2010 - California State University, Long Beach Department of ...

Reports from Faculty
Continued from pg. 13
received a Myrtle Graduate Summer Research
Fellowship; incoming chemistry M.S. candidate
Jessica Servin received this year’s Stern Award in
Physical Chemistry; and biochemistry major Tuyen
Tran became a McNair Scholar and won a Women
and Philanthropy Summer Research Scholarship.
Our lab also recently accepted two new students:
biochemistry major Samantha Cao and computer
science major Lynn Cherngchaosil, both of whom
have become valued and fun-loving members of
the Sorin lab. We now head full-steam into
summer 2010 research activities with the
addition of three Bridges to the Baccalaureate
students. This is the first time I have had the
opportunity to participate in this program, and
I’m excited to have these eager, young
scientists-in-training joining us for the summer.
Following Bob Soukup’s retirement, I took
over as webmaster this year, and, alongside maintaining
our current website, a major project for
Photo by Victoria Sanchez
Front row, from left: biochemistry majors Tuyen Tran and Samantha
Cao, entering master’s degree candidate Jessica Servin, computer
science major Lynn Cherngchaosil and biological sciences major
Felisha Eugenio. Back row: mathematics and statistics graduate
Kristin Haldeman, Dr. Eric J. Sorin, biochemistry graduate Allison
DePaul, chemical engineering graduate Erik Thompson, master’s
degree candidate Yi An and biochemistry major Mona Bakhom.
me has been serving as chair of the Department
Website Committee. This was a significant
endeavor in which several CSULB students helped
my colleagues and me to create what we feel is a
modern, professional, informative and easy-tonavigate
new website, which you will read more
about in a separate column in this newsletter. I
was also elected to the Academic Senate and the
Faculty Advisory Committee on Technology, and I
look forward to gaining an understanding of how
our governing body works and participating in
that process.
Dr. Paul Weers
The Weers lab studies the role of
apolipoproteins in innate immunity and lipid
transport processes. In 2010, the group was
awarded a four-year grant from NIH to investigate
the protective role apolipoproteins play
against bacterial infection. Two manuscripts
were published: a review focusing on
apolipoprotein structure and a collaborative
research project with Dr. Elmer Prenner from
the University of Calgary (Alberta, Canada)
describing the lipid-protein interaction using
differential scanning calorimetry. In the 2010
spring semester, I visited the Prenner lab in
Calgary during my sabbatical leave to focus on
isothermal calorimetric analysis of apolipo -
protein-liposome interactions. Earlier in the
year, I received tenure and promotion to associate
professor.
The Weers lab welcomed new lab members
Wendy Beck, Duc Le, Anthony Tabet and Pankaj
Dwivedi during the fall and winter of 2009-10.
Wendy was awarded the Woman and Philanthropy
Undergraduate Research and Creative
Activity Scholarship. Duc received the Fred H.
Dorer Research Fellowship, while Anthony was
admitted to the RISE program. Our research was
presented at the CSU Program for Education and
Research in Biotechnology meeting in Santa
Clara (Daisy Martinon and Sean Lee), Biophysical
Society meeting in San Francisco (Daisy Martinon)
and the American Society for Biochemistry
and Molecular Biology meeting in Anaheim (Yin
Phung and Johana Rodriguez). While pregnant,
Daisy was also prepared to present her work in
Anaheim, but her baby did not agree and
Maryanna was born. MARC student Johana
Rodriguez graduated and moved on to UCLA to
become a medical doctor. In addition, lab members
Yin Phung, Catherine Valdez and Kathy Bui
graduated from CSULB.
Memorial Benches
Honor Former Faculty
Two of the founding members of the
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry,
professors Don Simonsen
and Ed Becker, were recently honored with
the installation of memorial benches
donated by their families.
Donald H. Simonsen, professor of biochemistry,
died on Sept. 27, 2004 at age 83.
Simonsen grew up in Oregon and received a
B.A. degree from Reed College, an M.S.
degree in biochemistry from Oregon State
University in 1945 and a Ph.D. in biochemistry
from Indiana University in 1951. He
served on the Chemistry Department faculty
from 1956-80. In addition to teaching, Dr.
Simonsen was active in campus administration,
serving as dean of faculty, vice president,
and acting president from 1969-70
during a turbulent year of antiwar protests.
Benches dedicated to Dr. Simonsen and to
physics professor George Appleton now sit
side-by-side at the east end of the grassy
area between PH1 and PH2. The benches
were dedicated on Aug. 21, 2008 at a ceremony
attended by Dr. Simonsen‘s wife
Norma and other family members.
Edwin N. Becker, longtime professor of
physical chemistry, died on Feb. 23, 2009 at
age 87. A native of Iowa, Dr. Becker earned
a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from
Iowa State University and a Ph.D. in physical
chemistry from the University of Wisconsin.
He served in the U.S. Army Air Corps from
1943-45. Dr. Becker was a founding member
of the Chemistry Department and served on
the faculty from 1955-83. He was a wellliked
and respected teacher. He was also
chair of the Academic Senate for many
years and was very involved in campus governance,
where he acquired a reputation as
a consensus builder and team leader. The Ed
Becker Bench was installed on Friendship
Walk, across from the MLSC building, and was
dedicated on Oct. 2, 2009 at a ceremony
attended by Dr. Becker‘s wife Catherine and
his five children and their families.
Those who wish to honor other department
faculty with memorial benches should
contact Maryanne Horton, director of development
of the College of Natural Sciences
and Mathematics. A bench may be established
by a donation of $5,000.
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