Around Campus for May 1

VCU department chair wins research award

Sarah Spiegel, chairwoman of Virginia Commonwealth University's Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, was honored last month by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

She received the Avanti Award in Lipids, which honors scientists who research lipids -- naturally occurring molecules such as fats, oils, waxes and cholesterol.

Spiegel has received multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health to fund her research for nearly 20 years. She studies what makes abnormal cells grow and what causes cellular death.

Mary Washington joins in on Whitman course

The University of Mary Washington is working with three other universities on a digital project examining the poetry of Walt Whitman.

The project, a collaboration with City University of New York College of Technology, New York University and Rutgers University, received a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Mary Washington will offer a senior seminar English course run by faculty members Mara Scanlon, Brady Earnhart and Jim Groom that will focus on Whitman's Civil War-era works. The class will use local resources to study Whitman's time in Fredericksburg and years in Washington.

Groom designed the Web site, http://www.lookingforwhitman.org, that professors and students at the four universities will use for their classes.

Roanoke College named Campus of the Year

Roanoke College has been named Campus of the Year by Campus Activities Magazine.

The college, which is featured in the magazine's April edition, won out over such competition as Ohio State and Marshall universities. An independent, four-year liberal arts college in Salem, the college has more than 100 student organizations and 2,000 students.

VCU names Pediatrics Department chairman

Bruce K. Rubin has been named chairman of Virginia Commonwealth University's Department of Pediatrics.

Rubin, whose appointment is effective July 1 with board of visitors approval, also will hold a professorship in the VCU School of Engineering. A pediatric pulmonary expert, he comes to VCU after 12 years at Wake Forest University.

Rubin's research interests include cystic fibrosis, childhood asthma and other chronic lung diseases. Rubin studies aerosol therapy for lung diseases, airway inflammation and excessive mucus that contributes to lung disease.

Awards and honors

Four University of Richmond seniors have received Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship grants. Lauren Grewe of Tulsa, Okla., and Kate Simma of Richardson, Texas, will teach for one academic year in Bangladesh and Peru, respectively. Jill Eisenberg of Lexington, Mass., and John Calhoun of Bronx, N.Y., will both teach in Taiwan. . . . Two Virginia professors have been named 2009 NARSAD Young Investigator Award winners. They are Joseph L. McClay of the VCU School of Pharmacy and Xiangdong Chen of the University of Virginia's Department of Pharmacology. The National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression is considered the world's leading charity for mental-health research. . . . Radford University's criminal justice program has received certification for its master of arts and master of science programs from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. . . . The University of Mary Washington chemistry program has received approval from the American Chemical Society to offer certified undergraduate degrees.

Karin Kapsidelis reports on higher education. Contact her at (804) 649-6119 or .