FACULTY/STAFF IN THE NEWS

Oxbridge Senior Tutor Named Dr. Kenneth D. Alpern, professor of philosophy at Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio, has been named to the position of Oxbridge Senior Tutor. At Hiram College, Dr. Alpern served as the George and Arlene Foote Chair in Ethics & Professor of Philosophy, and as Director of the Center for the Study of Ethical Issues. He received his B.A.,

magna cum laude, with distinction, from Kenyon College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. He has been widely published, with interests and areas of expertise that extend to the theory and history of ethics; applied ethics (including medicine, business, law, public policy and engineering); critical thinking; the history of philosophy (ancient and early modern); philosophy of language; philosophy of science; and logic.

"This is a key position at William Jewell, with extensive responsibilities for the college's acclaimed Oxbridge Honors Program," said Dr. John Westlie, Dean of the College and Vice President for Academic Affairs. "We are extremely pleased to have a scholar of Dr. Alpern's caliber joining the Jewell faculty. He has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to undergraduate education throughout a distinguished career."

Dr. Alpern was selected following a nationwide search. He replaces Dr. D. Dean Dunham, Jr., the current Oxbridge Senior Tutor, who retired at the end of the recent academic year following a career spanning more than 40 years on the William Jewell faculty.

William Jewell's Oxbridge Honors Program combines a year of study in one of the college communities of Oxford or Cambridge with three years of work on the Jewell campus. The emphasis is on the traditional British tutorial style of study in which students engage in one-on-one or small-group tutorials with master teachers, then "sit" for comprehensive exams in their majors.

"My heart is in teaching, in the excellence in teaching, and in the mission of the liberal arts," Dr. Alpern said. "The position of Senior Tutor of the Oxbridge Program at William Jewell is extremely attractive, promising work with highly skilled and motivated students, with faculty from diverse disciplines, in a program dedicated to the highest standards of liberal education."

Prior to joining the faculty at Hiram College, Dr. Alpern served as assistant and associate professor at DePaul University; as assistant professor at the State University of New York College at Oswego; and as assistant professor and instructor at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Dr. Alpern is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and is immediate past president of its chapter at Hiram College. He is also a member of the American Philosophical Association, the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics and the Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum.

New Director of Curry Library Announced
Dr. Hugh Stocks has been named to the position of Director of Curry Library.

Dr. Stocks earned M.L.S. and Ph.D. degrees in library and information science from the University of California at Los Angeles; an M.A. in historical musicology from UCLA; and a B.S. in music education from the University of Utah. He most recently served as Director of Libraries and Information Services at Gateway Community and Technical College in Highland Heights, Ken., where his mandate was to establish an entirely new library and information services program for a newly established institution.

"Dr. Stocks' references spoke of his energy, his versatility and above all his ability to take a vision and make it into a reality," said Dr. John Westlie, Dean of the College and Vice President for Academic Affairs. "The reports I received from the search committee, as well as the summary of his meeting with library staff, were highly favorable and speak of his abilities as a team-builder with superior leadership skills."

Dr. Stocks previously served as Director of Information Services for HealthInsight in Salt Lake City, Utah, and as a computer systems administrator and librarian at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

"The focus on growth and development of user-centered library service at William Jewell matches my vision of library administration and my talents," Dr. Stocks said. "I look forward to working with faculty, students and staff to enhance this vital resource for the college."

Dr. Stocks replaces John Young, former Director of the Library at William Jewell, who retired in 2005. Young joined the William Jewell faculty in 1964.

Chemistry Professor Applies Plant-Cell Research to Inhibiting Cancer Researchers have made great strides in the area of Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationships - or QSAR - for short. Jason Morrill, assistant professor of Chemistry, is putting the research he's learned about QSARs to good use. Morrill explains that QSAR is a technique that is used by scientists to understand why molecules have the properties that they do -- whether it is a biological, chemical or a physical property. Morrill says it was first developed in the early 1960s at Pomona College in California by Corwin Hansch, a man largely considered to be the father of QSAR.

"He was studying the potential of a series of molecules to affect the growth of plants," Morrill says. "He measured experimental perimeters that described the tendency of these molecules to pass across cell membranes, and found he could predict on that experimental quantity the tendency of these molecules to affect he growth of plants.

"Now, some 40 years later, we don't have to rely on an experiment to obtain a quantity that is predicative of a biological property of a compound. We can actually compute a quantity that can be used to predict the biological property of a molecule."

Morrill is putting Hansch's theory to good use by studying a compound that has been found to inhibit the growth of several types of cancer cells, including breast cancer.

"Say that we're interested in a tendency of a series of molecules to inhibit the growth of cancer, as measured by -- say the MCF7 breast cancer assay or another assay to determine the tendency of these molecules to inhibit the growth of colon cancer," Morrill says. "Part of the beauty of the methodology is that it's general. It can be used to study a huge variety of different molecules and a variety of different properties, be it biological, physical or chemical."

Morrill says the project to apply the QSAR technique to the study of breast cancer was born out of the interest of one of his students, Stevie Spencer.

"She was interested in this Nonie fruit, which is something of a Polynesian Mulberry," he says. "I took a look at it, and we did some research and found there are some compounds that have been studied, that have been derived from this fruit and they're being studied for their potential to inhibit the growth of breast cancer. We're currently using that methodology to study the tendency of these molecules to inhibit breast cancer using computer methods."

Morrill says the beauty of the QSAR technique is the ability to study a huge variety of different molecules with a variety of different properties. Not only is he working with QSARs to help with cancer research, but he's also using this same technique while collaborating with the U.S. Army to help prevent accidental detonation of high-energy explosives.

"What I'm working on with the Army is the exact same methodology - that's the beauty of the methodology. It can be applied to a wide range of properties, be they biological, chemical or physical properties," Morrill says "In the case of the Army, it is a chemical property -- tendency of a molecule to essentially detonate when that molecule experiences an impact shock. What we're studying is the tendency of a molecule to detonate when struck by something heavy. Explosives are inherently unstable. Virtually everyone has seen in the movies someone handling an explosive. They have to be very careful about it. Most people are familiar with TNT - it has an instability associated with it, and can explode under the right conditions. It can explode under the wrong conditions."

Morrill says this theory will help prevent munitions from exploding under the wrong conditions and to detonate only when it's supposed to. And what kind of timeline does he see for the project?

"The work that I did last summer was a proof of concept portion of the project to show this methodology can be used to study this property for this given set of molecules," he says. "Now we're in sort of a first phase of this project, which is going to last roughly six months. There are a number of computational methods that can be used to study these compounds aside from the QSARS methodology, and we're currently investigating those."

Morrill says he has no student working on the detonation project right now, but would like to recruit one in the future.

Admission staff additions
The Office of Admission announced two new members of its admission counseling and enrollment services staff.

Bridget Gramling and Shery Boyles McDowell have been named associate deans of admission at William Jewell. Together, they bring more than 23 years of higher education experience to the college.

Gramling served as regional coordinator and admission coordinator for Saint Louis University from 1996 to 2006. She also served as assistant director of admission and admission counselor at the University of Dallas. She received a B.A. in elementary education from the University of Dallas, Irving, Texas. In her new position, Gramling will be working with prospective Jewell students from private schools and other outreach programs.

McDowell served as director of graduate admissions for the Helzberg School of Management at Rockhurst University in Kansas City and as director of undergraduate admissions for Oklahoma City University. She received a B.S. in education from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and an M.S. in health and sport science from the University of Oklahoma in Norman. Among McDowell's responsibilities will be student recruiting diversity initiatives.

Worstell joins staff as Director of Sports Media and Broadcasting Paul Worstell, a 12-year veteran Kansas City radio personality and producer, has joined the staff of WJC as Director of Sports Media and Broadcasting. Worstell, a 1994 communications graduate of William Jewell College, most recently served as on-air announcer and morning show producer at KUDL Radio in Kansas City. In addition to his on-air and production responsibilities, he maintained and edited the station's website and scheduled guests for in-studio and phone interviews. He was also host of "Challenge," the station's Sunday morning contemporary Christian music program.

"It's great to be coming home to William Jewell," Worstell said. "I am looking forward to working with the college's gifted student-athletes to help tell the Jewell story to a wider audience."

While a student at William Jewell, Worstell handled play-by-play action for the college's football and basketball radio broadcasts, in addition to writing and anchoring news and sports casts.

In his new position, Worstell will manage all of the college's broadcasting relationships and facilities along with athletic web page maintenance and direction of sports media activities.

"We are pleased to have an experienced broadcasting professional of Paul's caliber joining the Jewell team," said Dr. Jim Redd, Director of Athletics and Chair of the Department of Physical Education.

Worstell can be reached at 816-415-5959, or by email at worstellp@william.jewell.edu.