CONNECT 2021

CAS Dean Glen Krutz performed a tandem skydive March 14 with the OSU ROTC Cowboy Battalion , Army Black Daggers , OSU leaders and OSU alumni . The event was a show of appreciation for those who support the Army ROTC program, advocating for the value of military service. To watch a short video about the day, visit okla.st/deanskydive. Biology majors Kate Kouplen and Kayli Nail received honorable mentions in the 2021 Udall Scholarship competition, which recognizes college students who demonstrate outstanding leadership, public service and commitment to issues related to Native American nations or the environment. Both Kouplen (Delaware Tribe) and Nail (Chickasaw Nation) received their honors in Native health care. OSU’s Ethics Bowl Team , sponsored by the Department of Philosophy, competed in the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics’ (APPE) Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl in February, making it to the quarterfinals alongside teams from Harvard, Stanford, West Point and other prestigious schools. This was the team’s second appearance at nationals in its five-year history. Dr. Matthew Cabeen of the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics was awarded $1.7 million by the National Institutes of Health to study how the bacterium Bacillus subtilis senses and responds to stress. The five-year grant will enable Cabeen and his team to gain “a bottom-to-top understanding of environmental stress-sensing, from the sensor proteins in these complexes to the fitness and survival of a whole cell population,” he said. Dr. Jimmie Weaver from the Department of Chemistry received a five-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health in February, becoming one of only six people in Oklahoma to ever receive the award. Weaver’s research area is organic synthesis, and the grant will finance his research group over the next five years by supporting about 3,200 hours of undergraduate research, 20 years of graduate student salaries and tuition and other costs associated with conducting research. THE LAST WORD F R O M C A S 36 CONNECT 202 1