May 2007 news
May 31, 2007
Construction update
Progress is being made on the exterior of the new Schweitzer Hall addition. With the penthouse masonry complete, the roof will be installed after the roof curbs are set for roof-mounted equipment. Once the roof is on the mason will go back and install the copping stone.
Tom Quinn's Lab
Tom Quinn has been chosen by the University of Missouri System as Faculty Entrepreneur of the Year!
The award honors a University of Missouri faculty member for a record of entrepreneurial innovation that demonstrates commercial utility, contributes to the public welfare and brings visibility to the University of Missouri.
Dr. Quinn has a record of entrepreneurial innovation in the area of cancer detection and treatment. His research efforts have resulted in several inventions and patents, and he has collaborated with companies to further research, leverage federal research dollars and move technologies to clinical trials.
Currently he is collaborating with Alpha Med Inc., a radiopharmaceutical company, to introduce a new melanoma therapy to clinical use. He also was instrumental in forming a new startup company, LifeScreen, in partnership with three MU investigators, the University and a venture capital company to develop and commercialize a non-invasive breast cancer detection test.
According to one nomination, "the combination of individual discovery, university promotion, and outside resources has achieved a rare synergy. Tom's research has progressed from bench to bedside - a success that points the way for all of us."
Please join us in congratulating Tom on his well-deserved award!
Frank Schmidt's Lab
Frank Schmidt, professor of biochemistry, is one of five MU faculty members awarded the 2007 William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence.
Schmidt guides students to become scientists in the classroom, to learn science by doing science.
To do this, he structures his classes to include models of the way science is done professionally. Scientists, he says, ask questions, gather existing knowledge, identify needed knowledge, find out information they need to know and test their ideas on something new.
He is known for his ability to cause students to think creatively, not only through his teaching methodologies but also through his evaluation process. He uses deductive reasoning, problem-solving examples from real-life applications and natural phenomena to reinforce learning and understanding. "The skills he has developed in his students will not only assist them in becoming successful researchers but also will carry them far in working in intellectually stimulating environments," a colleague says.
Schmidt led an interdisciplinary team of faculty members to develop and implement a two-course introductory science sequence for the MU Honors College. The courses were founded on principles of interdisciplinary and inquiry-based instruction and a "less is more" approach. As a result of his teaching of these classes, he was selected as the campus Honors College Professor of the Year in 2000.
The William T. Kemper Fellowships for Teaching Excellence were established by the William T. Kemper Foundation in 1991 with a $500,000 gift to honor outstanding teachers at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Every spring, the MU chancellor and executives from Commerce Bank, the trustee for the Kemper Foundation, interrupt the classes of new Kemper Fellows and surprise each of them with $10,000 to spend as they wish.
Kemper Fellows have commented on how the awards enhance faculty morale, reward the important role of teaching in higher education, and demonstrate the beneficial relationship between private gifts and the University.
Kemper, a 1926 MU graduate, was a well-known civic leader in Kansas City. His 52-year career in banking included top positions in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. The William T. Kemper Foundation, established in 1989 after his death, is dedicated to continuing Kemper’s lifelong interest in improving the human condition and quality of life through education, health and human services, civic improvements and the arts.
Affiliated with the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources and the School of Medicine