Mark W. SpongEngineering and Computer Science
Systems science and mathematics doctorate; Washington University
If you write or do research, what is your area of interest?
My research is in nonlinear control theory with application to robotics.
What attracted you to the University of Texas at Dallas?
I was attracted by the ambitious plans that UTD has to become a Tier One research university and the progress that the Jonsson School has already made.
What do you like to do outside the classroom?
I like travel, classical music and sports.
John S. OldowGeosciences
Geological sciences doctorate, 1978; Northwestern University
Geological sciences B.S., 1972; University of Washington
What class or classes will you be teaching in the fall?
Seminar of structure-tectonics.
If you write or do research, what is your area of interest?
Structure, tectonics (ancient and active) and geophysics.
What attracted you to the University of Texas at Dallas?
Progressive research atmosphere and quality of graduate/undergraduate student population
What do you like to do outside the classroom?
Research.
Mark RosenFilm Studies
History of art doctorate; University of California, Berkeley
History of art M.A.; University of California, Berkeley
English B.A.; University of California, Berkeley
What class or classes will you be teaching in the fall?
AHST 3315, "Introduction to Italian Renaissance Art" (for undergraduates) and HUAS 6315, "Leonardo da Vinci: Man, Machine, Nature and Artifice" (for graduate students).
If you write or do research, what is your area of interest?
My focus, broadly speaking, is on European art (especially Italian) between 1300 and 1700, but much of my research has been on the history of cartography and mapmaking. My dissertation concerned the painting of maps (as opposed to those that were printed) during the Age of Exploration. I have just finished a two-year National Endowment for the Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship in Florence, Italy. The fellowship was at the Medici Archive Project in Florence's state archives, and it involved transcribing and translating letters between the Medici court in Florence and their contacts throughout the world. I spent much of the second year working on correspondence between Italy and the Ottoman Empire. I'm always interested in primary sources, be they art objects or contracts between artists and patrons or eyewitness descriptions of the food consumed at a Renaissance feast.
What attracted you to the University of Texas at Dallas?
The chance to make a difference with students at a public university with a rapidly rising national profile. Great faculty, with a large number of young, recently hired colleagues doing groundbreaking work. The chance to be in a vibrant city with great museums, motivated art collectors and wide-ranging opportunities. The link between aesthetic studies/art history and ATEC, which has some of the most impressive students and faculty that I've met at any university anywhere.
What do you like to do outside the classroom?
I'm really into food and am excited to try Dallas's best restaurants and ethnic eats. Travel is one of my passions - I've lived abroad for five of the past eight years and seen much of Europe. I have two young children (a 3-year old, the other a 4-month-old baby), so being a dad is my major extracurricular preoccupation these days.
Diandra L. Leslie-PeleckyPhysics
Physics doctorate; Michigan State University
Coming to UTD is something of a return for me, since I was an undergraduate at UNT, where I double majored in physics and philosophy.
What class or classes will you be teaching in the fall?
I won't be teaching at UTD this fall, as I'll be setting up my laboratory, but I am very much looking forward to teaching in the spring. I expect to teach courses for our physics majors, but I'm also very interested in teaching courses for non-science majors. In particular, I hope to show them how important science is in their everyday lives, whether it's getting more mileage out of a tank of gas or how it's possible to have an iPod that stores all your favorite songs and still has room for more.
If you write or do research, what is your area of interest?
My research is in nanomedicine. We work on ways to make very small magnets. Our magnets are so small that they can travel around the inside of the body and even enter cells. We're interested in using these nanomagnets to deliver drugs, such as chemotherapeutics. Attaching drugs to nanomagnetic particles allows us to use a magnet outside the body to hold the drugs near solid tumors. This will decrease the dosage needed and make the drugs more effective with fewer side effects. The nanoparticles may also be used for making better diagnoses using magnetic resonance imaging.
What attracted you to the University of Texas at Dallas?
UTD has great students and a lot of potential.
What do you like to do outside the classroom?
I recently published a book called "The Physics of NASCAR," which was written to show NASCAR fans how much math and science goes into winning races. So in addition to being parked in front of the TV on race day, I'm working on a project with NASCAR and NASCAR race teams to develop materials that middle-school and high-school teachers can use to get their students excited about math and science. I also maintain a blog at www.stockcarscience.com where I discuss science-related events in NASCAR.
