University of Arkansas

A nationally competitive, student-centered research university serving Arkansas and the world.

The Graduate School

Forms and Resources text on gold background.

Graduate School Forms and Resources

The forms provided require the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print.

Acrobat Reader is is available for multiple platforms and can be downloaded from Adobe Systems Incorporated.

Graduate School News Archive

Alumna Named as the First Recipient In International Scholarship Program
-- Posted by tfisher on Friday, August 27 2004

University of Arkansas alumna Erin Scherer, B.S. '02, is one of two students to receive the inaugural Skaggs Oxford Scholarship. This newly created scholarship provides funding for a joint graduate program in biology, chemistry and biochemistry at The Scripps Research Institute in the United States and Oxford University in Great Britain.

Scherer, a native of Little Rock, will use the award to continue research on HIV antibodies, work that is relevant to the generation of an AIDS vaccine. The second Skaggs Oxford Scholar, Joanna Rawling, is currently enrolled at the University of Oxford.

This is the first time in Oxford's 800-year history that it has offered a degree jointly with another institution of higher learning. It is also the first of its kind offered by Scripps The Skaggs Oxford Scholarship Program, which will support 10 students over five years, was made possible by supermarket and drugstore leader L.S. Skaggs and his wife Aline.

To read more, please go to http://advancement.uark.edu/news/AUG04/Erin_Scherer.html

Training Firefighters To Live Longer
-- Posted by tfisher on Friday, August 27 2004

When a battalion chief in the Fayetteville Fire Department wondered why the men on his crew were prone to die 10 years earlier than the average man, he turned to Dr. Barry Brown at the University of Arkansas for answers.

Brown, a University Professor of exercise science, applied what he had learned about athletic performance to evaluate the firefighters' physical status and to develop a training program to improve fitness and reduce their risk of premature death. Based on Brown's initial study in spring 2003, the Federal Emergency Management Agency provided $105,000 to fund a yearlong training program for the entire Fayetteville Fire Department.

Brown hopes that when FEMA and local governments see the impact of the Fayetteville Firefighters Wellness Program, they will be willing to fund an ongoing program for firefighters. Brown envisions a National Firefighters Life Improvement Center serving mid-sized fire departments nationwide.

Today, he and his graduate students-Koulla Parpa, Leigh Jurney and Marcos Michaelides-are working with more than 60 firefighters. The research team constantly monitors the firefighters as they engage in programs of regular, vigorous exercise and conditioning. They are tested frequently to chart progress.

To read more, please go to http://advancement.uark.edu/news/AUG04/BrownFirefighters.html

College of Engineering to Offer First Master's Degree in Biomedical Engineering In Arkansas
-- Posted by tfisher on Wednesday, August 25 2004

Students in Arkansas can now receive a master's degree in biomedical engineering from the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas. This degree is the first and only advanced degree in the emerging field of biomedical engineering offered in the state.

"This is an excellent opportunity for students in the College of Engineering," said Dean Ashok Saxena. "We expect the program to grow quickly in student numbers and become nationally competitive, further adding to the excellent reputation of our engineering program."

The biomedical profession, which applies engineering solutions to human health and medical problems, is booming, with the number of job openings expected to grow 31.4 percent through 2010, according to U.S. Department of Labor statistics.

Biomedical engineers develop devices and techniques to improve the quality of human life, such as artificial organs, prosthetic devices, artificial skin, novel drug delivery systems or high-resolution imaging systems that detect disease. They have designed computer algorithms used to analyze blood, laser systems used for corrective eye surgery and drug delivery systems that automate insulin injections. The areas of computer-assisted surgery and molecular, cellular and tissue engineering are developing rapidly within the field.

To read the full release, please go to http://advancement.uark.edu/news/AUG04/biomed.html

Oil Chemists Honor UA Graduate Student
-- Posted by tfisher on Wednesday, August 18 2004

Rahul Gangidi, a graduate student in the department of food science, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture and Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, received the 2004 American Oil Chemists Society's Honor Student Award and received the AOCS Health and Nutrition Division's 2004 Student Excellence Award

Graduate Student Wins Research Award
-- Posted by tfisher on Monday, August 16 2004

Magnolia Ariza-Nieto, a doctoral candidate working with Vibha Srivastava, in the University of Arkansas System's Division of Agriculture and the department of crop, soil, and environmental sciences, was presented the Wilton R. Earle Award for best research abstract at the 2004 annual conference of the Society of In-Vitro Biology in San Francisco. She made an invited oral presentation on her research work at the conference and was awarded a travel grant by the society.

Two Forms of Disgust May Affect Treatment of Phobias
-- Posted by tfisher on Thursday, August 12 2004

A University of Arkansas student has teased out the complexities of disgust, and his work may change the way clinical psychologists treat patients with phobias. His research has earned him the Distinguished Student Research Award from the American Psychological Association.

Graduate student Bunmi Olatunji was honored at the Division 12 Awards Ceremony during the annual American Psychological Association meeting in Hawaii on July 30. The award is bestowed by the Education and Training Committee of the Society of Clinical Psychology.

Olatunji has been looking systematically at the role of disgust and other complex emotions in anxiety disorders since he started studying under his mentor, psychology professor Jeffrey M. Lohr, four years ago. He now has 13 papers either accepted for publication or in press and is co-editing special issues on disgust in two scientific journals.

Olatunji's most recent contribution to the field is a theoretical review paper being published at the end of the year in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. The paper integrates social and clinical research on disgust to identify future areas of research on the psychopathology of disgust. He worked on the paper with Craig Sawchuk, an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Washington. Sawchuk received his doctorate from UA in 2000.

To read more, please go to http://advancement.uark.edu/news/AUG04/OlatunjiAwardmb.html

Keck Foundation Awards $500,000 to Fund Search for Life on Mars
-- Posted by tfisher on Tuesday, August 10 2004

The NASA philosophy for finding life on Mars is simple: follow the water.

A $500,000 challenge grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles will enable Derek Sears and his students and colleagues to investigate how liquid water forms on Mars and examine the existence of considerable amounts of near-surface ice all over the planet. They also will study how slight changes in pressure and temperature could transform Mars into a wet planet hospitable to simple life forms. Additionally, a laboratory used by Sears, a professor of chemistry in Fulbright College and director of the Arkansas-Oklahoma Center for Space and Planetary Sciences, will be renovated and named the W.M. Keck Laboratory for Space Simulation at the University of Arkansas.

The W.M. Keck Foundation, established in 1954 in Los Angeles by William Myron Keck, is one of the nation's largest philanthropic organizations. For half a century, the foundation has supported pioneering discoveries in science, engineering and medical research. The name is associated with some of the most innovative research programs and facilities in the country.

"People have always been fascinated by the prospect of life on Mars," said Sears. "With the support of a high-profile foundation such as Keck, I am confident that we'll find the additional funding we need to match the award and fully realize the potential of our research."

To read more about this research, visit http://advancement.uark.edu/news/

UA Poultry Science Students Win National Awards
-- Posted by tfisher on Wednesday, August 4 2004

Five students in the department of poultry science received Certificates of Excellence for presentations made at the National Poultry Science Association Meeting that was held in St. Louis last week. The undergraduate awards were swept by the University of Arkansas by Savannah Henderson (Advisor: Dr. Billy Hargis) who received an award for an oral presentation and Nick Tinsley (Co-advisors: Drs. Muhammed Iqbal and Walter Bottje) who received an award for a poster presentation. Graduate students receiving awards were Kim Coles (Major advisor; Dr. Dan Donoghue), Mark Chapman (Advisor: Bob Wideman), and Anne Fannatico (Advisor: Jason Emmert).

College of Education and Health Professions Honors Donaldson Scholarship Recipients
-- Posted by tfisher on Wednesday, August 4 2004

Twelve students who have committed to a demanding teacher preparation program in the University of Arkansas College of Education and Health Professions have received some crucial support, thanks to the generosity of a UA alumnus. The college hosted a luncheon recently to introduce recipients of the John H. and Jane W. Donaldson Endowed Memorial Scholarship to the Donaldson family.

A 1938 graduate of the college, Col. John H. Donaldson understood the importance of higher education to his later success. Before his death in 2002, he established the scholarship fund through an estate gift, saying that "The degree I earned from the university opened up a lot of doors for me, so I felt like I should do something for them."

The Donaldson Scholarship supports academically qualified students during their yearlong Master of Arts in Teaching internship. Since the master's program requires a full-time internship in the classroom with a teacher-mentor, in addition to graduate course work, students are unable to hold part-time jobs to meet tuition or living expenses. Because graduates of the Master of Arts in Teaching program are well prepared to succeed in the classroom, public schools from throughout Arkansas and surrounding states consistently recruit them as teachers.

Food Science Students Receive Second Place in New Products Contest
-- Posted by tfisher on Tuesday, August 3 2004

A team of two UA food science graduate students competed in the U.S. Danisco Knowledge Award New Products Contest and won second place with their Hand Held South East Asian Egg Roll. Team Leader Natalia Pandjaitan, and her teammate, Annmarie Wells, profiled the tasty oriental egg roll as a convenient, healthy and flavorful oriental snack meant to replace the other frozen on-the-go egg rolls or meal replacement products in the market today.

The Danisco Knowledge Award contest is in collaboration with university students throughout the United States studying food science and Danisco. The mission of the new products contest and the Knowledge Award is to support innovation in academic institutions, develop stronger links between universities and Danisco, as well as encourage innovative approaches to food science challenges.

College of Education and Health Professions Appoints Assistant Dean
-- Posted by tfisher on Monday, August 2 2004

The College of Education and Health Professions has appointed Stephen J. Langsner, associate professor in recreation, to be the college's first assistant dean for academic affairs. Langsner will serve as co-director of the college Honors Program, monitoring curriculum and program changes, coordinating accreditation efforts, reviewing student grievances and providing oversight for institutional agreements and off-campus programming. He will report to associate dean for academic affairs Betsy Orr.

Langsner, who earned his doctorate in recreation at Indiana University, joined the faculty of the department of health science, kinesiology, recreation and dance in 1989. Since then, he has been awarded the department's outstanding teaching award twice and received the college's Outstanding Faculty Award for Teaching in April 2004.

To read more, please go to http://advancement.uark.edu/news/JUL04/LangsnerAsstDean.html

(Return to the Top)