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Dr. Alexander Deiters, assistant professor of chemistry at North Carolina State University, has received a Career Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The award is one of the highest honors given by NSF to young university faculty in science and engineering, and is intended to advance the development of their research and careers.

Deiters will receive a five-year, $500,000 grant to fund research related to his proposal titled, “Solid-Supported Cyclotrimerizations - A Library Approach to Research and Teaching.” The grant will further Deiters’ research into using microwave-mediated cyclotrimeritzation technology to synthesize certain unnatural and natural molecules. Deiters’ work makes molecule synthesis faster and more efficient, which has implications for both the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries. The developed methodology might also enable the assembly of organic molecules in a more energy efficient way than existing methodologies.

Deiters studied chemistry at the University of Münster, Germany, receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1998 and his doctorate in 2000. He joined the NC State faculty in 2004, and received several awards for his research accomplishments, including the Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Award in 2006, Sigma Xi Research Faculty Award in 2007, Cottrell Scholar Award in 2007, and Beckman Young Investigator Award in 2007.

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The most recent news on the Salmonella outbreak that has been tied to a peanut processing facility in Georgia is raising questions about the safety of all peanuts and peanut-containing products that have come out of that facility since January 2007. North Carolina State University food safety specialist Ben Chapman is available to provide insight on what has happened so far, what may happen next and what it means for public health.

“Being proactive and keeping food that has tested positive off of the plates of consumers is good for public health,” Chapman stresses. “Waiting until illnesses are reported is irresponsible and demonstrates a lack of concern for customers.”

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Willie E. Gary, a nationally renowned trial lawyer, humanitarian and philanthropist, will deliver a public lecture on Friday, Feb. 6, at 1 p.m. in the North Carolina State University Witherspoon Student Center’s Washington Sankofa Room (Room 126) as part of NC State’s 27th annual University-Community Brotherhood Celebration. Continue Reading »

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton told an audience of more than 6,000 gathered Monday at North Carolina State University that the world would best find its way to peace and prosperity through “communitarianism.”

“We should be trying to create a world where we share the future,” Clinton said. “We share the benefits and the opportunities; we share the burdens and the responsibilities.

PHOTO GALLERY: The Way Forward (photos by Roger Winstead)

One of those responsibilities is to work together solve the world’s problems.

“How do you go about taking the best of intentions and turning them into positive changes in people’s lives?” he asked. “You’ve got to say, ‘I want to be a person involved in the how.’”

President Clinton’s address, titled “The Way Forward,” charted a course for America’s future after the 2008 election and focused on the effects of new presidential leadership on the nation’s important issues and policy solutions.  His presentation was part of NC State’s Millennium Seminar Series, which brings national and international figures to campus to discuss the world’s most pressing problems.

Clinton called on the “How To” Generation to get to work.

“I don’t think it’s good enough anymore to define your citizenship by being a good, honest worker and a taxpayer and someone who votes,” Clinton said.  “We have a ‘crisis of doing’ in the world.  We have all of these problems out there that people know are problems, that they can talk about until the cows come home, but nobody knows the how – how do you turn good intentions into real changes?”

Clinton cited what he called the two most salient points of the presidential election: The election of the first African American president, and widespread evidence that we are beyond racial polarization because we are a “multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-religious society.”

“We have learned to see our differences as making life a lot more interesting.  We value our differences.  Our futures are bound up together.  That’s what we mean by ‘communitarianism.’

“The fundamental fact of the 21st century is our interdependence.  Our differences make our lives more interesting but our common humanity matters more.  We have to find some way to come together or we can’t go forward.”

Chancellor James Oblinger introduced Clinton and led the audience in a moment of silence to commemorate the life of basketball coach Kay Yow.  Yow died Saturday following a long bout with cancer.

North Carolina State University Chancellor James Oblinger announced that 6,383 undergraduate students earned Dean’s List honors at NC State during the fall 2008 semester.

To make the Dean’s List, students must earn an academic grade-point average of 3.25 or higher if they are carrying 15 or more hours of course work, or a 3.5 grade-point average if they are carrying 12 to 14 hours.

The complete listing is available on the Web at: www.ncsu.edu/registrar/publications/deans/index.html.

Those students with a perfect 4.0 average are noted on the list.

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NOTE TO EDITORS: The list of NC State students who made the fall 2008 Dean’s List can be obtained on the Web at: www.ncsu.edu/registrar/publications/deans/index.html.

Access the above Web address and click on North Carolina for a county-by-county breakdown of Dean’s List students. If a student’s corresponding city is not listed under the appropriate county, it is because the student originally established residency in the county listed, but changed his or her mailing address for grades. Also, students with privacy blocks on their personal information are not included in the Web list.

If you cannot access the Web site or if you experience problems with this format, call NC State News Services at 919/515-3470 and we will fax, mail or e-mail you a list of students from your coverage area.

North Carolina State University Chancellor James Oblinger conferred 2,917 degrees on 2,789 graduating students when the university held its 2008 Fall Commencement on Wednesday, Dec. 17, at the RBC Center in Raleigh.

Bill Cowher, Super Bowl-winning coach and NC State alumnus, delivered the commencement address. Candidates for degrees were from 90 North Carolina counties, 30 other states or U.S. territories and 39 foreign countries. NC State holds graduation ceremonies each year in the spring and fall. Continue Reading »

North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM) is offering a “K-9 Down” seminar on Feb. 7 and 8 as part of a national program that instructs working dog handlers and rescue personnel in life-saving procedures for their canine partners.

The two-day seminar - designed for police officers, firefighters, tactical medics, search and rescue  personnel, border patrol agents, and military dog handlers - involves one day of intensive classroom
instruction and a second day of hands-on experience with dogs in a laboratory environment to gain emergency treatment skills.

Participants will learn how to protect their dogs from health hazards and how to provide emergency treatment when their dogs suffer from smoke inhalation, burn wounds, heat stroke, hypothermia, gunshot wounds, poisoning, broken bones, internal injuries and other issues.

“This is our fourth year of ‘K-9 Down’ seminars, and they are always well attended,” says course organizer Dr. Rita Hanel, a clinical assistant professor of emergency and critical care medicine at the CVM Veterinary Teaching Hospital. “The participants appreciate how critical this training may be to the health of their dog.”

In addition to Hanel, CVM instructors for the North Carolina seminar include Dr. Steve Marks, a clinical associate professor of critical care and internal medicine; Drs. Brian Trumpatori and Angela Parker, both
residents in small animal surgery; Dr. Dave Dorman, a professor and associate dean who specializes in veterinary toxicology; and Dr. Alison Clode, an assistant professor of veterinary ophthalmology.

For more information or to register, visit the Web at http://k9down.com/

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Former President Bill Clinton will speak at North Carolina State University’s Millennium Seminar Series on Monday, Jan. 26, at 10:30 a.m. in Reynolds Coliseum.

Media coverage by accredited reporters is invited. Those wishing to cover the event should RSVP to NC State News Services at 919/515-8387 by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 22. Reporters covering the event must be credentialed by NC State News Services; credentials will be provided at the event. A photo ID and an ID card from the journalist’s news organization will be required.

A satellite pool feed of the seminar will be available through UNC-TV. The coordinates are as follows:

Sat time for Jan. 26, 2009
10:00 am -10:25 am  EST test
10:30 am -12:30 pm  EST: program
This is a digital transmission
DVB-S
Horizons 2 Transponder - K-7  Channel A located at 74 degrees West
Downlink frequency: 11946.5 Mhz
Polarity: Horizontal
Symbol rate   5.6666 MSps
FEC 3/4
Trouble # 919-549-7249 or 919-485-3346    Greg Grissom

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Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee and co-sponsor of the National Infrastructure Bank Act of 2007, designed to address the vital needs of the United States’ major infrastructure systems, will make a featured presentation on national infrastructure concerns at North Carolina State University’s 2009 Emerging Issues Forum. The forum, titled “Changing Landscapes: Building the Good Growth State?,” will be held Feb. 9-10 at the Raleigh Convention Center. Continue Reading »

What: Retired U.S. Army Gen. H. Hugh Shelton, 14th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will give a presentation at North Carolina State University titled, “Military Leadership During a Time of Dramatic Change.” Shelton will address the political and military challenges that exist during transitions between presidential administrations and other timely issues.

Who: Presented by NC State’s University Scholars Program and The General H. Hugh Shelton Leadership Center.

When: Monday, Feb. 2, at 3 p.m.

Where: Stewart Theatre in the Talley Student Center on NC State’s main campus, located at 2610 Cates Ave.

Cost: Free and open to the public.

Contact: For more information on the presentation, contact Dr. Mike Davis at 919/513-0148 or mike_davis@ncsu.edu.

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