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OSU honors faculty for research excellence

(Oct. 12, 2011 Stillwater, OK) – Oklahoma State University has selected nine outstanding faculty researchers as this year’s Regents Distinguished Research Award winners. These faculty members maintain records of past and continuing excellence in research and are recognized nationally and internationally for achievements in their respective fields of study. Winners will be honored at the Fall Convocation later this year.

The winners are:

Dr. Ulrich Melcher, Regents professor and endowed professor from the Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

Melcher is an expert and leader in the areas of biodiversity, evolution, ecology and molecular biology of plant viruses. He has developed numerous fundamental techniques and processes that identify plant viruses and the way they spread. Through OSU’s National Institute for Microbial Forensics and Food and Agricultural Biosecurity, he advises students and scientists in molecular detection of threat pathogens and on tools for distinguishing natural from man-made plant virus outbreaks. He’s managed more than $6 million in grant funding over the course of his career, including awards from the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Melcher says that from his teen years he knew he wanted to make a positive impact on society and feels science is the best way for him to achieve that.

Dr. Estella Atekwana, Regents professor from the College of Arts and Sciences

Atekwana has been instrumental in development of a new field of research: biogeophysics, a hybrid subdiscipline of geoscience and microbiology that involves using geophysical techniques to detect and monitor microbial activity in the subsurface. She has authored more than 62 publications in top-tier journals, including 40 in this new field. Biogeophysics has potential application to groundwater and contaminant geology, petroleum exploration and production, and to understanding life in extreme environments, such as the mid-oceanic ridges or even Mars. Atekwana is a highly sought after keynote speaker and presenter and serves on boards and panels of numerous professional societies. She also has a notable record of involving graduate and undergraduate students in her research.

Dr. Thomas Shriver, professor from the College of Arts and Sciences

Shriver has spent 16 years building a vibrant research agenda and top-ranked environmental sociology program at OSU. His research focuses on citizen mobilization efforts surrounding environmental injustices. He’s studied environmental activism and contested illness at the Oak Ridge Nuclear Reservation in Tennessee, environmental hazards and health issues at the Tar Creek Superfund site in Northeast Oklahoma and environmental activism in post-communist Czech Republic – all of which resulted in several articles for flagship sociology journals. Shriver is also highly involved with the American Sociological Association. One of his recent co-authored manuscripts won the 2011 Outstanding Publication Award from the Environment and Technology section of the ASA.

Dr. Charlotte Wright, professor and Chasteen Chair from the Spears School of Business

Wright is one of the world’s most widely recognized and cited academic experts in the area of oil and gas industry accounting and financial reporting. She has provided input to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and worked closely with the International Accounting Standards Board. She has authored two books and more than 40 research articles. She has mentored numerous doctoral candidates, and is also extensively involved in consulting and training, where she shares her expertise with countless U.S. and international petroleum companies.

Dr. Lucy Bailey, associate professor from the College of Education

Bailey’s research focuses on the interdisciplinary field of social foundations of education. Her work in qualitative methodology, women’s history, and race and gender studies has achieved national visibility through diverse national and international publications, presentations and curricular products. She has engaged in collaborative scholarship with faculty both inside and outside OSU and has supported graduate students’ research development through the doctoral qualitative research sequence she teaches. She has also published various conference proceedings, book reviews and encyclopedia entries, and has contributed to over 40 conference presentations since joining OSU in 2005. She is currently a senior investigator on the NSF OSU ADVANCE grant, which is part of a nationwide effort to increase the participation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers.

Dr. Satish Bukkapatnam, professor and AT&T professor from the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology

Bukkapatnam’s research addresses the deployment and harnessing of high-resolution dynamic information, especially from wireless MEMS sensor networks, to improve the monitoring, prognostics and control of complex engineering systems. His research combines rigorous mathematical analysis with hands-on engineering experimentation. He has collaborated with researchers at OSU and around the nation and has made notable contributions to his field, including 57 journal papers, 44 conference proceedings, five “best paper” recognitions, five book chapters and three books. He has managed more than $3 million in grant funding from the NSF, FAA, Department of Defense and private industry. He has also developed hands-on courses integrating manufacturing and information systems.

Dr. Robert Larzelere, professor from the College of Human Sciences

Larzelere specializes in social scientific research methodology, advanced statistics and parental discipline. Although his research investigates the full range of disciplinary responses, he is best known for research comparing spanking to alternative disciplinary tactics. He was one of seven featured speakers at the only scientific conference on child outcomes of corporal punishment. He recently collaborated with Dr. Diana Baumrind of the University of California to show the long-term child benefits of a balance of parental love and limits, called “authoritative” parenting. He has used his expertise in advanced statistics and research methodology to upgrade course offerings in these areas at OSU by teaching Ph.D. courses on increasingly important types of statistical analyses. Many of his students present their work at national professional conferences and publish their findings in professional publications.

Dr. Robert S. Conrad, professor from the OSU Center for Health Sciences and College of Osteopathic Medicine

Conrad joined Oklahoma College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1974, and has helped to educate more than 2,500 osteopathic physicians and graduate students. He has taught medical bacteriology, immunology, virology, parasitology, antibiotics and infectious disease in the medical curriculum and a graduate course in microbial physiology. His research involves the structure, composition and the role of lipopolysaccharides in infection and disease, and the molecular bases of antimicrobial resistance in gram positive and gram negative bacteria. His current research includes the epidemiology, identification and interactions of bacteria associated with oral devices in health and disease. He has co-authored 46 papers in peer-reviewed journals, 45 abstracts and 39 papers/posters. He has been an invited speaker at 19 research seminars in the U.S. and abroad. Conrad was awarded Fulbright and Fogarty foundation scholarships to work at the Max-Planck-Institut fűr Immunbiologie, Freiburg, Germany. He served as chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology for 13 years.

Dr. Jeffrey S. Stroup, associate professor and clinical pharmacist from the OSU Center for Health Sciences and College of Osteopathic Medicine

Stroup is both a mentor and a researcher for OSU’s Department of Internal Medicine, mentoring junior faculty and internal medicine residents in general medicine research in areas including diabetes, infectious diseases, HIV/Hepatitis C and cardiovascular disease. This general medicine research includes prospective and retrospective research, case-report and review articles. He also oversees the development and management of grant support for the OSU-CHS Internal Medicine Ryan White HIV/AIDS Clinic, one of two federally funded (Health Resources and Services Administration) Part C clinics in Oklahoma. The grants support patient care, case management support, outpatient services, laboratory services and medications. Stroup joined OSU in 2007.

Oklahoma State University is a modern land-grant system that cuts across disciplines to better prepare students for a new world. Oklahoma’s only university with a statewide presence, OSU improves the lives of people in Oklahoma, the nation, and the world through integrated, high-quality teaching, research and outreach.  OSU has more than 32,000 students across its five-campus system and more than 19,000 on its Stillwater campus; with students from all 50 states and about 110 nations.  Established in 1890, OSU has graduated more than 200,000 students who have made a lasting impact on Oklahoma and the world.  CREATE - INNOVATE - EDUCATE - GO STATE!