Shobhana Chelliah
Assistant professor of English
Understanding the interplay of language, culture and history

Chelliah, a linguist, received a grant from the American Council of Learned Societies to research the sociocultural and linguistic history of a Tibeto-Burman group, the Meithei, using their language's early literature.

Tyson Gibbs
Associate professor and chair of the Institute of Anthropology
Recovering the past

The National Park Service recruited Gibbs and his students to develop an ethnographic and ethnohistorical report on an African American community formerly associated with the Snee Farm in Mount Pleasant, S.C. The information will be used to interpret this historical site for the public.

Kamakshi Gopal
Associate professor of speech and hearing sciences
Relating molecular and cellular phenomena to clinical findings

Gopal, a UNT audiologist and clinical researcher, received funds from the state of Texas' Advanced Research Program to use recently developed neurobiological research tools to better understand clinical results at the molecular and cellular levels.

Guenter Gross
Regents Professor of biological sciences and director of the Center for Network Neuroscience
Using nerve cell cultures to understand the nervous system

Gross received a major contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Applying nerve cell network dynamics, he is working to develop tissue-based biosensors that can rapidly detect neuroactive and toxic agents in the environment.

Samantha Hastings
Assistant professor of library and information sciences
Creating virtual museums and archives and training professionals to manage them

Hastings received two major grants from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services to create a digital archive of the holdings of the Dallas African American Museum that will be accessible via the Internet and to train information professionals to manage sophisticated digital image collections.

Youn-Kyung Kim
Associate professor of merchandising and hospitality management
Understanding marketing and consumerism

Kim received a grant from JCPenney Company Inc. to develop measures of consumer shopping value and apply them as a market segmentation tool. Kim studied consumer demand for a total packaged shopping experience and created a system to measure it.

Annette Lawrence
Assistant professor of visual arts
Exploring issues of gender, race and culture through art

Lawrence's paintings and drawings have been included in more than 40 group and solo exhibitions, including the 1997 Biennial Exhibit in New York's Whitney Museum of American Art. Her work is also included in the permanent collections of museums in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio.

Jose Perez
Associate professor of physics
Investigating advanced electronic applications for molecular films

A new grant from the National Science Foundation will enable Perez and his students to study molecular carbon films in different forms. The research may have applications in flat-panel television displays and as miniature microwave sources.

James Poirot
Professor of technology and cognition and director of the Texas Center for Educational Technology
Training teachers in educational technology

Poirot has received grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the International Society for Technology in Education, Intel Corp. and others for enhancing teaching through the use of technology.

Louis Ponthieu
Associate professor of management and founding director of the Murphy
Enterprise Center
Helping entrepreneurs and small businesses succeed

Ponthieu will head the Murphy Enterprise Center, which was funded through a $1 million gift from alumnus Ken Murphy. The center will work with local small businesses and offer continuing education programs while fostering new student entrepreneurs.

Vincent Ramos
Assistant professor of psychology
Responding to the mental health needs of children

Ramos directs UNT's Center for Cross Cultural Pediatric Behavioral Health, which conducts research and trains health-care professionals to prevent and treat learning barriers in ethnic minority children. Since 1998, he has organized and directed the National Conference on Hispanic/Latino Behavioral Health Care.

Alicia Re Cruz
Associate professor of anthropology
Understanding contemporary Mayan civilization and Hispanics in Texas

Re Cruz is the author of The Two Milpas of Chan Kom, focusing on Mayans in the Yucatan, Mexico. Since 1995, she has taught a summer field school in Mexico. She was chosen as the 1999 Hispanic Role Model by 7-Eleven Inc. of Dallas.

George Yancey
Assistant professor of sociology
Studying diversity in multiracial church congregations

With the aid of a major grant from the Lily Endowment, Yancey is studying the nature of multiracial church congregations and the impact of diversity on churches, communities and parishioners.