SNCS

This week is affectionately known as “meetings week”, as we ramp back up for the fall semester with a slate of meetings.  First among them are the events welcoming and orienting our newest faculty to campus.  This year, SNCS has more newcomers than the rest of the campus combined.

Retirement, other job opportunities, and new positions have all contributed to the new faces.  There are four new faculty and a new lab manager joining us this year.  I’d like to take a moment to introduce them all.

Biology is welcoming Dr. Heidi DiFrancesca, a molecular biologist who received her doctorate from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.  President Russell has described her as a “poster child for McMurry, even though her first degree was from Lee University”.  She personifies our recent graduates - well-trained, enthusiastic, spiritually- and service-minded.  Her work is in cancer research, investigating genes involved in the pathways producing the estrogen that fuels breast cancer.  She just rolled into town on Saturday night, and car-lag has not worn off yet from her 23-hour journey. 

Dr. Hyunshun Shin is our new organic chemist.  Most recently from the University of San Francisco, Hyunshun is a graduate of Drexel University in Philadelphia. Pharmaceutical chemistry is her game.  She has been in town for the last month, getting her lab ready and connecting with the school and community.  It has already been a busy summer for her, as she traveled back to her native Korea and spoke on her research at five universities.  She also gave a talk at Drexel, as a part of a celebration accompanying the retirement of her major professor.  She must be a hard act to follow!

Before I go any further, I have to mention that having one from Pittsburgh and one from Philadelphia reminds me of a description of Pennsylvania attributed to James Carville - I’ll let you Google that to see what I mean.

Computer Science is welcoming Dr. Robert (Robby) Watson.  Robby has taught for us as an adjunct in the past and hails from this part of Texas.  So, no car-lag or overseas trips home for him.  Most recently, he worked for the University of Texas and NASA doing software engineering in support of future space missions.  His graduate degrees are from Texas Tech, and his work with them will probably continue as he supports their high-reliability software initiative to provide NASA with tools for interplanetary flight.  Maybe he’ll teach a class via webcam from Mars one day!

Dr. Tim Renfro joins the faculty of Physics.  Another Texan, Tim graduated from Tarleton State and Stephen F. Austin before completing his doctorate at UT-Dallas.  His wife completed her undergraduate degree at another local university, but we hired him anyway. :-)  Let’s just say “forgiveness leads to redemption”.  Tim is an experimentalist who has more ideas for projects between his ears than you can imagine.  He has a great way of taking common problems or opportunities and finding ways to use physics to provide solutions.  We expect him to be a fountain of ideas for students to pursue as they develop their senior capstone projects in Physics. 

Last but not least is our new Lab Manager - Mr. Steve Davis.  Steve comes to us after years of work in the health care field working with VERY expensive equipment.  He’s a McMurry biochemistry graduate and we were excited to find his resumé in the pile of applicants.  He will support Biology and Chemistry, oversee student workers, and help with safety on campus.  When you get the chance, ask him to give you a tour of and describe the improvements made to Biology and Chemistry labs this summer.  I think both departments would say they are entering the year in great shape due to his efforts.

Any organization is only as strong as its people.  With this new group, I think it is safe to say SNCS remains strong and vital as a seat of learning and research on campus and in our region.