VT College of Science Magazine Summer 2008 | Page 3

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I don’t believe this alarm is totally sound. However,
if even a fraction is true then we have failed in our
delivery of the stated objectives of higher education. Our college is dedicated to making sure this
does not happen. And I share with Phillip Barnard

I am encouraged by these stories, but clearly there
is more we need do. I invite you to join us in this
adventure.

Ut Prosim.

Lay Nam Chang
Dean, College of Science

Issue No. 5 suMMeR 2008

One element of that presentation stands out in my
mind. That is his assertion that the age of discovery is very much upon us, and that it is by stimulating the thrill of discovery among our young that
we can better prepare the nation to cope with
the challenges facing us today and in the future.
The media are ripe with reports about how we are
losing our competiveness relative to other countries, that our hunger for knowledge is ebbing, and
that there are progressive anti-intellectualism and
anti-rationalism movements in society today.

M a g a z i n e

Among the presentations was a particularly noteworthy one by Phillip Barnard (GEO ‘83), who described his vision of what a proposed new building
housing the Department of Geosciences should
encompass. Barnard shared with everyone how
Virginia Tech shaped his successful career, and the
many ways the spirit of the university formed his
current avocation.

I believe that spirit mirrors the experience of many
scientists, professionals, entrepreneurs, and the
noble pursuits that Hokies are engaged in upon
graduation. All of us remember the first time we
became fascinated by something we saw, heard,
touched, felt, or smelled. In a quite wondrous fashion, that first encounter would shape our thinking and the manner in which we would view the
world, very often in ways of which we are not consciously aware. As we go about our daily existence,
it is important to preserve that sense of wonder,
as well as the desire to do something to enhance
that sense. It undergirds everything that is unique
about our culture.

S C i e n C e

For the occasion, many of the department’s distinguished alums gathered for a signal event, during which past accomplishments were recognized
and plans and aspirations for the future presented.
I invite you to peruse the following pages to gain
a sense of the remarkable progress this group of
scholars and others in the college have been able
to achieve.

the viewpoint that instilling the thrill of discovery
among all of us, beginning with the Hokie Nation,
is the best way to ensure our continued vibrancy.
For example, this issue describes how past, present,
and future Hokies are making a difference. Christine George’s work in Mali, presented in greater
detail in the following pages, has attracted national attention. She was recently named among the
top 20 high-achieving students to the 2008 AllUSA College Academic First Team. You can sense
this spirit of discovery in her as she pursues ways
to control a terrible scourge upon that land.

o f

Last fall, the Department of Geosciences celebrated its centenary. Very few departments have
reached this milestone. Nor are there many that
have achieved the distinction geosciences has attained during its 100 years of continually serving
the interests of the university and its students.

C o l l e g e

MeSSage froM the dean