External Advisory Council Appointed for UTD Office Of Vice President for Research and Graduate Education

Advisors Selected from Corporations and Institutions Around the Nation

RICHARDSON, Texas (Jan. 14, 2002) – The Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Education at The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) has created an external advisory council to provide insight into research trends, entrepreneurial activities, government liaison and global outreach.

The council, which is composed of members of academia and both the commercial and defense industries, will help administrators plan the future of the university’s research, assist in maintaining a sense of direction and focus in present research and interact synergistically with UTD’s internal research council to build a common view of research and human connectivity.

UTD has a legislatively mandated emphasis in the natural sciences, engineering and management sciences, with a corresponding commitment to excellence in research in selected domains of the behavioral and social sciences and arts and humanities. The university also has developed a reputation for strength in the areas of advanced materials, operations research, human development and post-genomic research such as in sickle cell disease.

“I am very excited to have such an internationally renowned group of individuals from the commercial and academic worlds agree to be a part of the council,” said Dr. Da Hsuan Feng, vice president for research and graduate education at UTD. “Their extensive level of experience, knowledge and wisdom is impeccable. I believe that the contributions of the council will be of profound benefit to all the research components of UTD and also will add its intellectual strengths to the entire North Texas region.”

The 16 members of the council are:

Dr. Robert Budica, president and CEO of Agusta Aerospace Corporation in Philadelphia. Agusta Aerospace Corporation is the American subsidiary of AgustaWestland, one of the biggest helicopter companies in the world. Agusta assembles, sells and supports its proprietary helicopter models, including the high-performance/state-of-the-art A-109 twin-turbine, and the A-119 single, in the U.S., Canada and throughout Mexico and Central America, to corporate and emergency medical services operators.

Dr. Britton Chance, Eldridge Reeves Johnson University Professor Emeritus of
Biophysics, Physical Chemistry and Radiologic Physics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Chance is considered the “father of modern biophysics,” is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine and is an Olympic Gold medal winner in sailing.

Dr. Armand J. Chaput, principal research engineer, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth. Dr. Chaput is a member of the systems engineering organization at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company. He has a specialty in unmanned air vehicle design and provides technical support to a range of advanced aerospace projects. His previous assignment was as Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) Integrated Product Team Lead.

Dr. Esther Conwell, professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Rochester in New York. She is a pioneer in the conducting polymers area and now specially focuses on electronic transport in DNA. She is a member of both the Academies of Science and Engineering, two of the highest honors a scientist or engineer can receive.

Dr. David Farber, the Alfred Fitler Moore Professor of Telecommunication Systems holding appointments in the Computer and Information Science Department, the Electrical Engineering Department and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In January 2000, he was appointed to be chief technologist at the U.S. Federal Communications Commission while on leave from the University of Pennsylvania. At Penn, he is co-director of The Penn Initiative for Markets, Technology and Policy.

Mr. Tom L. Hill, EDS Fellow, EDS Corporation. Hill is one of the 13, and the original, EDS Fellows. As an EDS Fellow, Hill helps to develop enterprise-wide initiatives that shape the future of EDS. His research and development team is responsible for corporate technical thought leadership and for creating innovative revenue-producing service offerings and tools for EDS’ four lines of business. He is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery and the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Computer Society.

Dr. T. P. Ma, chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering and co-director of the Yale Center for Microelectronic Materials and Structures. Ma is a leading expert in semiconductor physics and technology. Research in Ma’s group revolves around the scientific and technological issues related to semiconductor devices, especially those involving MIS (Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor) systems. He is a Fellow of IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) and a member of the Electrochemical Society, the Materials Research Society and a life member of the American Physics Society.

Dr. Joseph B. McCormick, M.D., assistant dean and James H. Steele Professor of the University of Texas Houston School of Public Health, Brownsville Regional Campus. McCormick spent 23 years at CDC, where he was director of the BSL 4 (High Security Laboratory) and director of the World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Center for Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers. He participated in the first ever investigation of Ebola virus and later led the first HIV investigation in Africa, and established two long-term HIV projects in Africa, Project SIDA in Kinshasa, Congo and Project RetroCi in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. He was professor and creator of the first epidemiology program at the Institute Pasteur in Paris, and of Aventis Pasteur in Lyon.

Dr. Terry A. Michalske,interim director for the Department of Energy/Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies and head of the Integrated Nanotechnologies Department at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N. M. Terry’s technical interests are in the areas of interfacial phenomena, nanoscale properties of materials and integrated microsystems. He directs technical programs addressing the molecular-scale origins of lubrication and wear, self-assembled nanocomposites and the development of integrated chemical micro-systems. Terry is a fellow of the American Vacuum Society and the American Ceramic Society.

Mr. Dale L. Moore, director of the Aerospace Materials Division and National Materials Competency Leader, Naval Air Warfare Center, Maryland. Moore’s research and engineering group is charged with myriad responsibilities of national significance and is often required to adapt to the ever-changing circumstances around the globe and last-minute demands and priorities. Moore will be the Department of Defense liaison for the council but will commit neither the department nor any if its components to any action.

Dr. Peter Pappas, vice president and senior scientist of Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC). Dr. Pappas was the chief scientist for the U.S. Army Space and Strategic Defense Command from 1987-1993 and a science and technology advisor to the Secretary of the Army 1989-1993. His professional career has included such diverse fields as spectroscopy and ballistic missile defense. His current work includes the analysis of air and missile defense systems and technologies.

Jack Pellicci, Brigadier General of the U.S. Army (retired) and now group vice president of Global Services Industries, Oracle Corporation. Pellicci is responsible for knowledge management, strategy, market development and spatial solutions for Oracle’s major service industries — health, financial services, communications, utilities and public services — in more than 140 countries.

Dr. John Quigley, the I. Donald Terner Distinguished Professor, and Professor of Economics, at the University of California, Berkeley. Quigley holds appointments in the Goldman School of Public Policy and the Haas School of Business in addition to the Department of Economics and directs Berkeley’s Program on Housing and Urban Policy.

Dr. Maxine Savitz, a member of the Academy of Engineering. She is on the board of the NSF and provides policy and program oversite. She serves on the board of directors of the Electric Power Research Institute, the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board, the Department of Energy’s Laboratory Operations Board, the California Council on Science and Technology and the American Council for Energy Efficient Economy. She is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Richard L. Thurston, vice president and general counsel for the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) located in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Thurston was formerly a partner in Kelt Capital Ventures, LP, a Dallas-based consulting firm with three offices in the United States and two affiliated offices in Asia. Formerly, he served as assistant general counsel with Texas Instruments. Thurston earned an M.A and Ph.D. in East Asian Studies from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from Rutgers School of Law. Thurston, an adjunct professor at UTD, serves on the U.S.-China Joint Civil Technology Committee, and he serves on the boards of directors of a number of technology companies as well as the Dallas Council on World Affairs, the North Texas Global Telecommunications Society, the Asian Studies Foundation, the Richardson Symphony and the Richardson YMCA.

Dr. C. Dana Tomlin, professor of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania. He also serves as co-director of the Cartographic Modeling Laboratory and a visiting professor at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. As a developer of the Map Analysis Package GIS, author of Geographic Information Systems and Cartographic Modeling (Prentice-Hall, 1990), and originator of the Map Algebra language that is embodied in most of today’s image-based GIS software, Tomlin is recognized as one of the world’s leading contributors to this field.

All council members will serve a three-year term, and will meet twice a year, physically or virtually (via videoconference) on campus.