (MSLC) continues to grow. This past quarter the MSLC served between 1500 and 2400 students each week. Under its new director, Tony Nance, the center has established expanded evening hours and has begun efforts on computer and web based instructional aids for students in lower level math classes. Currently the Math Department is assessing several areas of its curriculum, including: - Ongoing study of the math placement process, including evaluation of the correlation between placement levels and performance in math classes with qualitative and quantitative analysis of specific items on the exams. - Quarterly analysis of audiences in main-sequence math courses grouped by math background and academic program. - Quarterly assessment of the sequential math classes to see how each course articulates with its prerequisite course. - Numerous specialized analyses of specific curricular issues. - The development and maintenance of a database of all math students, courses, and placement results that will allow the department to do long-term tracking studies of students. Mathematics appointed the first four Ross Assistant Professors (RAP's). This new group of post-doctoral positions is named in honor of Arnold Ross, Emeritus Professor of Mathematics and former Chair of the Department. The primary emphasis in appointing RAP's is on excellent teaching credentials. Our aim is to attract promising young mathematicians with outstanding teaching experience and ability. The Math 2000 Seminar has been expanded in scope and renamed the Math 2000 Colloquium. The Colloquium will provide a forum for discussing the range of issues facing the mathematics community and the university as a whole including teaching innovations, distance learning, public policy, K-12 education, and changes in research funding. The list of confirmed speakers includes - William E. Kirwan, President of The Ohio State University; - Roderick Chu, Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents; - Richard Askey, Professor of Mathematics and former Chair, University of Wisconsin; - Elizabeth Hawthorne, Director of Academic Programs, World Campus, Pennsylvania State University; - Douglas Ravenel, Chair, Department of Mathematics, University of Rochester. Assessment We have been working closely with the departments and the Office of Academic Affairs to develop assessment plans for our major programs. These plans will articulate clearly defined learning goals for the programs, define measures for these goals, and provide for effective, consistent feedback to the programs. 
The college's development efforts increased giving from the last fiscal year by approximately 103%. As of December 31, 1998 our total was $14,346,572, or 90% of our $16,000,000 goal in the $1 billion Affirm Thy Friendship Campaign as well as an additional $2,250,000 in deferred gifts. We received 2 gifts of over $1 million from alumni, and serious negotiations began for a 3rd gift in that range. The College has provided financial incentives for faculty to be involved in the Summer Research Opportunities Program of the CIC and in the Young Scholars Program. We have had contacts with the leadership of the Native American student group on campus and have discussed with them the possibility of establishing at Ohio State a chapter of the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. We are cooperating with the local chapter of Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) and the Association of Women in Science of Central Ohio (AWISCO) to find ways to encourage women to explore opportunities in science, engineering, and mathematics. This past spring, the college appointed Melissa Weber, formerly with the Womens Health Initiative, as the colleges first Director of Communications and Outreach. In cooperation with Assistant Dean Andrew Heckler and Development Officer Bill Cloyd, Melissa has been active in our public relations, K-12 outreach, and diversity initiatives. The Orton Geological Museum of the Department of Geological Sciences continues it strong outreach role. Each year Dale Gnidovec, the curator, lectures at the museum to numerous school and youth groups. This past year museum tours accommodated over 800 people and Dale gave more than 60 off-campus talks. In addition, Dale writes the weekly geology column for the Columbus Dispatch. Dale was recently featured in an OnCampus article. Geological Sciences faculty serve on state and local committees such as the Ohio Hazards Board, Ohio Geological Survey Advisory Committee, Environmental Science Advisory Committee for the City of Columbus, and the Ohio Seismic Hazards Advisory Board. The annual Physics Open House continues to be a successful outreach and recruitment event attracting nearly 300 high school students and their parents. In addition, the Physics Department sponsored a statewide Physics Graduate School Workshop in connection with the departments Alpheus Smith Lecture. Open to the best physics undergraduate majors in the State, this workshop was designed to advertise the program at OSU and recruit potential graduate students.
The college was one of the major participants in the Ohio in Space Week, a celebration of OSUs connection to research and space, in conjunction with Professor John Glenns return to space on the shuttle. The Departments of Astronomy and Physics and faculty associated with the Byrd Polar Center presented events and sponsored activities during the week. K-12 interactions The college continues to explore several possibilities in the K-12 arena:
We have met with several groups of educators from the Columbus Public Schools and the Franklin County Superintendents group. We are attempting to develop a partnership with the College of Education and we are vigorously supporting Martha Garlands P-16 initiative. The Colleges of the Arts and Sciences should be playing a much more central role in support of K-12 education and teacher development. Working with the College, members of the Mathematics Department have had discussions with the Eisenhower National Clearing House and the Franklin County Board of School Superintendents on professional development for teachers and support of the K-12 enterprise. The college is involved in a collaborative grant with the Colleges of Food, Agriculture, and Environmental Sciences and of Education to develop curricular materials and teacher professional development on the topics of simple machines and the solar system.
Preamble The college agenda is very much the university agenda: academic excellence, quality of the student experience, outreach, diversity, and revenue generation. Several of these items have been addressed elsewhere in the annual report. Recruiting and retaining top faculty. We continue to stress the application of the highest standards in the recruitment and promotion and tenure processes. The college continues to supplement departmental funds in the case of target of opportunity (excellence or diversity) hires. Establishing internal salary equity with quality discriminations has been central to our retention efforts. Retention also depends on maintaining the necessary infrastructure for our most productive scientists and creating a supportive environment. Infrastructure costs and equipment matching contributions on grants are a significant cash obligation of the college and our departments. In addition, start up costs for new faculty are escalating at an alarming rate. Its quite possible for a junior hire to require over $400 thousand in start up funds and commonplace for a senior hire to require well over $1million. GTA stipends In many science fields the pool of domestic applicants is shrinking and this places severe upward pressure on graduate stipends. Among our peers, stipends are increasing at a greater rate than standard OSU guideline increases. Remaining competitive for domestic students is important to the quality of our academic programs. Since we feel that avoiding stipend inversions among graduate students is imperative, raising entry level stipends obliges us to raise all stipends. Thus remaining competitive in entry level stipends has put tremendous burdens on our specials accounts. The problem is quite severe in Chemistry, Geological Sciences, and Mathematics. Space and facilities With funding assured for the new physics building, we are now considering our remaining capital budget priorities. Our highest priority is to find an adequate home for the substantial segment of the Physics Department that will not be accommodated in the new building. The options available appear to be either an annex to the new building or a suitable renovation of a portion of Smith Lab. In either case, we would like to retain Smith Lab as a science and technology building. Possible future residents of Smith Lab are the MAPS College Office, the Department of Statistics, the Center for Materials Research (CMR), the Campus Chemical Instrumentation Center, or the Byrd Polar Research Center. In addition to the CMR, there may be other uses of the building that would benefit both MAPS and Engineering. Further Capital Budget projects of the college are the renovations of Cockins Hall and of old Evans Laboratory. We continue to plead for adequate space for the College Office in Denney Hall until new quarters can be found. We remain hopeful that the renovation of McPherson Laboratory will be completed by the summer of 1999. McPherson will house the Department of Astronomy, the Imaging Sciences Laboratory, research and instructional laboratories of the Department of Chemistry and multiple classrooms. Unfortunately, a sequence of financial problems have negatively impacted the project and jeopardized our ability to adequately equip the building for its designed purposes. Leadership development and chairs Leadership is as important as resources to the success of the college. We have new chairs in Physics and Mathematics who promise to be very effective in communicating to their departments the needs for efficiency, thoughtful decision making, and alignment with university goals. We currently have internal searches in progress for chairs in Chemistry and Geological Sciences. The leadership programs run by the Office of Academic Affairs and the Office of Human Resources have been very helpful in developing leadership potential in our younger faculty and giving some faculty members a more useful perspective on the workings of the institution.  PREVIOUSLY FUNDED ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT AWARDS Microscopic and Chemical Analysis Research Center (MARC) (FY1995) New Technology in the Science Classroom (FY 1996) Instructional Computing in Chemistry (FY 1997) Biostatistics Program Director (FY 1997) Global Climate and Environmental Change (FY 1998) Lower Level Mathematics Instruction (FY 1998) A second Academic Enrichment award in 1999 provides funds for a Systems Administrator and a Software Developer to create the MSLC computer lab. During Autumn Quarter Ryan Rice was hired as Systems Administrator and Chad Cunningham was hired as Software Developer. They have begun to develop a Web presence for MSLC and plans for the first phase of MSLC computer labs. Analysis of Space Time Phenomena (FY 1999) | ||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
 |
||||||||||||||||
 Last modified June 18 1999.
|
