CAS

College of Arts and Sciences Research Services

Home

CAS

Eight of 12 students accepted into the Bridge to the Doctorate Program will study disciplines housed in the OSU College of Arts and Sciences.

The program’s newest Fellows are Nicole Bryant, Josh McCloud and Molly Parkhurst, botany; Paula Arscott and Eric Butson, chemistry; Joseph Ross, physics; Ana Tehrani, statistics; and Marissa Rice, zoology.

Many of the Fellows are first-generation college students. “I grew up in a rural area where the only person with a graduate degree was the high school principal,” said McCloud of Weleetka, Okla. McCloud now studies the effects of triclosan concentrations on inoculated soy bean plants in sterile soil with assistant botany professor Andrew Doust.

The Bridge to the Doctorate program is a National Science Foundation initiative funded by the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, also known as LSAMP. Its goal is to diversify the workforce in science, technology, engineering and mathematics by supporting former LSAMP Scholars in their efforts to complete doctoral studies in the four areas. The award includes a $30,000 annual stipend and a cost of education award.

Oklahoma’s Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation is a consortium of 11 of the state’s colleges and universities. OSU is the lead institution with consortium offices located on the Stillwater campus. To learn more visit http://www.ok-lsamp.okstate.edu.

Photo: Botany graduate student Josh McCloud. Photo by Paula Shryock.

Chemistry professor Jeffery L. White has been awarded a three-year, $360,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to conduct research that involves a new class of materials known as gradient copolymers, which are used in many consumer products from cars to housewares.

The project, titled “Defining Dynamic Morphology, Order-Disorder Transitions, and Interfaces in Gradient Copolymers,” seeks to determine how detecting and understanding the molecular level organization of macromolecules can impact production of gradient copolymers. Joe Zhou, a researcher at Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., is White’s collaborator.

White says he also hopes to apply what he learns in research to create bioremedial copolymers, which are copolymers that biodegrade without leaving any harmful residues.

The grant is White’s fourth from NSF, and when completed will represent 14 years of continuous funding for his basic research in polymer science. The OSU Department of Chemistry is one of 24 in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Photo: Jeffery L. White

John Cooper, a native of Wichita, Kan., with degrees in chemistry and microbiology, led the processional for the College of Arts and Sciences at OSU’s Spring Commencement on May 5. Cooper led the march along with Regents Professor Peter M.A. Sherwood, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

The processional – or grand march – is an OSU tradition where outstanding student representatives from each college walk from their receptions to the graduation ceremony into Gallagher-Iba Arena. As part of the distinction, each representative carried its college’s gonfalon, a long flag or banner. They also wear an honorary orange cap and gown.

Cooper graduated with dual honors degrees in chemistry and microbiology with a minor in mathematics. Following graduation, Cooper will attend Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine to begin work toward a dual MD/PhD degree. He plans to focus on translational research in cancer biology.

This year’s Arts and Sciences graduating class of approximately 770 students had an average GPA of 3.14. They represented 35 majors, 21 states and 6 countries with about 650 students from Oklahoma.

Photo: From left, John Cooper with Regents Professor Peter M.A. Sherwood, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D., an internationally-recognized educational innovator, and Vaughn O. Vennerberg II, known for his success in the oil industry and educational philanthropy, will speak at the Oklahoma State University Commencement Ceremony on Saturday, May 5, at Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Vennerberg is scheduled to speak at the first ceremony at 9:30 a.m. and Robinson will speak at the second and third ceremonies at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Each will receive an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters in recognition of their personal accomplishments, service to others and support of education.

The 9:30 a.m. ceremony will recognize students from the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Human Sciences.

The OSU Graduate College Commencement ceremony for doctoral and masters graduation candidates will start at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 4, in Gallagher-Iba Arena.

Photo: Vaughn O. Vennerberg II was named Distinguished Alumnus for the College of Arts and Sciences in 2010. He is the keynote speaker at the college's commencement ceremony.