Winter 2012 - Austin College Magazine

A C E N T U R Y
eye on the future
Kelly Reed and Keith Kisselle:
Saving the Blackland Prairie
from the Ground Up
North Texas once was blanketed by a lush tallgrass prairie
with rich black soil and diverse plant life, but over time,
the soil was destroyed by agriculture and the natural
balance disrupted. Though it is clear that the natural soil
had many benefits, scientists don’t know how best to
restore the prairie.
Kelly Reed, associate professor of biology, and Keith
Kisselle, associate professor of biology and
environmental science, are investigating which microbes
in the soil are related to a healthy prairie ecosystem, by
extracting microbial DNA to do a “census” of the soil
microbes near the native plants.
“It’s kind of a chicken-egg thing. Do you need the
microbes to get the plants, or the plants to get the
microbes?” Reed said.
They plan to continue to study the microbes in
successful Blackland prairies to gather data they can
compare in restoration methods at the Austin College
Sneed Environmental Research Area.
Stephanie Gould:
Taking Miniaturization to Extremes
With the industrial revolution came monster machines,
big enough to power warehouses and produce any
number of products. Now, the scale has changed: the
challenge is in super-small production.
Stephanie Gould, assistant professor of chemistry, is
developing nanogears: molecule-sized cogs that will
operate much like the parts in a wristwatch or a car.
“The smaller you can make a machine,” she said,
“the more advanced the applications you can envision
and create.”
So far, she has created the building blocks for the
gears, and soon will focus on making the gears operate
properly. Ultimately, gears like those produced at Austin
College could help create a cure for cancer: nanoparticles
could direct a precise drug dosage only to the
cancer cells, leaving the rest of the body unharmed.
He once said, “I love my faculty and students. It is easy for me to get them to do
whatever I want. The difficult part is having the wisdom to influence them in the
right direction.”
As the country slowly moved out of financial crisis by 1939, the College joined
the Civilian Pilot Training Program to open the doors to more students. Science
professors took on additional courses to organize the ground school courses in
mathematics and meteorology, while eager pilots learned to fly at the municipal
airport. The timing was fortuitous.
1940-1950
In 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, and every American was called to help in
the war effort. The civilian pilots trained at Austin College joined the armed forces,
and the College adopted a more military form of education. As the war stretched on
and the young men were enlisted to the service, the College further developed
programs for women. In 1943, the College joined with Wilson N. Jones Hospital to offer
combined classroom and on-the-job training for nurses.
Meanwhile, 1919 alumnus Percival Keith had a great influence on the world as
a researcher on the Manhattan Project, which led to the creation of the atomic
bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan. (See page 24 to read more about
Percival Keith).
1950-1960
With the growth of interest in the sciences due to the “Space Race,” the College sought
funds to improve the buildings and curriculum. The College received a $10,000 grant
from the Ford Foundation for a comprehensive survey of the school’s operations in
1952, followed the next few years with several additional gifts.
One of the improvements was a renovation of Thompson Hall in 1957; the gaspower
system was removed, the electric system and plumbing replaced, and central
heat and air conditioning installed. The changes to the building were matched with
changes in the curriculum. The Basic Integrated Studies program combined
mathematics and the natural sciences.
Professor A.J. Carlson noted: “Mathematics
and physics courses in the first year were to lay
a foundation in the second year for chemistry,
geology, and biology, taught partly by
television.”
The 1950s also saw the College’s first nonwhite
professor. Professor O. Kumar Mitter, a
foreign exchange faculty member from India,
taught mathematics for several years.
1960-1970
In large part due to the changes wrought by
the Ford Foundation grant, the College was
highlighted as a “school to watch” in a 1960
TIME magazine feature.
20 | Austin College Magazine Winter 2012