Miguel Acevedo, Ph.D.
UNT professor of geography
Studying ecology through technology

With funding from the National Science Foundation and other sponsors, Acevedo and collaborators link information from real-time sensors, satellites and geographic information systems to computer simulations of ecosystems. The results are used to analyze changes in water quality in reservoirs and in habitat and land use in tropical rainforests.

Pierina Beckman, Ph.D.
UNT associate professor of foreign languages and literatures
Bringing recognition to Latin American literature

A native of Mexico City, Beckman researches medieval and Golden Age Spanish literature and Latin American female writers. She is the author of El valor literario del Lázaro de 1555: género, evolución y metamorfosis, in which she discusses characters in three Spanish novels.

Bruce Bond, Ph.D.
UNT professor of English
Adding to the world of poetry

Bond, an award-winning poet, was one of 34 people in the United States to receive a Creative Writing Fellowship in Poetry for 2001 from the National Endowment for the Arts. He is using the $20,000 to start a book of critical essays on contemporary poetry and to begin his fifth book of poetry, which will include a centerpiece poem about Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich.

Joan Carroll, Ph.D.
UNT Health Science Center research assistant professor of integrative physiology
Studying the effects of obesity on heart function

Carroll received a $900,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to expand her research. She seeks to determine mechanisms by which obesity causes reduced heart function, both in the presence and absence of hypertension. She is also studying whether exercise training can reduce obesity's negative effects on the heart.

Chwee Lye Chng, Ph.D.
UNT Regents Professor of kinesiology, health promotion and recreation
Helping prevent disease through education

Chng's studies have resulted in a clearer understanding of human sexual behavior as it relates to the human immunodeficiency virus and its prevention, as well as a deeper appreciation of the role of culture in HIV prevention. His research and teaching promote healthy lifestyles and behaviors.

Jerry Duggan, Ph.D.
UNT Regents Professor of physics
Understanding subatomic particles

Duggan has influenced three decades of students at UNT. His research is primarily focused on experiments related to the semi-conductor industry. He conducts his research in UNT's 7,500-square-foot accelerator lab — the largest in Texas that analyzes materials. He has organized 16 International Conferences on the Application of Accelerators in Research and Industry.

Susan Eve, Ph.D.
UNT professor of sociology
Examining health insurance of low-income workers

Eve received more than $70,000 from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's Advanced Research Program to examine health insurance of low-income workers in Tarrant County. The research is being conducted with faculty from the UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Robert Galvan, M.P.H., M.S.
UNT Health Science Center associate dean of the School of Public Health
Enhancing public health training

Galvan is leading the Health Science Center's involvement in a nationwide network of Public Health Training Centers. Texas schools of public health are collaborating to enhance training opportunities for public health professionals and to educate officials about the role of public health.

Krishna Kavi, Ph.D.
UNT professor and chair of the Department of Computer Sciences
Developing faster computers

Kavi focuses his research on computer systems architecture, hoping to design better, faster computers and hardware that consumes very little power. He also is researching ways to better manage computer memories for Java-based applications. The National Science Foundation, the Texas Advanced Research Program and NASA have funded his research.

Erma Lawson, Ph.D.
UNT associate professor of sociology
Seeking ways to improve the lives of newborns

Lawson received $180,000 from the March of Dimes to conduct smoking intervention projects for pregnant smokers. Women who smoke during pregnancy suffer more miscarriages and stillbirths and are more likely to have premature infants than women who don't smoke during pregnancy, she says.

Donna E. Ledgerwood, Ph.D.
UNT associate professor of management
Helping students and businesses understand employment practices

Twice each year Ledgerwood presents the Employer's Update, a workshop in which state and federal agencies define new employment requirements for Metroplex businesses. In class, her students serve as human resource auditors for local businesses and institutions.

Adrian Lewis, Ph.D.
UNT associate professor of history
Researching World War II military strategy

Lewis is the author of Omaha Beach: A Flawed Victory. In the book, he explains how the high casualty rate at Omaha Beach during the Allied invasion of Normandy should be seen as the fault of the operational and strategic commanders of the invasion, rather than of the tactical leaders traditionally cited by historians.

Porunelloor Mathew, Ph.D.
UNT Health Science Center assistant professor of molecular biology and immunology
Finding new weapon in cancer fight

Experimenting with a molecule in natural killer cells he discovered almost a decade ago, Mathew recently identified the ligand, or partner, to the molecule. It could be the key to activating natural killer cells that kill cancerous cells and other autoimmune diseases.