Surveys of Americans have revealed an ignorance of science. Educators, like Westmont chemistry professor Niva Tro, frequently call for more science instruction in the schools. Tro will speak on “The Importance of Science Literacy: Why Everyone Needs a Basic Understanding of Science,” Thursday, Oct. 11, at 5:30 p.m. at the University Club on Santa Barbara Street.
Professor Jorge L. A. Garcia will deliver the lecture “Racism as Vice: The Current Philosophical Debate,” Thursday, Oct. 4, at 3:30 p.m., in Westmont’s Hieronymus Lounge.
Chemistry professor Dr. Stephen Contakes, who joined the Westmont faculty this fall, hopes to influence student’s lives inside and outside the classroom. The Lehigh University alumnus is a bioinorganic chemist who focuses on metals in biology.
“The chemistry involved in activities such as thinking and moving contain metals which play a key role in the ways our bodies function,” he says. Contakes does research that replicates in non-natural systems the way these metals act.
Religious studies professor Caryn Reeder, who joined the Westmont faculty this fall, is anxious to begin conducting research on a new topic. She has spent much of the past year writing “The Enemy Within: Biblical and Intertestamental Traditions of Family Violence,” a dissertation she hopes to publish focusing on domestic violence in the Bible and other ancient texts.
“I’m ready to move beyond family violence and get into something more cheerful,” she says.
Mitch Vance, a general partner of a private equity investment firm, has agreed to chair Westmont’s Board of Advisors, President Gayle Beebe announced today. Vance joined the board in 2000 and previously served on the Westmont Foundation.
The National Science Foundation awarded Westmont professors Kim P. Kihlstrom and Wayne Iba a $287,500 grant for their project Connection-Oriented Computer Science Education. The grant will provide scholarships of up to $10,000 each year to students majoring in computer science who demonstrate financial need and academic promise.
The project aims to increase the number of talented and well-prepared computer science graduates, particularly women and culturally diverse students.