Lisa Brabbit
Lisa Montpetit Brabbit, senior assistant dean for external relations and programs, School of Law, was named a 2013 Attorney of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer for her founding work with the Infinity Project. The Infinity Project works to increase gender diversity of the state and federal branch to ensure the quality of justice in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Brabbit founded the project with Marie Failinger and Judge Mary Vasaly in 2007, and the project continues to coordinate the efforts of lawyers, judges and academics in the seven states that make up the Eighth Circuit to promote gender diversity on the bench.
Dr. Bernard Brady and Dr. Terence Nichols, Theology Department, College of Arts and Sciences, were visiting professors March 24 through 27 at the Divinity School of Dokuz Eylul University in Izmir, Turkey. They lectured in undergraduate courses and M.A. and Ph.D. seminars to students studying Islamic theology. Both gave a public lecture. Brady’s was titled “Conscience – Understanding Catholic Morality,” and Dr. Nichols’ was “The Christian View of God.”
Dr. Massimo Faggioli, Theology Department, College of Arts and Sciences, is the author of John XXIII: The Medicine of Mercy, published by Liturgical Press, 2014.
Cecilia Gentle
Cecilia Gentle, a junior chemistry major was chosen to be one of 17 students in the United States to participate in the International Research Experience for Undergraduates (IREU) program from the American Chemical Society. This summer she will spend 10 to 12 weeks working under Professor Loredana Latterini at the University of Perugia in Perugia, Italy. Her project will be focused on synthesizing inorganic nanoparticles that may have uses in solar cells and other electronic materials.
Dr. J. Thomas Ippoliti, Chemistry Department, College of Arts and Sciences, had a patent granted on Feb. 18, titled “Nanoparticle precursor structures, nanoparticle structures, and composite materials." The United States patent number is 8654155B2 and can be accessed via freepatentsonline. The patent is the result of a collaborative research project with Boston Scientific to develop new biodegradable polymers that can function as pressure sensitive adhesives. The patent has two St. Thomas undergraduate students as coauthors: Josh Speros and Dan Everson, who both went on to graduate school in chemistry and now have their Ph.D.s.
Dr. Mike Klein, Justice and Peace Studies Department, College of Arts and Sciences, is the author of a book, Teaching a Peace of My Mind. Klein's book provides 10 pedagogical activities and five theoretical concepts to promote peace education and to complement the portraits and stories of John Noltner’s exhibit and book, A Peace of My Mind.
Dr. Anne Klejment presented her paper, "Dorothy Day: Political Prisoner" at the spring meeting of the American Catholic Historical Association at Xavier University in Cincinnati. Klejment's research focused on Day's reasons for joining the radical suffrage movement and its crucial role in shaping her subsequent nonviolent civil disobedience.
John Martens
Dr. John Martens, Theology Department, College of Arts of Sciences, is the author of The Gospel of Mark: A Bible Junkies Complete Online Commentary; Red Maple Press, Delta, BC, Canada, 2014. Martens also is the author of "Burning Questions in Romans 12:20: What is the Meaning and Purpose of “Coals of Fire”?" published in the Catholic Biblical Quarterly, Vol. 76, No. 2, April 2014
James Rogers, Center for Irish Studies, was a featured speaker March 22 at the McLean County Historical Society in Bloomington, Ill. His presentation was titled “The Irish in America: The Ethnic Fade That Didn’t Happen,” and considered the unexpected persistence of Irish identity in the United States. It was presented in conjunction with the MCHS’s exhibit “The Greening of the Prairie."
While in Bloomington, Rogers also addressed students as a guest speaker for the Illinois State University Publications Unit, where he spoke about his work as editor of New Hibernia Review and about scholarly publishing more generally.
Dr. Gerald Schlabach, Theology Department, College of Arts and Sciences, spoke March 20 at for the Feast of St. Benedict held at St. John’s University. The video is now available on YouTube.
Mark Stansbury-O'Donnell
Dr. Mark Stansbury-O'Donnell, Art History Department, College of Arts and Sciences, is the author of a paperback edition of Vase Painting, Gender, and Social Identity in Archaic Athens, published by Cambridge University Press.
Dr. Lisa K. Waldner, Sociology and Criminal Justice Department, College of Arts and Sciences (with Betty A. Dobratz, Iowa State University), is the author of “Ballots and/or Bullets: Strategies of the White Power Movement in the United States,” published in Addressing Integration and Exclusion: Democracy, Human Rights and Humanitarian Intervention (ch. 18, pp. 255-268) edited by Y. Stivachtis and S. Abott (ATINER 2014).
Dr. Robert Werner, Geography Department, College of Arts and Sciences, gave an invited talk called “The Big and Small of Migration” to the American Association of University Women. The goal was to understand the principles of why people migrate, to look at the findings of genetic sciences on the history of migration, and then examine data at the scales of the world, states and counties. Three groups were featured as case studies: Hmong, Somali and Karen, followed by a summary of a recent OECD study of about a dozen First World countries, finding that immigrants have little or a small positive effect on the fiscal resources of governments.
Sixteen students and two faculty from the Chemistry Department presented their research March 16 to 20 at the 247th American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition, held in Dallas, Texas. Student presenters, their projects and their research advisers were: Marianna E. Moffatt, “Quantifying bacterial resistance to antibiotics in Minnesota surface waters,” and Jacqueline M. Kapla, “Quantifying cultivable antibiotic-resistant bacteria in surface waters” (students of Dr. Kristine H. Wammer); Olga Y. Zamulko, “Synthesis of a novel isoxazolinone,” Michael D. Sirianni, “Tetrasubstituted furans from diarylpropargylic alcohols,” Mark A. Frommelt, “Kinetics of curing in polyaspartic coatings,” Suzanne M. Mages, “Synthesis of a novel small molecule to trigger cancer cell death,” and Rebecca L. Kummer, “Synthesis of a topologically designed antibacterial compound” (students of Dr. J. Thomas Ippoliti); Brianne J. Herlitzke, “Solid-state intermolecular interactions in 3-chlorobenzaldoxime and 3-fluorobenzaldoxime: Hydrogen bonding vs. halogen bonding” (student of Dr. William H. Ojala); Matthew J. Folstad and Daniel M. Kremer, “Investigation of novel pincer ligands to sensitize lanthanide(III) luminescence,” and Meghan O. Talbot, “Investigation of the amount of hydrogen gas produced by asymmetric triazolylidenes in the nickel-catalyzed dehydrogenation of ammonia-borane” (students of Dr. Marites A. Guino-o); Kirsten G. Mueller, “DNA structure affects binding to polycationic delivery agents,” Ryan J. Smith, “Polyethylene glycol conjugation ratio and molecular weight affect polyethylenimine binding to DNA,” Nicolas C. Benish, “Cell penetrating compounds selectively bind vesicles composed of anionic lipids,” and Kristin J. Braden, “Charge density and stereochemistry affect the interaction of cell-penetrating compounds with glycosaminoglycans” (students of Dr. Lisa E. Prevette); and Benjamin M. Flood, “G-wires are highly resistant to a broad spectrum of nucleases” (student of Dr. Thomas C. Marsh). Faculty presenting talks were Dr. J. Thomas Ippoliti (with UST student co-authors Rebecca L. Kummer, Olga Y. Zamulko and Vladimir Vinnik), “Synthesis of topologically designed compounds,” and Dr. Lisa E. Prevette (with UST student co-authors Kristin J. Braden, Amber R. Schoenecker, and Nicolas C. Benish), “Structure affects the interactions of cell-penetrating compounds with cell-surface glycosaminoglycans and lipid vesicle model membranes.”
William Kinney
Faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences' Sociology and Criminal Justice Department presented their research at the regional meeting of the Midwest Sociological Society held April 3 to 6 in Omaha, Neb. Dr. William Kinney and undergraduate student Sarah Strain presented “Environmental Images on the Silver Screen." Kinney also presented two other papers co-written with alum Dr. Jynette Larshus (Minot State University), including “Karl Manneheim’s Theory on Generations: A Renewed Relevance in the 21st Century” and “Technologies Impact on Our Understanding of Intimacy in the Modern Age.” Dr. Susan Smith-Cunnien presented “Somalis in South Africa: Experiencing the Fading Rainbow.” Dr. Tanya Gladney presented with co-authors “Microaggressions in Healthcare: Can They Make You Sick?” and was an organizer and participant on the panel “Academia as a Second Career.” Dr. Lisa Waldner presented “How to Get Published in Academic Journals."
