Communication and Journalism professor Bernard Armada teaches class on the steps of O'Shaughness-Frey Library.

Professional Notes for Feb. 9, 2018

Carol J. Bruess, College of Arts and Sciences, was conferred the status of professor emerita. St. Thomas President Julie Sullivan wrote, “In your case, emerita status recognizes special strengths: your intellectual vitality, your collaborative spirit, your commitment to teaching and service-learning, and the warm, genuine joie de vivre that you have radiated like a summer sun in our community."

John Del Vecchio, Ethics and BLAW Department, Opus College of Business, presented a Continuing Legal Education seminar on Dec. 7, 2017. The seminar, titled "Gay Divorce – The Flip Side of the Right to Marry," examined legal issues concerning same-sex marriage dissolution.

Kristine DeVinck, Accounting Department, Opus College of Business, and Eleni Roulis, Educational Leadership, College of Education, Leadership and Counseling, attended the Fourth Annual International Mindful Leadership Summit in Washington, D.C., Nov. 10-11. The annual summit works with over 700 leaders from 34 countries in all types of organizations to explore how to bring mindfulness and compassion into the workplace.

Rev. John P. Floeder portrait

Father John P. Floeder

Father John Floeder, Moral Theology, The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, David Jenkins, Music Department, College of Arts and Sciences, and N. Curtis LeMay, The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, serve as animators for Catholic Relief Services (CRS), which carries out the commitment of the Bishops of the United States to assist the poor and vulnerable overseas. On Oct. 23, seminarian and CRS representative Michael Reinhardt and Jenkins presented a program to seminary faculty and staff on the work of CRS in the Middle East. On Feb. 15, they gave the same presentation to Archbishop Bernard Hebda and archdiocesan staff. On Feb. 20-21, Jenkins, Floeder and LeMay attended the annual seminary faculty representative meeting at the CRS headquarters in Baltimore. For the second year, the seminary is sponsoring the CRS Rice Bowl project throughout the season of Lent.

Stephen Hipp, Dogmatic Theology, The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, has written a new book titled The One Church of Christ: Understanding Vatican II, in the academic series Renewal within the Tradition, Emmaus Academic, Steubenville (OH), 2018.

Michael Hollerich, Theology Department, College of Arts and Sciences, published “The Böckenförde Paradox: What a German Jurist Can Teach American Catholics” in the Nov. 27, 2017 issue of Commonweal Magazine.

Michael Klein portrait

Mike Klein

Mike Klein, Justice and Peace Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, contributed a chapter to Ethnographic Peace Research: Approaches and Tensions, an international volume on the local turn within peace research, building on insights from conflict transformation, gender studies, critical international relations and anthropology. Klein's chapter, titled "Institutional Ethnography as Peace Research," presents the methodology behind his doctoral research on the May Day Parade at In the Heart of the Beast Theater's through the framework of the Circle of Praxis Pedagogy.

Anne Klejment portrait

Anne Klejment

Anne Klejment, History Department, College of Arts and Sciences, received the Distinguished Award for Teaching at the January 2018 meeting of the American Catholic Historical Association. She recently published entries on “Daniel Berrigan,” “Catholic Worker Movement” and “Dorothy Day” in Mitchell K. Hall, ed. Opposition to War: An Encyclopedia of United States Peace and Antiwar Movements (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2018).

Father Thomas Margevičius, Liturgical Theology and Homiletics, The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, was on sabbatical in Costa Rica during fall semester in the Spanish Language Immersion program with Central Panamericano de Idiomas. In addition to living with host families and receiving intensive tutoring, he celebrated daily Mass in Spanish and provided pastoral assistance in various Costa Rican parishes. Margevičius now celebrates Mass and the Sacraments in Spanish, and he will preach and assist Latino communities, as needed, in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Gaston E. "Chip" Small portrait

Gaston E. "Chip" Small

Mark Neuzil, Communication and Journalism Department, College of Arts and Sciences, and Eric Freedman edited a book titled Biodiversity, Conservation and Environmental Management in the Great Lakes Basin, published Nov. 13, 2017. Chip Small, Environmental Science and Biology Departments, College of Arts and Sciences, authored a chapter in the book titled "Water quality in the Great Lakes: Interactions between nutrient pollution, invasive species, and climate change." Another chapter was authored by Dalma Martinovic-Weigelt, Environmental Sciences and Biology Departments, College of Arts and Sciences, along with her undergraduate research assistant Jane Feely and colleague Dr. Heiko Schoenfuss from St. Cloud State University. Their chapter in the book is titled "Toxicants in the Great Lakes: living with a toxic legacy while managing for chemicals of emerging concern." Neuzil also co-authored the article "Challenges of Teaching Environmental Journalism" in Applied Environmental Education & Communication (Taylor & Francis, 2018). His co-authors include University of Maine Ph.D. student Kevin Duffy ('15), and Eric Freedman and David Poulson of Michigan State University.

William Ojala, Chemistry Department, College of Arts and Sciences, presented a poster, “Molecular Packing Properties of Some Symmetrically Substituted Diaryl Furoxans,” at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Crystallographic Association, held May 26-30 in New Orleans. Co-authors of the work presented are St. Thomas students Jaya Dhami, Michael Stodolka, Samantha Whitcomb and Ryan Johnson. The research is focused on gaining a deeper understanding of the self-assembly of organic molecules into crystalline solids.

James Rogers, Center for Irish Studies, was a featured guest at a program on reading and writing Irish-American autobiography at Glucksman Ireland House of New York University on Nov. 9. The program featured Rogers in conversation with the Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times reporter Dan Barry, the author of Pull Me Up: A Memoir (2004).

Deborah Savage, Philosophy and Pastoral Ministry, The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, presented her research on the masculine genius and its implications for leaders in business and other economic sectors to the Florida chapter of Legatus in November. In December, she presented her paper “The Nature of Woman in Relation to Man” at the annual conference of the American Catholic Philosophical Association in Dallas.

William B. Stevenson portrait

William B. Stevenson

William Stevenson, Dogmatic Theology, The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, presented a paper, “Classical Natural Right and the Origins of Natural Law Doctrine as a Source of the Moral Life,” at the October meeting of the National Catholic-Evangelical Dialogue at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. Additionally, he was the editor and author of the introduction to Al-Siraj: The Lantern on the Path to God Almighty, a book on Shi'a ethics by Shaikh Husain ibn-Ali ibn-Sadiq al-Bahrani, to be published in English by the World Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Communities in the United Kingdom and Kuwait.

Daniel Tight, Modern and Classical Languages Department, College of Arts and Sciences, presented “The First Noun Principle (FNP) and Written L2 Spanish Tasks” at the Hispanic Linguistics Symposium in Lubbock, Texas, on Oct. 27, 2017.

Dr. Muffet Trout. Photo by Mike Ekern.

Muffet Trout

Muffet Trout, Education, College of Education, Leadership and Counseling, spoke at the annual conference for the National Council for the Social Studies in San Francisco, November 15-19. Dr. Trout, with colleagues Kate Stower, Minnesota Historical Society; Dr. Valerie Walker, Gustavus Adolphus College; Dr. Jessica Winkelaar, University of Wisconsin-River falls; and Geri Von Grey, Bethel University, presented on their work in forming and cultivating a network for college and university instructors who prepare social studies teachers. The name of their presentation was "Connecting across Campuses: Strength in a Statewide Methods Instructor Community."

Lisa K. Waldner portrait

Lisa Waldner

Lisa Waldner, Sociology and Criminal Justice Department, College of Arts and Sciences, and the CAS Dean's Office, published with Betty Dobratz (Iowa State University) "Establishing Access and Building Rapport with Stigmatized Groups: Interviewing White Power Activists" for Sage Research Methods Cases.

Christian D. Washburn, Dogmatic Theology, The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, delivered a paper titled “500 Years of Lutheran-Catholic Dialogue: Achievements and Future Challenges” at the conference From Conflict to Communion: Commemorating the Reformation With New Eyes at the University of St. Thomas on Oct. 11. On Oct. 19, Washburn presented a lecture titled “Norms for Morality: Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterium” to the Evangelical-Catholic Dialogue at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota. Together, Washburn and Stevenson participated in an Evangelical-Catholic panel discussion, titled “500th Anniversary of Protestantism,” at the Trask Word and Worship Center at North Central University, Minneapolis, on Oct. 24.

Paul Wojda portrait

Paul Wojda

Paul Wojda, Theology Department, College of Arts and Sciences, was named chairman of the board of directors of the Institute for Basic and Applied Research in Surgery (IBARS). IBARS is an independent, non-profit medical research foundation, originally founded in 1984 by Dr. John S. Najarian and other members of the University of Minnesota’s Department of Surgery. Its mission is to create an environment of intellectual curiosity within the Surgical Resident Training program at the University of Minnesota and elsewhere by offering initial research funding to promising young surgical investigators. Wojda, whose academic specialization is health care ethics, has been a member of the IBARS board since 1996.

Father Kevin Zilverberg, Sacred Scripture, The Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, successfully completed the culminating examination of the preparatory doctoral year of the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. He submitted a paper titled “The Textual History of Old Latin Susanna,” which he publicly presented and discussed on Oct. 27, 2017.

Students from the Chemistry Department (College of Arts and Sciences), from Mechanical Engineering (School of Engineering) and the Interdisciplinary Program in Materials Science and Engineering (CAS and SOE) presented posters describing their research Aug. 10, 2017, at the Summer Undergraduate Research Expo held at the McNamara Alumni Center of the University of Minnesota and sponsored by the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC). The participating students, the titles of their posters, and their advisers were: Nick Battaglia, “Synthesis of Precursor Salt and 1,3-bis[(2-Pyridyl)methyl]-1H-Imidazolylidene and Coordination with Lanthanum(III) Ion” and Mikayla Newby, “Synthesis of Precursor Salt, 1,3-bis(Picolylbenzimidazolium Bromide, and Coordination with Lanthanum(III) Ion,” students of Dr. Marites Guino-oCecelia Kinane, “The Effects of Morphology on the Luminescent Properties of Upconverting Lanthanide-Doped Phosphors,” student of Dr. J. Thomas Ippoliti and Dr. Brittany Nelson-CheesemanMike Patton, “Shape Anisotropy and Filament Orientation Effect on Magnetic Properties of 3D Printed Structures” and Emily Whitwam, “Electromagnetic Interference Shielding by Fused Deposition Modeling,” students of Nelson-Cheeseman; Maria Neuzil, “Solid-State Studies of Benzonitrile Oxides and their Dimers: Crystal Structure of a 1,2,4-Oxadiazole” and Michael Stodolka, “Solid-State Studies of Halogenated Benzonitrile Oxides and their Dimers,” students of Ojala; Anna Folska, “Lipid Membrane Interaction Thermodynamics of Cell-Penetrating Peptides,” Hannah Ganzel, “Binding Affinity of PAH-Coated Au Nanoparticles to Gram Positive Bacterial Cell Walls,” Brittany Haas, “Biodegradable Tri-Block Copolymer Self-Assemblies for Drug Delivery,” Jack Queenan, “Pancreatic Polymersomes: Acid-Sensitive Nanoparticles for Glucose-Responsive Insulin” and Thomas Wieser, “Acetylated and Phosphoryl Cholinated G5 Poly(amidoamine) Dendrimers for Gene Delivery: Balancing Toxicity and DNA Packaging Efficiency,” students of Dr. Lisa PrevetteKathryn Breuckman and Madeline Hankard, “Effect of Nucleophiles on Photolysis, Regeneration, and Product Formation of the Steroid Trendione,” and Quinn Whiting and Joe Herrli, “Investigation of Indirect Photolysis on Select Pesticides and Pharmaceuticals along the St. Louis River,” students of Dr. Kristine Wammer.