March 19, 2012
Forums set for interim Science dean candidates
CARBONDALE, ILL. -- Four candidates for the position of interim dean of the College of Science at Southern Illinois University Carbondale will meet with constituents during a series of open forums beginning this Friday.
The candidates are: Laurie Achenbach, professor in the Department of Microbiology; Ken Anderson, professor in the Department of Geology; Gary Kinsel, professor of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; and Karen Renzaglia, professor in the Department of Plant Biology.
The interim dean will report to John Nicklow, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. The position is the chief academic and administrative officer for the College of Science and is responsible for its academic programs, fiscal management, personnel, external relations, and recruitment and retention, among other areas. All candidates must be tenured professors in the college with a record of academic leadership and administrative experience
The open forums will give University students, staff and faculty an opportunity to meet with the candidates and ask questions about their proposed approaches to the position and will be done in conjunction with their interview for the position.
The forums are scheduled in the following order:
• Anderson will hold his open forum 10-11:15 a.m. Friday, March 23, at the University Museum Auditorium.
• Achenbach will hold her open forum 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Monday, March 26, at the Guyon Auditorium in Morris Library.
• Renzaglia will hold her open forum 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, March 28, at the Guyon Auditorium in Morris Library.
• Kinsel will hold his open forum 10:30-11:45 a.m. Thursday, March 29, at the University Museum Auditorium.
Laurie Achenbach earned her doctorate in genetics and development in 1988 at the University of Illinois. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in biology in 1982 at Northern Michigan University.
Achenbach began her professional experience with teaching and research assistantships at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1983-1987. She continued her work there as a post-doctorate research associate until 1990 before becoming a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science, Food and Nutrition at SIU Carbondale that year.
Achenbach became a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1991 and an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology in 1991, serving in that role until 1997 when she became an associate professor. She was appointed professor in 2002. Achenbach has also served as associate dean for research and graduate programs in the College of Science since 2007.
Achenbach has served in a variety of administrative roles over the years, including serving as chair of the Higher Learning Commission Focus Visit Report Committee and as a member of the Board Negotiation Team for Faculty Administration contract. She also served as a member of Commencement Implementation Team and the Center for Teaching Excellence Transition Team this year. She is a member of the Strategic Plan Core Committee and has served on the Student Conduct Code Special Review Committee, the International Advisory Board, and the Graduate Enrollment Working Group and as the chair of the Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor Search Committee in 2010, among others.
Achenbach is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Microbiology, the American Phytopathological Society and the Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society. In 2009, she won the Scholar Award from Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society for the SIU Carbondale Chapter. She is a member of the National Golden Key Honor Society, the University Fellowship for University of Illinois and the Board of Control Scholarships at Northern Michigan University.
Ken Anderson earned his doctorate in organic chemistry in 1989 and his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in 1984 at the University of Melbourne.
Anderson began his professional experience in 1989 as a post-doctorate research fellow at Argonne National Laboratory, serving there until 1991. He worked as a research scientist for Amoco Oil from 1991 to 1994 before returning to Argonne National Laboratory as an organic geochemist that year. In 2003 he became an associate professor at SIU Carbondale, becoming a professor in 2007. In 2010, he also founded Thermaquatica Inc., and serves as its chief executive officer.
Anderson serves in a variety of roles and on several committees and groups on campus, including the Faculty Senate, the Professional Science Master (Advanced Energy Management) steering committee, the Masters Fellowship Committee (2005-2007) and the Coal Fuels Alliance technical steering committee (2005-2009). In the Department of Geology, he serves on the Speakers Committee and Space Allocation Committee, of which he is chair. He is a past member and chair of the Graduate Admissions Committee (2003-2008), was a member of the Faculty Search Committee (2005-2008), an undergraduate adviser (2006-2012) and a graduate adviser (2007-2008).
Anderson is a member of the American Chemical Society, serving in a variety of leadership roles for the organization including program chair, chair and membership chair for the Geochemistry Division. He also is a member of the European Association of Organic Geochemists and the Geochemical Society. From 2005 to 2011 he served as co-editor in chief of the journal Geochemical Transactions. From 2000 to 2005 he served as associate editor of the journal and was chair of its editorial board.
Anderson received the “Innovator of the Year” award from SIU Carbondale in 2011. He also has received awards related to his 1999 co-patent for the “Gregar Extractor,” including the Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Award for Commercialization (2000) and the R&D 100 Award (1999). He received the Outstanding Service Award from the American Chemical Society Division of Geochemistry in 1999 and received a “Research Highlight” from the U.S. Department of Energy in 1991.
Gary Kinsel earned his doctorate in analytical chemistry at the University of Colorado-Boulder in 1989. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry at Western Illinois University in 1983.
Kinsel began his professional experience as a graduate research assistant from 1984 to 1989 at the University of Colorado. He became a post-doctorate research fellow in 1990 at the Institute for Physical and Theoretical Chemistry at the Technical University Munich in Germany and a post-doctorate research associate in 1991 at Texas A&M University, serving in that role into 1994. That year, he became an assistant professor of analytical chemistry and director of the Mass Spectrometry Facility at the University of Texas at Arlington. During this time, Kinsel also served one year as a member of the visiting research faculty at The ETH Zentrum in Zurich, Switzerland, (1998-1999). He became an associate professor at the University of Texas at Arlington in 2000 before joining the SIU Carbondale faculty as a professor of analytical chemistry in 2005. In 2007, Kinsel became chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
Kinsel serves in a variety of roles and on several committees and groups on campus, including chair of the Chemical Oversight Advisory Committee since 2008, and as a member of the Energy Research Initiatives Committee (2010); the Center for Ecology Internal Program Review (2010); and the Research Compliance Oversight Committee (2008), among others. Within the College of Science, he has served on the Outstanding Scholar Selection Committee (2009-present) and has served on the Associate Dean Search Committee, the budget committee and the Tenure and Promotion Committee, among others. He also has served on numerous committees at the department level, including the Tenure and Promotion Committee, the Graduate Recruiting Committee and the Program Review and Assessment Committee, among others.
In 2007, Kinsel won the Excellence Through Commitment Undergraduate Teaching Award at SIU Carbondale. He also won the Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award at the University of Texas at Arlington in 2002 and was a 1999 recipient of a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to support his research in mass spectrometry. He also won the Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship (1990-1991), among others. He is a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, the American Vacuum Society and the International Society for Mass Spectrometry.
Karen Renzaglia is a three-degree recipient from SIU Carbondale, earning her doctorate in botany in 1981, her Master of Science degree in botany in 1977 and her Bachelor of Arts degree in botany in 1975.
Renzaglia began her professional experience as an assistant professor of biological sciences in 1980 at East Tennessee State University. She became an associate professor in 1985 and was appointed professor in 1990 and served in that position through 1997.
Renzaglia held a series of visiting research fellowships from 1983-1986 at the University of Illinois, University of Southwestern Louisiana and Queen Mary College in London, England. She also served as the invited honorary research professor at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Renzaglia was also a visiting research professor at SIU Carbondale from 1996 to 2003. She also served as a research project specialist from 2000 to 2003. She was appointed as an assistant professor of plant biology in 2005, becoming an associate professor in 2006 and a professor in 2011.
Renzaglia has served in a variety of administrative roles over the years, including founding and directing the Research-Enriched Academic Challenge (REACH) from 2000 to 2003. She was director of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Bridge to the Doctorate program from 2002 to 2006, and director of the McNair Scholars Program from 2002 to the present. She currently serves as director of the Heartland Environmental and Research Training (HEART) GK-12 Program, starting in that role in 2006. She is director of Green Scholarship Program (2009-present) and the National Science Foundation’s Noyce Master Teaching Fellowship Program (2011-present). In 2008, Renzaglia became associate dean for undergraduates, serving in that role presently.
Renzaglia is a member of Sigma Xi, the Botanical Society of America, the Institute of Biological Science, the American Fern Society and many other professional societies and organizations. She currently is president of the American Bryological and Lichenological Society and has served as program director for the Botanical Society of America and secretary/treasurer for the Pteridological Section of that organization, among other leadership positions.