Mohammad K. Azarian, Professor of Mathematics

Azarian will contribute to the understanding of the history of mathematics as he travels to Iran to obtain a copy of a fifteenth century Persian manuscript written by the medieval mathematician and astronomer, Ghiyath al-Din Jamshid Mas'ud al-Kashi. Azarian will translate this manuscript, The Treatise on the Circumference, and prepare the first full English account of it making it available to a wider range of mathematicians and historians.

Soumen De, Associate Professor of Finance

De will be examining emerging financial markets with a particular attention to Asian securities markets and the importance of financial markets in development. The work will lead to materials that will be integrated into the undergraduate curriculum and the new Executive MBA program's curriculum on global financial markets.

Douglas Reed, Professor of Music and University Organist

Reed will explore global sacred (particularly Christian) music, especially in Africa, where Christian forms of worship and song originally brought by eighteenth and nineteenth century missionaries are now being supplemented by indigenous Christian songs and worship practices. He also hopes to explore Ethiopian and Coptic church music, the roots of which may go back 1500 or more years. A well-traveled organ scholar, Reed can also be expected to study organs and organ music wherever he finds them in the course of the year's work.

Janet Szczepanski, Assistant Professor of Physical Therapy
Mary Kessler, Associate Professor of Physical Therapy

This is a collaborative faculty project designed to enrich the physical therapy department's emphasis on cultural competence. Goals will be to secure additional clinical internship opportunities in Spanish speaking countries, to develop teaching modules for Doctor of Physical Therapy courses in the area of providing services for those of diverse backgrounds, and to increase students' abilities to expressively and receptively communicate in a culturally competent manner.

David Unger, Associate Professor of Mechanical and Civil Engineering

Unger will develop a solution to an important problem in fracture mechanics. Fracture, or breaking of materials, has a world-wide cost estimated in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Dr. Unger will publish the results of his work in a journal or at a meeting with international scope.