Labware donation from ETHOS Science Center

Many thanks to Patsy Boehler, executive director of the ETHOS Science Center in Elkhart, for inviting the IU South Bend science departments to sort through pallets full of pipet tips, boxes of bottles, and other assorted plastic labware and bring back whatever we wanted for our labs. Laboratory assistant Brend Beatty showcases our new supplies, still in boxes. Originally, over 100 pallets had been donated to ETHOS by one of their distributors, so they were able to give away beakers, graduated cylinders, culture tubes, and bottles to local high schools. Looking through the remaining items, the Biology and Chemistry & Biochemistry departments came away with three small truckloads (and a trunkload) of supplies, including enough pipet tips to last several years!

ETHOS stands for Encouraging Technology and Hands-On Science with the goal to help children learn and love science. They offer curriculum, robotics programs (with and without LEGO), and summer camp along with many other events and resources.  Please visit their website for more information.

Professor Feighery "Makes History"

Inorganic Professor Bill Feighery's leadership and insight as chair of our department have been noted by colleagues across the college so much so that he was chosen this January to serve as Acting Associate Dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He will continue this duty, but now takes on an additional administrative role as chairperson once again.  However, this time he will chair the Department of History! Over the years, chemistry faculty have been asked to fill in administrative roles in other departments and colleges such as business and nursing; we now and history to that list. Current chairperson and historian Jonathan Nashel will be on sabbatical for the academic year researching in Washington, D.C. for his new book.

Distinguished Alumnus Mark Royer

In 2003 Mark C. Royer graduated from IU South Bend with honors earning a bachelor of science in chemistry. He made news last year when he began the Brian A. Zeider Scholarship for Excellence in Biochemistry at IU South Bend, in memory of his dear friend (and fellow volunteer in the Barefoot Doctors program) and undergraduate classmate who passed away suddenly in September 2011. Now on the 10th anniversary of his graduation he returns to receive the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award.   Here's why:

After graduating from IU South Bend, Dr. Royer continued schooling at the IU School of Medicine where was inducted into both the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical and the Gold Humanism Honor Societies.  He was also awarded the Pittman Scholarship for Surgical Excellence. After graduating with an MD in 2007, Dr. Royer began surgical training as an otolaryngologist, presented at various national conferences, and had multiple publications in the areas of facial plastic and reconstructive surgery, thyroid cancer, surgical anatomy, inner ear tumors, and the use of ultrasound in surgical practice. 

Dr. Royer was also involved with healthcare policy and advocated for improved quality of patient care and access to healthcare on Capitol Hill during multiple trips to Washington, DC. Additionally, he served as the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery’s resident delegate to the American Medical Association.  He developed an interest in humanitarian medical missions during residency by training Myanmar village leaders to provide basic healthcare to their villages through the Barefoot Doctors program in northern Thailand.  In 2012 he repaired cleft lips and palates in Eldoret, Kenya at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and plans to return in early 2014.  

Dr. Royer is now an otolaryngologist and surgeon at Witham Hospital in Lebanon, IN.  Refusing to believe that school has to end (at the 26^th grade so far for him), he plans to pursue a business of medicine MBA this Fall - at IU, of course.  Congratulations to Dr. Royer for this award and all of his achievements. We wish you continued success in all your endeavors.