PI of the Month
October, 2012
Dr. Rosemarie Depoy Walker
Dr. Walker, Assistant Professor of Chemistry at MSU Denver, is Principal Investigator and Director of the STEPS (Strides Toward Encouraging Professions in Science) program, a major National Institute of Health (NIH) Bridges to the Baccalaureate grant that has been operational since 1998 with awards totaling over $2.4 million. STEPS seeks to encourage and support underrepresented minority students from two-year colleges to persist in their education, transfer to four-year colleges in majors related to biomedical sciences, and to eventually enter careers in biomedical research. STEPS is a factor in MSU Denver’s success in improving the transfer rate of minority students as well as the number of minority students majoring in Biology and Chemistry.
The American Chemical Society Committee on Minority Affairs (CMA) recently selected Dr. Walker as The Rocky Mountain Regional Meeting (RMRM) 2012 recipient of the Stanley C. Israel Regional Award for advancing diversity in the chemical Sciences. The award will be presented at the 23rd RMRM to be held at the Westin, Westminster, CO, October 17- October 20, 2012. For more information, please visit, http://rmrm2012.sites.acs.org/ . Congratulations, Dr. Walker!
November, 2012
Leroy S. Chavez, MBA
Mr. Leroy S. Chavez is Principal Investigator and Project Director of the Federal TRIO Veterans Upward Bound (VUB) at Metropolitan State University of Denver. VUB designed to motivate and assist veterans in the development of academic and other requisite skills necessary for acceptance and success in a program of postsecondary education. The program provides assessment and enhancement of basic skills through counseling, mentoring, tutoring and academic instruction in the core subject areas. The primary goal of the program is to increase the rate at which participants enroll in and complete postsecondary education programs.
A United States Army Veteran, a Metro State alum (’96) as well as a graduate of VUB, Mr. Chavez has over fifteen years of experience in higher education, including eleven years working directly with military veterans who are pursuing goals in postsecondary education. His recent grant proposal to the US Dept of Education on behalf of VUB was selected to receive funding in the amount of $280,943 for the first budget period 9/1/12-8/31/13. It’s anticipated the total award will be $1,404,715 over five years. Congratulations, Mr. Chavez!
December, 2012
Dr. Margaret “Peggy” M. O'Neill-Jones
Dr. O’Neill-Jones is a professor of technical communication and media production and served as department chair for nearly ten years at the Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her career began as a newspaper photographer and moved to broadcast, corporate, and educational media. As media transitioned to digital, online, and virtual environments, she led the way with innovative interactive media productions including 21st Century Learning Matters, a video that describes the strategies and tools needed to create powerful learning environments. Currently, she is the regional director for the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Western Region program. TPS provides professional development related to finding, accessing, and integrating the vast reservoir of primary sources from the Library of Congress to deepen content understanding through inquiry learning and 21st century learning skills. Through Dr. O’Neill-Jones’ leadership the TPS-Colorado program grew from statewide outreach to a regional program that serves 14 western states. The program recently received a $255,000 increase from the Library of Congress to the annual TPS award. Congratulations, Dr. O’Neill-Jones!
