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A&S dean candidate to visit Feb. 21-23
Apple is vice provost for administration, dean of graduate education and professor of chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. Asked for a comment, Apple said, "When I consider the intellectual skills that a student needs upon emerging from the halls of academia into today’s global environment, creativity and imagination, cultural awareness and sophistication, and analytical ability number among the most important. “The College of Arts and Sciences: the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, provide the perfect platform to prepare students in such a manner. My goals as dean would include promoting compelling and innovative programs that attract bright, motivated students from all sectors of our society. I would seek a curriculum that challenges, engages and transforms the student. Particularly rich opportunities exist not just within traditional disciplines, but in interdisciplinary experiences that involve collaboration between departments and with other colleges. Such an academic background would provide a truly global education. “Creation of compelling programs requires, first and foremost, a high-quality faculty. As opportunities arise for new hires, it is critical to recruit the best junior and senior faculty and provide an environment that fosters and challenges the faculty to reach their full potential. Faculty need the tools to succeed, including capitol equipment, time to devote to scholarship and, most importantly, outstanding graduate and undergraduate students to engage in their journey of discovery. With these resources come high expectations. Standards for promotion and tenure must be high. While ever mindful to preserve breadth, we should strive to focus resources on those programs where we can establish the University of Delaware in a leadership position,” he said. “I believe strongly in the value of diversity, ethnic, gender and intellectual, to achieve the goals which the college sets for itself. I am also strongly committed to continuing the participation in community projects, such as the UD Early Learning Program, which brings the University in touch with the local community, and different disciplines within the University in touch with each other. I am deeply committed to the support of international experiences for our students, an area in which the University has already achieved acclaim. “The University of Delaware College of Arts and Sciences is perfectly poised to be on the forefront, preparing students for a successful future. I look forward to the opportunity to serve the College as dean.” Describing his research, Apple said, “Our research group studies a family of novel materials known as organo-silicon polymers. We use the great power of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (the basis of MRI) to reveal the microscopic properties and structures of these materials. This provides valuable information about their remarkable macroscopic behaviors. We have created and studied a number of organo-silicon polymers which exhibit a property known as piezoelectricity. These molecules, common in stereo speakers, act as transducers to convert pressure to electrical signals and vice-versa. We have developed other members of this class of materials that form as solids with high electrical conductivity, making them useful in electronics applications and in batteries. We are investigating the processes at the molecular level that are responsible for their conductivity in hopes that our understanding will allow us to prepare these materials in a more usable form. Yet another form of organo-silicon polymer we are studying is a precursor to a ceramic that is valuable due to its hardness and electrically insulating character. “An additional area of interest to our research group is the study of solid materials known as de-NOx catalysts. These catalysts are capable of removing dangerous combustion products, known as nitrous and nitric oxides (NOx), from the exhaust of automobiles and industrial smokestacks. These exhaust products are a principal cause of acid rain, which plagues a large portion of the eastern US. In addition NOx is a major contributor to photochemical smog. We are studying the interactions of NOx with the surfaces of these catalysts in hopes of better understanding the air scrubbing ability of these materials. Ultimately, we hope to design reliable, economically feasible catalysts that will free us from the acid rain problem,” he said. The other candidate for dean, Michael Halleran of the University of Washington, visited the campus Feb. 15-17. For additional information on the search, including the position description, resumés of both finalists, interview schedules and the members of the search committee, click here. To learn how to subscribe to UDaily, click here. |
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