We have been operating a robust program this year starting with a membership drive that increased the members to 71. Paying the membership fee entitled members to the Club Tee shirt – a new design with a gel in the shape of the State of South Carolina with bands in orange on a black background. Faculty are invited to purchase one from any of the officers. It is a clever design and probably one of our best.
Over Fall Break, we took 14 members to Bethesda, MD where we toured several laboratories Monday, including the Ostrander group who work on canine genetics as models for human diseases. Tuesday morning we visited United Therapeutics in Silver Spring, specializing in the treatment of lung diseases. After being up all night with a lung transplant into a human acceptor, a technician showed us videos they use to evaluate lungs in their laboratory from a donor before transplanting. We travel on Saturday and Sunday we tour the Mall. I attached a picture of the group with the Robert Berks sculpture of Albert Einstein at the National Academy of Science where we started the evening tour of the monuments [Vietnam, Korea, Lincoln, Roosevelt, King, WW II, Washington].
The officers this year are Hilda Chan and Adam Luthman, co-presidents, Neal Patel, treasurer, Hanie Barakat, secretary, and Morgan Dimery, communications.
One of the pleasures of being advisor is seeing you,
when you present your work to the Club. We meet biweekly for these lectures and Weiguo Cao presented tonight. Thank you for those who have done presentations over the past several years.
The Emeritus College, in conjunction with Dr. Tia Dumas, Assistant Dean of Professional Development and Inclusive Excellence, has begun a new program for graduate students. A cross-disciplinary panel of Emeritus Professors has begun meeting with graduate students to offer advice and support. Our next meeting is March 10 at 2pm Academic Success Center 318. The starting topic is “Your Advisory Committee” but the session will be open to other topics for discussion. Please encourage your graduate students to attend.
Gary Powell, Emeritus Professor of Genetics and Biochemistry