VT College of Science Quarterly August 2014 Vol. 1 No. 1 | Page 2

On the cover: Amanda Hoebel of
Prince George, Va., a senior in physics,
tests one of thousands of pre-amps
that go into the Belle detector upgrade.
Members of the physics department
went to Japan in August to install the
upgrades that were pre-constructed in
the basement of Robeson Hall.
Photo by Jim Stroup

ADMINISTRATION
Lay Nam Chang Dean
Gary Long Associate Dean for
Curriculum & Instruction
Tim Long Associate Dean for Research & International Outreach
J.P. Morgan Associate Dean for
Graduate Studies & Strategic Initiatives
Janet Sanders Assistant Dean for
Finance & Administration
Jerry Via Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Instruction

ADVANCEMENT
Jenny Orzolek Director of
Development
Tim Howland Associate Director of
Corporate and Foundation Relations
Donna Wardell Director of Alumni
Relations
Rosaire Bushey Director of
Communications

Message from the Dean

Science solving problems
By Lay Nam Chang
Dean

When I speak to
people outside the
university about the
College of Science,
one question I always
receive is, “...what do
you do?”
Sometimes it’s difDean Lay Nam Chang
ficult for people to
see past the lab coats and formulas and they
mistakenly confuse producing a product with
doing something.
My answer to them is always the same - the
men and women of the College of Science
solve problems. Sometimes we do this by
producing a product and sometimes we do
it through expanding our knowledge so that
others can use that information to produce a
product.
We harness the energy and intellectual
capital of faculty and students to solve a wide
range of problems from ensuring drinking
water is safe, to bringing a species back from
endangered status, to improving our nation’s
ability to more efficiently and safely achieve

energy independence, to harnessing the
power of the sun, to using nanotechnology to
improve medical diagnosis, and to solving the
problem of how the universe works. These
things and so much more, that’s what we do.
As we begin a new semester, I’d like to encourage our faculty, our students, our friends,
to consider all the problems that have been
solved, or on the way to being solved, thanks
to science.
More importantly, however, I’d like you all to
consider what problems still need to be solved.
For it is in that discussion we will have our
biggest impact.
If you are a currently a member of the COS
team, or an alum, let us know about what
you’re currently working on - we’d love to hear
how you’re solving problems in your workplace using what you’ve learned here.
At the end of the day, the very heart of science - its soul - is the wonder and imagination
that dares ask the question, ‘what if...?’
So, welcome back to the start of another year
of integrated science, learning, and discovery.
Let’s put on our lab coats, go out in the field,
analyze the data, and let’s continue solving
problems.

DEPARTMENT HEADS
Peter Kennelly Biochemistry
Brenda Winkel Biological Sciences
Jim Tanko Chemistry
Nic Tideman Economics
Nancy Ross Geosciences
Peter Haskell Mathematics
Leo Piilonen Physics
Bob Stephens Psychology
Eric Smith Statistics

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contact the Office of Equity and Access.

2

College of Science Quarterly

oving
M
pt 5-6
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Moving on.....
With the move of the college’s administration and development functions to the North
End Center Sept. 5 and 6, the trailers that
have housed the College of Science dean and
members of his staff, will move on as well. The
college will also end its presence in the Old
Security Building.

Construction plans in the trailer area, will see
them removed soon after they are vacated.
College of Science offices will move to 4300
North End Center (0405), 300 Turner St. NW.
The college will relocate again to Sandy Hall
after renovation which is currently scheduled
to begin in summer 2014.