WVUToday

Search committees have been appointed to seek candidates for the top posts in two of West Virginia University's colleges, Interim Provost Jane Martin announced Friday. WVU is seeking a new dean in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, the University's largest college, to take the place of Mary Ellen Mazey, who left the college in February to become the Provost at Auburn University. English Professor Rudy Almasy has been acting as interim dean since that time.

Psychology Professor Dr. Joseph Scotti, director of the WVU Traumatic Stress Research Group, is an expert on post traumatic stress disorder and can provide expert commentary on psychological matters related to troops in the wake of Thursday's events at Fort Hood. He may be reached by email at Joseph.Scotti@mail.wvu.edu.

Richard Thomas, WVU's newly named chair of the Department of Biology, knew he wanted to be a biologist after his first undergraduate class in ecology. After graduating and working on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina for a year, he found his niche in the field of plant physiological ecology.

In recognition of the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the German and History clubs at West Virginia University will host a discussion forum, "Remembering the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Twenty Years After," on Nov. 3 at 6 p.m. in Room G-4 of Woodburn Hall.

Feruz Ganikhanov, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Physics at WVU, plans to advance the medical industry with an alternative diagnostics tool to track biological cell processes that could lead to earlier detection of disease.

The Department of English in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences announces a call for papers in preparation for the 18th annual West Virginia Literature Symposium for Undergraduate Students to be held Feb. 13, 2010 at WVU.

L. Christopher Plein, Ph. D., an Eberly Professor of Outstanding Public Service at WVU, can address issues surrounding the public health care option. He is chair of the Division of Public Administration and also serves as an assistant dean for WVU?s Eberly College of Arts & Sciences.

Former Governor Gaston Caperton has been named the first F. Duke Perry Professor of Leadership Studies. He will be on the WVU campus Wednesday, Nov. 4 for a roundtable discussion on leadership. President James Clements will moderate the discussion.

Stephen Berry, professor of chemistry at the University of Chicago, will present two talks based on his research ranging from scientific matters and ethics to topics in energy resource policy and national security.

The Eberly College of Arts and Sciences will present the Inaugural Gandhi-King Lecture on International Relations and Peace Studies on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in Brooks Hall Room 202 on the downtown campus. The lecture series will become an annual event.