Four professors will receive 2000-2001 Faculty Scholar Medals for Outstanding Achievement.

They are Sarah M. Assmann, professor of biology, and W. Larry Kenney, professor of physiology and kinesiology, will both receive the Life and Health Sciences Medal; Xumu Zhang, associate professor of organic chemistry, will receive the Physical Science Medal, and Glenn Firebaugh, professor of sociology and demography, will receive the Social and Behavioral Sciences Medal.

Established in 1980, the award recognizes scholarly or creative excellence represented by a single contribution or a series of contributions around a coherent theme.  A committee of faculty peers reviews nominations and selects candidates.

Assmann will receive the award for identifying and determining the functions of important proteins involved in controlling microscopic openings inplant leaves.  This discovery may have application to producing more drought tolerant crop plants.

A world leader in the field of plant cell signal transduction, she studies how plants receive and respond to stimuli from the environment.  In particular, she studies how plants open and close the microscopic pores.  This regulation is vital to photosynthesis and to the exchange of gases with the environment.  Assmann received a McKnight individual research grant award in 1988-1990 and a National Science Foundation POWRE award in 1999-2000.

Kenney is recognized for discovering that, among other possible causes, the aging heart, coupled with a reduced ability to distribute blood flow to the skin, causes heat-related deaths in older people.  His research has defined the mechanisms that decrease thermal tolerance with aging and has led to recommendations for the elderly that have likely saved lives and improved quality of life.

His research focuses on thermoregulation of the human body specifically in the elderly and the biophysics of heat exchange, especially during exercise.  Kenney is a Fellow of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education and a Fellow and vice president of the American College of Sports Medicine.  In 1997-98 he received the Evan G. and Helen G. Pattishall Outstanding Research Career Award.

Zhang will receive his award for his work in the highly competitive field of organic chemistry involving catalytic asymmetric synthesis.  His work focuses on the use of catalysts for preferentially synthesizing active substances, so called chiral pharmaceuticals.       

He received the Camille and Henry Dryfus Foundation New Faculty Award in 1994-1999, the DuPont Young Faculty Award in 1996-1999, Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award 1996-1999, the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Teacher-Scholar Award 1998-2000 and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation Fellow 2000-2001.

Firebaugh is recognized for his development and application of quantitative methodologies that are often considered “dispute ending.”  His studies of societal change in voting, fertility and church attendance helped to establish better understanding of which portions of change are best understood as change within individuals and which as change across generations.  His 1997 book, “Analyzing Repeated Surveys,” has become a standard reference in this field.  The National Science Foundation has funded his work continuously since 1988.

His current work focuses on modeling historical trends in worldwide income inequality.  His work helps us to understand how income shifts occur between nations and how these shifts affect global well being.  Firebaugh is an elected member of the Sociological Research Association and was editor of the American Sociological Review -- the leading international journal in sociology -- from 1997 to 1999.  He received the Distinction in the Social Sciences Award from Penn State in 2000.