Physicist To Move From Syracuse To Penn State To Head New Center

Center Center Abhay Ashtekar, a theoretical physicist and currently a professor at Syracuse University, has been appointed as the first holder of the Eberly Family Chair in Physics at Pennsylvania State University. Ashtekar intends to use the chair's $1 million endowment as start-up funding to organize a Center for Gravitational Physics at Penn State. He will begin in his new position in August. The center will be located in the Davey Lab on the University Park, Pa., campus with Ashtekar as its first director. He says an important component of the center will be a strong interdisciplinary approach to research in theoretical physics. "Theoretical research has now become advanced enough so that a physicist needs advanced techniques from mathematicians and astronomers and vice versa," he says. "We will be breaking all barriers between disciplines." In its initial stages, Ashtekar says, the center will be staffed primarily by members of the physics department. However, he says, as the center becomes more established, numerous members from both the mathematics and astronomy departments will be invited to become involved. At present, the center is slated to accommodate two full professors, two assistant professors, and 10 postdoctoral researchers. "My ideology for the center has three prongs," Ashtekar explains. "First, it should be very strong in basic research. Second, this research should then contribute to teaching postgraduate students. Graduate students should be trained so that they are on the cutting edge of the field by the time they leave. "And, third, I would like the center to become a way of popularizing science. While most of us are experts in theoretical physics, math, or astronomy, I would like us to go around and give lectures to young kids in schools and get them interested in science." Ashtekar says he believes science education in the United States is in dire straits and hopes that the center's personnel, even in a small way, can bring some enthusiasm to children interested in science. "I'm not saying these things will be new to Penn State, but I think this will be a substantial addition to the things that they are already doing," he says. Ashtekar received a bachelor's degree in physics and mathematics from the University of Bombay, India, in 1969 and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 1974. He specializes in general relativity and quantum gravity and is the author or coauthor of more than 94 research papers. The most recent appeared in Classical and Quantum Gravity (A. Ashtekar, et al., "A loop representation for the quantum Maxwell field," 9[5]:1121- 50, 1992). Animal Alternative Charles E. Branch, a professor of physiology at Auburn University, has received the second annual Russell and Burch Award from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The award, which includes a trophy and a $5,000 cash prize, is granted by HSUS in recognition of a scientist who has made significant contributions to the advancement of alternatives to the use of animals in research, testing, or education. The award is named for William Russell and Rex Burch, two British scientists who, in 1959, first published Principles of Humane Experimental Technique (special edition, Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, Herts, England, 1992), a book that introduced the now-popular "three Rs" of establishing alternatives to animal testing: reduction, refinement, and replacement. Branch created an interactive videodisc program to teach medical and veterinary students about cardiovascular physiology. "Traditionally," he says, "the students do these laboratories with live animals. So what we're trying to see is: Can they get similar benefits by doing the laboratory sitting at a computer instead of using another animal?" The video shows a dissection of a dog that students watch instead of cutting into their own hounds. The program simulates laboratory exercises in catheterization of the left and right heart, autonomic control of the circulation, fibrillation and defibrillation, positive pressure ventilation, and euthanasia. The emphasis is on physiology and not surgery. Branch's program requires an IBM-compatible computer with a split-screen monitor that is connected to a videodisc player. The set-up allows students to not simply watch the animated video of a physiological procedure, but make decisions and react to data displayed by the computer (C.E. Branch, et al., "Interactive videodisc simulated physiology laboratories," Computers in Life Science Education, 6[11]:81-8, 1989). "For example, the students do not just see what the heart looks like during fibrillation," he says. "They also view chart recordings showing blood pressure and electrocardiograms." To date, Branch says, 50 copies of the program have been sold and at least 30 are in schools. Many schools are investigating to see if the program could be applicable in the future to simulate actual surgery. "We will have to see if using it for surgery is practical," he says. "There is still no way with a video that you can do everything that a real experiment can do. You can't touch it and feel it and all that. So we'll see what the future holds." According to Branch, students using the videodisc program required approximately 30 percent less time to achieve the same level of knowledge retention and performance level as students in traditional laboratories. Branch received his bachelor's degree in 1964 in mechanical engineering and his Ph.D. in physiology in 1974 from Auburn. He is the founder of CONVINCE, a consortium of all 30 veterinary medical schools in North America that supports training workshops in interactive media alternatives to using live animals and funds grants for work related to animal alternatives. Johannes Holtfreter, an embryologist at the University of Rochester and a pioneer in the study of embryonic cell growth, died November 13 in Rochester, N.Y. He was 91 years old. Holtfreter developed techniques to grow embryonic cells and tissues outside of an animal ("Differentiation of striated muscle cells in vitro," American Zoology, 5:719, 1965). Holtfreter joined the faculty in the department of zoology at Rochester in 1946. He retired in 1969. Helene W. Toolan, a cancer researcher who helped identify the relationship between viruses and human cancer cells, died November 29 in Bennington, Vt. She was 80 years old. Toolan was on the staff of the Sloan-Kettering Institute for Cancer Research in New York from 1950 to 1964. In 1955, she received the Sloan Award for her work in transplanting human tumors and tissues into laboratory animals. In 1964, Toolan became director of the Putnam Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Bennington. She became director, emerita, in 1978. In 1987, the institute was renamed the Helene W. Toolan Institute for Medical Research. A. Gardner Fox, a researcher focusing on radar, microwaves, and laser beam devices, died November 24 in Harmony, Pa. He was 80 years old. Fox worked at Bell Telephone Laboratories for 41 years and developed electronic mechanisms that were used in both telephone and airplane communications.

Physicist To Move From Syracuse To Penn State To Head New Center

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