A MESSAGE
from the Dean
Nicholas Giordano
Welcome to the latest edition of Journey. It has been a
very busy and productive time for our college. We are
proud to be at the center of many new innovations and
discoveries on campus including the new Engaged in
Active Student Learning, or EASL, classroom that
will be used by all of our departments to research
breakthroughs by faculty and students. As I finish
my first year as dean of COSAM, I continue to be
impressed by this outstanding work. Please stop by for a
visit the next time you are on campus.
War Eagle!
Nick Giordano
Dean
College of Sciences and Mathematics
FACULTY
& STAFF
HIGHLIGHTS
from around COSAM
Henry Named New Associate Dean
of Research and Graduate Studies
Raymond Henry, the William P. Molette Professor
of Biological Sciences, has been named the new
associate dean for research and graduate studies
for the College of Sciences and Mathematics. A
faculty member at Auburn since 1983, Henry was
the Marine Biology Undergraduate Curriculum
Coordinator from 1990-95 and the assistant
department chair from 2002-12. Since 2010, he
has served as the director of the Auburn University
Cellular and Molecular Peaks of Excellence
Program. He is also the co-director of the
Teaching Enhancement Award Program, which is
sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
Henry’s primary research is in the area of
comparative physiology and biochemistry of
invertebrates and lower invertebrates, focusing
on how animals adapt to harsh and unstable
environments. More specifically, he studies the
central and multiple physiological and biochemical
functions of the enzyme carbonic anhydrase in
processes, including respiratory gas exchange,
acid-base balance, salt and water balance, cell
volume regulation, and nitrogen metabolism. Most
recently he has used the carbonic anhydrase gene
as a molecular model for how gene expression is
regulated by changes in environmental conditions.
He has published papers in the Journal of
Journey/2014
Hill Named SEC’s Auburn University
Faculty Achievement Award Winner
for 2013-14; Appointed Division
Director at NSF
Henry earned a bachelor of science and a master
of science in biology from the College of William
and Mary and the Virginia Institute of Marine
Science. He received his doctorate in zoology and
marine science from the University of Texas at
Austin, and he was a postdoctoral fellow in the
Department of Physiology at the University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine before joining
the faculty at Auburn.
Henry is the recipient of numerous awards and
honors, including the Director’s Research Award
from the College of Agriculture, and the Dean’s
Research Award from the College of Sciences and
Mathematics. He was named an Alumni Professor
from 1996-2001, and a Scharnagel Professor from
2002-05.
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Experimental Biology, the Journal of Experimental
Zoology, Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology,
Physiological and Biochemical Zoology, and the
American Journal of Physiology, among others.
His term as ADRG began Aug. 16. For more
information on Henry, visit his website at this
address: http://www.auburn.edu/cosam/faculty/
biology/henry/
Loch Named SGA Outstanding
Faculty Member
The Southeastern Conference named Professor
Geoffrey Hill the SEC’s Auburn University
Faculty Achievement Award winner for 2013-14.
Hill, an Alumni Professor in the Department of
Biological Sciences and curator of birds for the
Auburn University Museum of Natural History,
received a $5,000 honorarium and represented
Auburn as the university’s nominee for the SEC
Professor of the Year.
The SEC Faculty Achievement Awards, created
to recognize faculty accomplishments, scholarly
contributions, and discoveries, were established
by the SEC presidents and chancellors and are
administered by the SEC provosts. The awards
were first presented in 2012.
Stuart Loch, associate professor of physics, was
selected as the recipient of the SGA Outstanding
Faculty Member Award for the College of
Sciences and Mathematics. The award is
presented to one faculty member from each of the
university’s schools and colleges. Nominated by
students, recipients are chosen for respect of their
peers and students, excellence in teaching, and
concern for and involvement with students.
Hill’s research focuses on the function and
evolution of ornamental traits in birds and on the
co-evolution of hosts and pathogens. His research
has garnered $8.8 million in external grant support,
including grants from the National Science
Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.
He was also recently appointed director of the
Division of Integrative Organismal Systems at the
National Science Foundation, which is the largest
of the four divisions within the Biological Sciences
Directorate at NSF. He is currently working at
NSF headquarters in Arlington, Va.
College of Sciences and Mathematics
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