Starts New Position October 1st

Dr. Piers Chapman has been named head of the Department of Oceanography in the College of Geosciences. Chapman received his B.Sc. in Chemistry and his Ph.D. in Chemical Oceanography from the University College of North Wales in the UK. Most recently Chapman was Director of the CREST program at Louisiana State University. Chapman is a member of several professional associations including the Limnological Society of Southern Africa, the Oceanography Society, and the American Geophysical Union. He has been a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a Chartered Chemist since 1978 and was elected a Fellow in 1995. For more information on Dr. Chapman and the Department of Oceanography visit http://www-ocean.tamu.edu/.

College Will Establish "Geoscience Scholars" Program

The College of Geosciences recently received a $600,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to establish a new "Geoscience Scholars” program under the direction of Mary Richardson, professor of Oceanography. This program will provide scholarships for a minimum of 26 students majoring in one of the geosciences. These will be two-year scholarships of up to $10,000 annually.

New Department Head Brings Experience

Dr. Kenneth Bowman has been named head of the Department of Atmospheric Sciences in the College of Geosciences. Bowman received his B.S. from the University of Colorado and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Geophysical Fluid Dynamics from Princeton University. He joined the College of Geosciences at Texas A&M University in 1992. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1994 and Professor in 1998. Bowman has received several honors including the College of Geosciences Distinguished Teaching Award and the National Research Council Resident Research Associateship. For more information on Dr. Bowman or the Department of Atmospheric Sciences, visit http://www.met.tamu.edu

Montague-Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar

Dr. Jennifer McGuire of the Department of Geology and Geophysics was named a Montague-Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar for 2007-2008. She received her Ph.D. in Environmental Geoscience-Environmental Toxicology from Michigan State University and has been a part of Texas A&M since 2002.

Grossman Named Acting Associate Dean & Associate Dean for Research

Dr. Ethan Grossman was recently named Acting Executive Associate Dean and Associate Dean for Research for the College of Geosciences. He received his B.S. in geology from the State University of New York at Albany in 1976, graduating magna cum laude. Dr. Grossman received his Ph.D. in geochemistry from the University of Southern California in 1982.

Dean Kjerfve welcomes new faculty to the College of Geosciences

College of Geosciences faculty and several members of the Dean's staff gathered Friday morning for a buffet-style breakfast and to welcome recently hired faculty. The third annual new faculty breakfast and presentation was attended by more than forty peoploe from all corners of the college.