Faculty news

Arthur Glasfeld, associate professor of chemistry, has received a Medical Research Foundation seed grant from Oregon Health and Science University. The award of $21,174 will support his project, “Specificity in Metal and DNA Binding by ScaR from Streptococcus gordon ii.”

At a basic level, Glasfeld’s study will provide information on the physiological responses of pathogenic bacteria to essential metal ions in their environment. The further consequences of this research may include the development of antibiotics that block the production of virulence factors in certain pathogenic bacteria. Specifically, Glasfeld proposes to characterize the dim eric, manganese-dependent regulatory protein ScaR. This protein is an important target for structural studies because it is a model for a group of proteins that are important in bacterial virulence. Under conditions of limiting metal ion concentrations, many bacteria induce the expression of genes that lead to human disease.

Darius Rejali, associate professor of political science, has signed two book contracts with Princeton University Press. The first book, Torture, Technology and Democracy, his sabbatical year project, will be delivered May 2003. The second book, Approaches to Violence, will be delivered May 2004. Torture, Technology and Democracy asks, “Is torture compatible with modern democracy?” and follows and reconstructs the history of modern torture technology. Approaches to Violence presents the main qualitative orientations to the study of violence and examines how these orientations shape the ways researchers fashion answers in the study of particular kinds of violence.

Laurens Ruben, Keenan Professor Emeritus of Biology, was chosen to receive the annual mentor award from the Oregon Health and Science University Foundation for outstanding leadership in and support of education during his career at Reed College. Since 1955 Ruben has been a mainstay and pillar of the Reed biology program. Over 104 students have conducted their senior thesis under his direction, and at least 41 students have appeared as co-authors of peer-reviewed papers with him. Beyond his remarkable dedication, kindness, and personal attention to students, Ruben was instrumental in helping to initiate a research-intensive curriculum that has led to the biology program’s national prominence. Although Ruben retired a decade ago, he continues to be active in the Reed biology department both as a researcher and a research mentor, with four thesis students this year. He is in the lab or office nearly every day and continues to publish frequently. As professor David Dalton wrote in his letter of nomination for the award, “Ruben has been a beloved and influential mentor who is richly deserving of this award.”

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