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January 27, 2009
The relationship between curiosity and intolerance, the roots of Britain's Royal Society in theology and science, hobbits, reasoning in the field of biology, data search engines, materials that "remember" their shapes, rainforest carbon cycles, fluid dynamics from groundwater to volcanos, designing cities for health, energy in wireless networks, and the metabolism of complex systems: In all these fields, young faculty members at the University of Minnesota are already international leaders of discovery.
 Eleven junior faculty members have been named McKnight Land-Grant Professors for 2009-11. The award aims to advance the careers of the University's most promising junior faculty at a critical point in their professional lives. Typically, recipients go on to win increasingly prestigious awards, inside and outside the University, and pursue stellar careers.
"The range of this year's awards are proof of excellence in every corner of the University," said Gail Dubrow, vice provost and dean of the Graduate School, which administers the program. "Minnesota benefits enormously from the creativity and promise of these exceptional members of our faculty."
The winners are chosen for their potential to make important contributions to their fields. Their research must be significant, and their achievements and ideas must be original, imaginative, and innovative.
They also must show potential for attracting outstanding students. With their own Ph.D.s from many of the world's top universities, they play a key role in attracting graduate student talent to Minnesota. The 2009-11 recipients are graduates of Duke, Harvard, Leiden (Netherlands), City University of New York, and the Universities of California, Florida, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Texas, and Virginia.
The awards are determined through a University-wide competition administered by the Graduate School and the Office of the Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost. Each includes a research grant for two consecutive years, summer support, and a research leave in the second year.
The 2009-11 recipients are:
Arindam Banerjee, computer science and engineering: Organizing the world's information, now accessible online, is one of the greatest scientific challenges of the century. Banerjee's research uses large-scale data clustering to do it, impacting everyday users shopping online and driving their cars as well as the global computer science research community. His work is used by organizations from Google to NASA.
Giancarlo Casale, history: In the early modern age (1500-1800), the Ottoman Empire was highly diverse and the world's most powerful Muslim state. By comparison, Western Europe possessed a clearly defined sense of identity coupled with a driving curiosity about "the other." Casale is investigating the paradox of curiosity and intolerance.
Ryan Elliott, aerospace engineering and mechanics: "Shape-memory" metals are alloys that can change their shape by temperature, such as shower heads that automatically close to prevent scalding and stents that open when placed in a human artery. In the past, research on these materials has depended on trial and error, but Elliott is developing simulations that expand and accelerate the process of discovery and design.
Tian He, computer science and engineering: Wireless sensor networks are used in such things as hazard-response systems, indoor climate control, assisted living, bridge-integrity monitoring, and precise agriculture. Most need to work for long periods without wired power. This research has resulted in energy-efficient sensing and energy-management methods already widely applied.
Alan C. Love, philosophy: As new discoveries are made, concepts from many disciplines are used to explain them. Love looks at biology in particular, from embryo development to evolution, and investigates how reasoning works in order to clarify how we know what we know and to generate new and better resources for decision-making.
Julian Marshall, civil engineering: For the first time in history, more people live in cities than rural areas. Marshall works on designing cities for human health and the environment, from understanding patterns of urban density and suburban expansion to analyzing policies for ability to reduce the impact of air pollution.
Steven P. Matthews, history, U of M-Duluth campus: From the viewpoint of the 21st century, it's easy to assume that science and religion have always been at odds. Matthews is using his knowledge of Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, German, and historical theology to prove they were both essential to the formation in 1660 of the British Royal Society, a leading agent in the scientific revolution.
Kieran McNulty, anthropology: Last year, McNulty and a New York colleague made news when they identified Indonesian hobbit-like fossils, found in 2003, as an entirely new species in humanity's evolutionary chain. Now he's on to Kenya, where he'll use new methods to reconstruct ancient environments and explore their connection to the sizes and shapes of apes and humans as they developed over 18 million years.
Jennifer Powers, ecology, evolution, and behavior: Tropical dry forests are some of the most valuable and endangered ecosystems on the planet. Powers tramps through them to gather samples and measurements that are matched with satellite imagery to document regional changes in carbon storage and biodiversity. Forest managers, conservationists, and local communities need her research to make better decisions and guide restoration.
Martin O. Saar, geology and geophysics: Volcano eruptions, groundwater flows, and underground storage of carbon dioxide greenhouse gas all have two things in common-fluid dynamics and energy transfer. Saar is developing new research methods with the potential to transform geothermal energy production, clean-water security, and approaches to many kinds of environmental disasters.
Sangwon Suh, bioproducts and biosystems engineering: Industrial ecology sees industrial systems as living organisms that consume natural resources and discard wastes. Suh studies the metabolism of these systems over time and has found, for example, that a transition from industrial to service economy doesn't automatically reduce pollution.
The eleven recipients will be recognized by the Board of Regents in March.
Read more about the McKnight Land-Grant Professorship and this year's recipients.
- Gayla Marty
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