November faculty and staff features

D. Gay Cutchin , M.S.,  professor, Department of Sociology, and Coordinator of VCU's Resource Center on Sexual and Domestic Violence
Gov. Tim Kaine has appointed Cutchin to the Governor’s Commission on Sexual Violence, which is charged with making recommendations to improve the treatment of victims of sexual violence and to prevent and respond to related crimes.

Supriyo Bandyopadhyay, Ph.D., School of Engineering
Bandyopadhyay, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, has been named an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellow. Bandyopadhyay was selected for his distinguished contributions to the field of nanostructure device engineering.

George E. Munro, Ph.D., Department of History

Professor Munro is at Yaroslavl State Pedagogical University in Yaroslavl, Russia, this semester conducting research under a Fulbright Scholar grant. Munro is researching “Doing Business the Hard Way: Iaroslavl’s 18th Century Merchants.” He is one of about 800 U.S. faculty and professionals to travel abroad this year through the Fulbright Scholar Program. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership in their fields.

Andrea Ferreira-Gonzalez, Ph.D., Department of Pathology
Gonzalez, professor of pathology and director of the Molecular Diagnostics lab at the VCU Medical Center, has been named to the Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health and Society (SACGHS). The committee’s charge includes considering the clinical, ethical, legal and societal implications of genetic testing and other technologies. Gonzalez has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and is on the editorial board of the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics and the Journal of Clinical Lab Analysis.

Kenneth R. White, Ph.D., FACHE, VCU Department of Health Administration

White, professor and director of the graduate program, was recently appointed the Charles P. Cardwell Jr. professor of Health Administration. For more than 20 years, White has served as a clinician, administrator and consultant in a hospital setting. He is a registered nurse, fellow and member of the Board of Governors of the American College of Healthcare Executives. This is the first time the professorship is being endowed and is in honor of Cardwell who founded the VCU School of Hospital Administration in 1949.

Elisabeth Kuhn, Ph.D., associate professor, Department of English

Breast-cancer survivor Kuhn has compiled a new book from a series of narrative poems she wrote about her 1993 struggle with cancer and her return to wholeness. "Average C-Cup" was published this year by Turning Point, a division of Wordtech Communications.

Kuhn, a German immigrant, joined VCU as an associate professor of linguistics in 1989. She received her M.A. from Johann-Wolfgang-Goethe-University in Frankfurt, Germany, and her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Recently, she received an M.F.A. in creative writing from George Mason University.

One of her poems has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Kuhn's first book, "Gender and authority: Classroom diplomacy in German and American universities," was published in 1992.