Highlights from BYU colleges

Family Home and Social Sciences

• Neuroscience student Erin Kaseda recently won the MacLean Scholar Award for her research on neurology and marriage. The MacLean Scholar Award is an international award that will allow Kaseda to attend the American Psychosomatic Annual Meeting and interact with leading neuroscience experts. Kaseda was one of three students worldwide to receive this award, and the only undergraduate.

  

Ira A. Fulton College of Engineering and Technology

• Professor Andrew Fry, one of the newest chemical engineering professors, has quickly found his place at BYU. Fry received his undergraduate and PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Utah, then spent a few years working in the field. He returned to the University of Utah to become the director of the Industrial and Gasification Research Facility. Since leaving the U to come to BYU, Fry said “everything has fallen into place” for him, and he enjoys teaching and sharing his knowledge with students.

David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies

• Ask Me Anything with U.S. Diplomat Kyler O. Kronmiller will be held on May 30 in 238 HRCB. Kronmiller is an officer in the U.S. Foreign Service, currently working at the U.S. Embassy in Rabat.
• A lecture about the election of Emmanuel Macron in France and its impact on France’s future will be held on May 31 in 238 HRCB.

Marriott School of Management

• BYU’s student chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants was recently awarded

  

  the Clark Johnson Award and a $5,000 grant. The Institute of Management Accountants gives the award based on a chapter’s focus on student needs, leadership, innovation, organizational development and interdependent partnerships.

• Scott Peterson will replace Steven Fox as the executive director of the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology. Fox left to serve as the president of the Tahiti Papeete Mission. Peterson previously served as the executive director from 2010 to 2015.

David O. McKay School of Education

•  Professors Lane Fischer, John Hilton III and David Wiley have worked together with several students to publish seven research papers on open educational resources in the last year. Their findings include evidence that students in classes using open educational resources match the learning outcomes of students in classes using textbooks.

  

College of Life Sciences

• Biology professor Mark Belk discussed quagga infestations on Top of Mind. Quagga mussels are an invasive species found in Lake Powell that threaten the houseboat industry and could potentially cause problems for sport fishing.

College of Fine Arts and Communications

• BYU animation film “Taijitu” was nominated for a College Television Award, commonly called a student Emmy. Conner Gillette directed the film and Emma Gillette served as the film’s art director. Along with the Emmy nomination, students who worked on the film received mentoring from professionals at Pixar, DreamWorks, Sony and Disney.

College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences

• Physics professor Duane Merrell was distinguished as a Physics Master Teacher Leader by the American Association of Physics Teachers. Merrell, along with 15 others in the country who received this distinction, met to discuss ways to improve physics education across the nation. Merrell has been teaching physics for over 30 years.
• Professor Bill Barrett and a team of students — including Seth Stewart, Curtis Wigington, Lucas Pinto and Brian Davis — are working to design a computer program that can read ancient handwriting. The program can read the handwriting with 95 percent accuracy, much more quickly than a human. The program could greatly impact FamilySearch indexing.

  

  

• C. Shane Reese will replace Scott Sommerfeldt as the dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences. Reese is a professor in the Department of Statistics.

J. Reuben Clark Law School

• Law professor Lisa Sun recently wrote an article entitled “Enemy Construction and the Press,” which was accepted for publication by the Arizona State Law Review.
• Law professor Aaron Nielson’s paper titled “Sticky Regulations” was recently accepted for publication by the University of Chicago Law Review.