DEVELOPMENT
HIGHLIGHTS
from around campus and beyond
Dean’s Top Three Areas of
Priority Giving:
1. COSAM initiates Young Faculty Scholar awards
The College of Sciences and Mathematics
congratulates Orlando Acevedo, S. D. and Karen H.
Worley Associate Professor from the Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry, for being selected
to receive the 2014 COSAM Young Faculty
Scholar Award. The five-year award carries with it
an annual stipend of $3,500 to support Acevedo’s
scholarly work.
COSAM makes great efforts to attract and
retain early career faculty who show considerable
promise as both instructors and researchers. Young
faculty contribute to the vitality of the college
as they bring new energy and enthusiasm to the
campus. COSAM considers these faculty to be a
rich investment in both the present and future of
Auburn University.
Christopher Easley, an associate professor in the
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, who
is also the C. Harry Knowles Endowed Professor
for Research Leadership in Physical Science
Instruction, is familiar with the struggles that young
faculty face.
“Early career faculty in COSAM are some of the
hardest working individuals on campus. At this
stage in their careers, they are not only teaching
courses, but they are spending much of their time
and effort in developing their research programs,”
said Easley. “The Young Faculty Scholars program
provides a springboard to help these faculty obtain
2. Auburn University Museum of Natural History
The Auburn University Museum of Natural
History is housed in the Biodiversity Learning
Center, a new 15,000-square-foot facility on
campus. The museum includes more than 1 million
specimens representing the rich, natural heritage of
Alabama, the Southeast, and beyond. The mission
of the Auburn University Museum of Natural
History is to conduct biodiversity research, preserve
Early career faculty face the daunting task of not
only managing the demands facing an instructor in
the classroom, but also building a research program.
Indeed, the decision to hire young faculty is based,
in part, on a demonstrated promise for conducting
exceptional creative, scholarly research.
The COSAM Young Faculty Scholars awards are
designed to assist the research efforts of early career
faculty and are one of the dean’s top three areas
of priority giving. The awards are given to those
who have already made outstanding contributions
in their area of research and who demonstrate
the potential for scholarly growth. These are
five-year awards, with the recipient receiving
financial support each year to be used to further
their academic work. Recipients are nominated
by their departments and selected by the dean
in consultation with a committee of faculty with
representation from each department. To be eligible,
a faculty member must be either an associate or
full professor within five years of their most
recent promotion.
For more information about any of the Dean’s
Funding Priorities, please contact:
the critical experimental results that will help grow
their research programs to the next level, toward
national and international recognition and realworld impact. I am strongly supportive of this type
of program.”
Friends of the college can support a COSAM
Young Faculty Scholars award. This gift to
COSAM carries with it a naming opportunity
for donors, which is a unique way to establish a
personal legacy of supporting the research mission
of COSAM and Auburn University.
For more information on Acevedo, see the faculty
highlight on page 6.
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Journey/2014
3. Distinguished Sciences and Mathematics
Lecture Series
COSAM would like to initiate a yearly
Distinguished Sciences and Mathematics
Lecture Series featuring some of the foremost
experts in their fields. The lecture series would
showcase scientists and mathematicians
from beyond Auburn and thus provide a
dynamic learning opportunity for both faculty
and students, as well as anyone interested
in learning more about current trends in
sciences and mathematics. The lectures would
promote discussion of issues that scientists
and mathematicians expect will shape their
research in the coming years, as well as offer
an opportunity for COSAM faculty, staff, and
students to form connections with some of the
world’s most prominent experts. As a means
of fostering the growth and development of
members of the COSAM community, the
college would host one distinguished lecture
per year with a rotating theme so as to reflect
all of COSAM’s five departmental interests.
and document the planet’s biodiversity, and lead
and promote activities related to natural history
education and outreach for Auburn University and
all citizens of the state of Alabama. The museum’s
vision is to emerge as the primary repository for