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Upcoming Events
June 5 Lunch Colloquium - Virgil Brown
June 5 WEBCAST - Lunch Colloquium - Virgil Brown
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This issue of our newsletter is sent to members and friends of the Emory University Emeritus College (EUEC). I hope the newsletter will help keep you informed about our activities and help you feel connected with our members throughout the U.S. On the left are links to our website and links to contact either me or the EUEC office.
With best wishes,
Gray
Gray F. Crouse Director, EUEC
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 Message from the Director
The campus is quieter now, but summer is not a slow time for EUEC or our members. It is always a pleasure each year to be able to announce the winners of the Heilbrun Distinguished Emeritus Fellowships. This year there are two winners; in this issue we feature the proposed work of Ron Gould and next issue we will feature the proposed work of Larry Taulbee. Another pleasure is celebrating the accomplishments of the yearly winners of our distinguished faculty and service awards, and in this issue we feature the many accomplishments of Ron Schuchard.
Two weeks ago, we had a fascinating Lunch Colloquium given by Angela Amar, and next week we have a Lunch Colloquium featuring one of our own members (and a member of our Executive Committee), Virgil Brown. Virgil is one of our many members for whom retirement seems to be just a formality, as he stays very active in his field and continues to edit the journal he founded. His topic, on the role of genes and drugs in heart attacks and stroke, is one that likely most of us have a personal interest in.
There is too much else in this issue to try to highlight everything. However, there is information in Faculty Activities about an article that Donna Brogan has just published, which is a reflection of her career over seven decades and her role in challenging sex discrimination. Her article is fascinating and inspiring reading and is a reminder that the Academy was a very different place when many of our members began their careers. Stories like Donna's need to be preserved, and I welcome submissions from you about your own experiences in your career. Sex and racial discrimination are still important issues at Emory as at all universities; the progress we have seen is only because of those like Donna who have not been content to accept the status quo.
I am very grateful to John Bugge and Gretchen Schulz for help with proofing and editing.
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Lunch Colloquium June 5
 Heart Attack and Stroke: The Role of Genes and Drugs
The Luce Center
Room 130
11:30-1:00
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Lunch Colloquium May 15
Violence and Crime: The Healthcare Response
Angela F. Amar, PhD, RN, FAAN, Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing Click here to read more below about this Colloquium
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Heilbrun Distinguished Emeritus Fellowships
Fellowships to emeritus faculty in the Arts and Sciences are funded by a generous contribution from the family of Emeritus Professor of Psychology Alfred B. Heilbrun Jr. This year there are two recipients: EUEC Members Ron Gould, Goodrich C. White Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, and Larry Taulbee, Associate Professor Emeritus of Political Science. Ron describes his project for this issue, and Larry will describe his project in the next issue. Click here to read below about Ron Gould's Heilbrun project
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Faculty Activities
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Jimmy Carter Presidential Library Events
EUEC Member Stewart Roberts reminds us that there are many interesting and free events at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library. A current listing of those events can be found by clicking on this link.
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OLLI Summer Courses
OLLI courses for the summer have been announced. You can get more information about OLLI and register for courses at olli.emory.edu. You can see the complete catalog of courses by clicking here. The summer term is July 10 to August 17 and registration opens on May 31. Note, too, that EUEC Member Shia Elson is leading an inter-session discussion group that begins on June 8. OLLI is in great need of additional teachers and our membership comprises one of the most talented and experienced pools of candidates. If you would like more information about teaching at OLLI, please contact John Bugge or Dorothy Fletcher, members of our Teaching and Mentoring Committee.
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Walking the Campus with Dianne
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Lunch Colloquium June 5
Heart Attack and Stroke: The Role of Genes and Drugs
W. Virgil Brown, Charles Howard Candler Professor Emeritus of Medicine The bad news? Arteriosclerosis continues to rank number one among major causes of death and disability for women and men in developed countries. Approximately 40% of all deaths are caused by this type of vascular disease. Women are now at equal risk of heart attack as men and at greater risk of stroke. The good news? Through therapy based on our understanding of certain genes, it is possible to treat those with arteriosclerotic vascular disease and thereby markedly reduce the incidence of heart attack and stroke. There is perhaps no one better suited to share the good news about such possible treatment than Emory's own W. Virgil Brown, M.D., Charles Howard Candler Professor of Medicine Emeritus and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Lipidology. As he'll explain, we now know that there are certain particles in the blood containing both cholesterol and a specific protein called apolipoprotein B (apoB) and that it is the concentration of these particles that is the major cause of arteriosclerosis, with the possibility of heart attack and stroke exacerbated by risk factors such as cigarette smoking and high blood pressure. With our new knowledge of the many genes that determine the concentration of apoB in the blood, we have been able to develop drugs that affect the function of these specific genes and thereby reduce markedly the concentration of apoB. The result has provided physicians with a pharmacopeia that can set apoB and blood cholesterol to virtually any chosen level--even in those with known vascular disease. Recent studies have shown that these drugs have reduced heart attacks and strokes by more than 50% in such individuals. And those who have little or no involvement of their arteries with arteriosclerosis? Such individuals should, simply and wonderfully, never have a heart attack or stroke. A good news gospel, indeed. About Virgil Brown
Virgil came to Emory University in 1991 as the Charles Howard Professor of Internal Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine. He also served as the director of the Division of Arteriosclerosis and Lipid Metabolism and served as the chief of Medicine and Primary Care Services at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center. During his medical career, Virgil focused research on the structure of metabolism and lipoproteins. His research has helped define the role of lipase enzymes in breaking down triglycerides so that they can be removed from the blood stream by various organs in the body. His studies have also helped explain how various dietary changes and medications alter the metabolism of lipoproteins to correct high levels of cholesterol. After receiving his undergraduate degree in physics and chemistry from Emory University (58 Ox and 60 C) and his M.D. in 1964 from Yale University, Virgil completed housestaff-training in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins. He then began his research career as a Clinical Associate at the National Heart and Lung Institute (NIH). Over the years, he has been very committed to the American Heart Association, serving a term as the national president from 1991-1992.
He once told a group of researchers you can do anything if you know how to run a farm. The Georgia native held fast to his rural roots during a 40-plus-year career, for which the Emory Medical Alumni Association honored him with its 2008 Distinguished Medical Achievement Award.
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Lunch Colloquium May 15
Violence and Crime: The Healthcare Response
Angela F. Amar, PhD, RN, FAAN, Associate Professor and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of NursingOur speaker of Monday, May 15, Angela Amar, PhD, RN, FAAN, is an Associate Professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. As an Advanced Practice Nurse in Psychiatry, her special area of interest and emphasis is Forensic Nursing, an interest that evolved from her clinical background and her experience with sexual assaults on campus. Identifying such violence as a major Public Health concern, Dr. Amar noted the enormity of the problem, commenting that it costs the health care industry millions of dollars. Dr. Amar's brief review of the field of Forensic Nursing included many areas in the study of violence and sexual assault across the life span, often referencing topics that have received increasing attention since the mid-'90s. Focused areas of concern include problems such as the physical and mental health of abused children, intimate partners, students in educational settings, and elders, as well as persons in the military and correctional institutions. Forensic Nursing focuses on the collection and preservation of evidence, and on the interpretation of evidence and forensic law, including the challenges of securing and giving testimony. Dr. Amar noted that many aspects of culture contribute to the difficulties of understanding, diagnosing, and treating the impact of the abuse situation. Her review of one very poignant case provided understanding of the enormity of the problem. A young woman born in Uganda who suffered beatings and rape in prison there paid a female guard to help her escape. She finally made her way to the States, but was raped again by a staff member in a detention center here. The American rape was more traumatic for her since she couldn't categorize it as part of the culture as she did the Ugandan rapes. Her reactions included feelings of fear, nightmares, and problems with eating and sleeping, all of which produced a number of physical and mental disorders that affected her over time. Sadly, she became pregnant while coping with these problems, but little attention was given to her needs or, subsequently, to the needs of the child, who was probably a product of the final rape. The multiple issues of the case provided striking insight into the need for a variety of educational programs to help health personnel deal with such situations, as well as the need for national and international standards of care and law. Questions posed by the audience related to topics such as the inadequate testing of rape kits, incest (known to be a common predictor of violence as victims become victimizers), also victims becoming promiscuous, and inadequate reporting of abuse in the military. Dr. Amar expressed concern about the future of health care in this area because of the fear of decreased funding and availability of assistance, services, and resources such as safe space for persons who are being abused. At least the many nursing schools throughout the country that have integrated curriculum on Forensic Nursing into their programs--often using Dr. Amar's prize-winning book, A Practical Guide to Forensic Nursing, to do so--are doing what they can to improve care of this important kind. --Jo Ann Dalton This Lunch Colloquium was recorded and may be seen on our videos page of Lunch Colloquiums.
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EUEC Distinguished Faculty Award--Ron Schuchard
It gives me the greatest pleasure to nominate my colleague in the Department of English, Professor Ronald Schuchard, for the 2017 Distinguished Emeritus Award. We first met in 1969 as newly minted PhDs and Assistant Professors at Emory, and for a brief period even shared an office in the drafty old Physics Building on the Quadrangle. Since then I have watched his ascent to the pinnacle of the American scholarly professoriate with admiration and no small amount of awe. Ron retired from active faculty status in 2012, having done more in his four-plus decades as a faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences to further its educational mission than almost any other person one could name. I refer specifically to his long-range vision in creating the Ellmann Lectures to honor the first recipient of Emory's Woodruff Professorship, the world-renowned scholar and critic Richard Ellmann, whom Ron had succeeded in bringing to Emory; and to his foundational role in bringing to Special Collections in the Emory Library the papers of literary figures of world-wide importance like William Butler Yeats, Salman Rushdie, and Ted Hughes, not to mention those of a great many novelists and poets of twentieth-century Ireland. Over the same span of time he established himself as an internationally acclaimed scholar in modern British and Irish literature, specializing in the work of Yeats and T. S. Eliot. He has written groundbreaking critical studies of Yeats (which won two major "best book" awards), and of Eliot (two more such awards); and he has edited three volumes of the Collected Letters of W. B. Yeats (one of which won the Cohen Award from the MLA), as well as Eliot's The Varieties of Metaphysical Poetry (also nominated for an MLA Prize - that for a Distinguished Scholarly Edition). But Ron has secured his reputation as perhaps the world's leading expert on T.S. Eliot by his magnum opus - and it is in every sense a hugely "great" work - his eight-volume edition of The Complete Prose of T. S. Eliot: The Critical Edition, the first two volumes of which appeared in 2014, two years into his retirement. The latter volume won the first Modernist Studies Association Prize for a Distinguished Edition. The next two volumes were published in 2105, and Volumes 5 and 6 are forthcoming in 2016-17. It is possible that the final two volumes may appear in 2018. It is hard to exaggerate the scholarly importance of this massive enterprise. It is already recognized as one of the major editing and archival projects of the Western literary world. Ron was granted sole access to Eliot's unpublished papers by the poet's wife Valerie before she died, for the explicit purpose of bringing to light and publishing every piece of prose Eliot ever produced. With the imprimatur of Mrs. Eliot, he began a world-wide search for every item he could turn up, including obscure essays published in very local periodicals and little-known bulletins. Then each document had to be edited and placed into a biographical context and supplied with explanatory notes. The sheer amount of editing work involved has been Herculean. It has occupied essentially all of Ron's time since retirement. An ornament to this University while a member of the active faculty, Ron Schuchard continues to be internationally recognized for the huge body of exceptional scholarship he has amassed, and continues to add to in retirement. No one is more deserving of the Distinguished Emeritus Award. --John Bugge
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Heilbrun Distinguished Emeritus Fellowships--Ron Gould
Ron writes: I am honored to have been selected for the 2017 Heilbrun Distinguished Emeritus Fellowship and grateful to the Emeritus College and the Heilbrun family for the great opportunity it provides me. My plan to is continue work on three projects that I have been involved with over the last few years. Project 1: Chorded cycle structure in graphs. Over the last few years I have been working to extend our basic knowledge of cycle structure in graphs by determining when we can find cycles containing at least one (and sometimes more) additional edge. Edges between vertices of the cycle that are not edges on the cycle itself are called chords (see the edge c to e of Figure 1, a chord of the cycle c,b,e,f,c). There are many open questions concerning when such cycles can be found and how many chords are possible. Project 2: Saturation in graphs. Another classic question in graph theory is: What is the maximum number of edges a graph G on n vertices can have without containing a copy of another graph H as a subgraph? The number of edges in such a graph is called the extremal number and is denoted ex(n,H). Graphs which fail to contain a particular graph H as a subgraph, but do contain H if we add any missing edge are called H-saturated graphs. Clearly, all graphs with the extremal number of edges are H-saturated. In 1962, Erdos, Hajnal and Moon asked an obvious question: What is the minimum number of edges possible in an H-saturated graph? They termed this the saturation number, and denoted it sat(n,H). Over the years, I have found the saturation number for several classes of graphs. Now a broader issue is apparent. For many graphs H, we now know the maximum number of edges in an H-saturated graph and we know the minimum number of edges in an H-saturated graph. It was shown that the saturation number is always a linear function of the number of vertices n, while it is well known that for non-bipartite graphs, the extremal number is always quadratic in n. Thus, there is a large gap between these values. What can happen in between these two values? For what values m can we have H-saturated graphs with m edges when sat(n,H) ≤ m ≤ ext(n,H)? This is called the saturation spectrum of H. I have been involved in determining a number of such spectrums, but these values remain unknown for many important classes of graphs. Project 3: Spanning trees and degree conditions. Conjecture: Let k be a non-negative integer and let G be a connected claw-free graph of order n. If σk+3(G) ≥ n−2, (here σk+3 denotes the minimum degree sum of k+3 mutually non-adjacent vertices) then G contains a spanning tree with at most k branch vertices. I am working on this with my Ph.D. student Warren Shull, and we are near solving this conjecture completely. Click here to return to top
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Ann Connor
Associate Professor, School of Nursing
EUEC Member Ann Connor, not yet retired, was awarded The Emory Williams Award for teaching in the School of Nursing at the 2017 Commencement Ceremony.  Donna J. Brogan
Professor Emerita of Biostatistics
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Donna Brogan receiving Jefferson Award in 1993
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EUEC Member Donna Brogan has an article in the latest issue of Chance, a statistical journal that publishes newsy, mostly nontechnical articles about statistics. The theme of the issue is "The Rise of Women in Statistics and Data Science," and Donna has the lead article. The article, "Challenging Sex Discrimination: Reflections over Seven Decades," is a story of severe challenges and how they were faced, and is a fascinating read. The article can be read by clicking here. (Note: Donna will be giving the Lunch Colloquium on July 24. Her topic is "Why the 2016 U.S. Presidential Polls Were 'Wrong': Implications for Future Polling.")
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New Members
New members are the lifeblood of any organization. Please make a special effort to welcome them to EUEC!
Arnold J. Berry, MD, MPH, Professor Emeritus of Anesthesiology, School of Medicine
In transition:
Keith D. Wilkinson, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair of Biochemistry, School of Medicine
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In Memoriam
EUEC Member Ted Runyon died on May 11, 2017. As noted in Kendall Soulen's tribute, part of which is printed below, Ted was one of the "young Turks" at Candler that included Manfred Hoffman, whose death on March 15 we noted in Issue 13. On the Candler news page: Editor's note: Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology Theodore H. Runyon Jr. passed away on May 11, 2017, at the age of 87. He taught at Candler for forty years, helping transform the school from a regional seminary to a leader in university-based theological education. He is survived by his wife Cindy, herself the holder of two Emory degrees and retired from a 24-year career at Pitts Theology Library, and by their children. Former student and current professor of systematic theology Kendall Soulen offers this tribute. Ted was a member of the storied faculty cohort that included Bill Mallard, Ted Weber, Hendrikus Boers, and Manfred Hoffmann. Known as "the young Turks" by their older colleagues, Ted and his academic peers were instrumental in Candler's early involvement in the Civil Rights movement, as well as other hot-button issues of a turbulent era, including liberation theology, the global struggle for human rights, and the "death of God" controversy. Still without tenure in the early 1960s, and so not privy to the meetings of full professors, the young Turks met together informally to read each other's work and for mutual support and encouragement. Ted and his peers laid a foundation of collegiality that would endure for decades and bless Candler with an academic culture that was, and to this day remains, the envy of many more fractious schools. As the young Turks rose in rank and influence, they were instrumental in the call of Dr. James Laney to be Dean of the School of Theology, an event that would prove to be a turning point in the life of Candler, and, in time, of Emory University.
Ted Runyon was born in Wisconsin and educated at Lawrence College (B.A., 1952) and Drew University (B.D., 1955), where he studied with the fabled and tragically short-lived Methodist theologian Carl Michalson. After serving as a Methodist minister in New York and New Jersey from 1952-1955, Ted won a Fulbright scholarship to study at the University of Göttingen, where he earned the degree of Doctor of Theology. Ted's early years in Germany were transformative for him and set a course for his subsequent career. He studied with some of Germany's most celebrated theologians, and returned to the U.S. deeply convinced of the value of cross-cultural study and engagement. Ted established and cultivated an exchange program between Candler School of Theology and the University of Göttingen that continues to this day, thanks in part to the personal generosity of Ted and Cindy, who created several gift annuities that fund Emory's scholarship for visiting students from Göttingen. Ted himself returned to Göttingen for post-graduate study in 1964-1965, and also studied at the Universities of Tübingen and Constance in 1971-1972. Later his commitment to cross-cultural engagement led him to teach still farther abroad, at Africa University in Zimbabwe and at Methodist Theological Seminary in Seoul, South Korea.
Ted's conception of doing theology was inseparable from a life of service. When he arrived at Emory in 1958, the doctoral program in religion at Emory was just beginning. When he retired in 1998, it ranked fifth in country, thanks in no small measure to Ted's steady engagement over many years. Ted served as Chairman of the Department of Theological Studies in the Graduate School's Division of Religion from 1962 to 1970, and as Acting Associate Dean of Candler from 1974-1975. He was the first recipient of the Campus Outstanding Faculty Award (1967), and also received the Emory Williams Award for Distinguished Teaching at the Graduate and Professional Level (1973). Kendall's entire tribute may be read by clicking here. The obituary in the AJC may be read by clicking here. Click here to return to top
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Walking the campus with Dianne
Our last walk took us to the Houston Mill House, which is located near the Miller-Ward Alumni House on Houston Mill Road. I've been told the Emory Conference Center Hotel now controls the House, which hosts many weddings, special luncheons and dinners, as well as meetings and small conferences. In the past, the House was a restaurant, bed/breakfast, and meeting place. A Google search revealed that the House currently has its own Facebook page, which supplies amazing indoor photos (look it up if you get a chance). After some searching, I found more information and history on the House. I've supplied that below along with a link to an Emory Report article written in 2001. In the early 1900s people usually visited the Houston Mill for two reasons: to buy ground corn meal produced by Washington Jackson Houston's grist mill or to attend the frequent social gatherings on the grounds. An entrepreneur, Major Houston converted the mill into Dekalb County's first hydroelectric plant in 1900. Harry J. Carr, an Atlanta contractor who built Druid Hills High School, the old Dekalb County Courthouse, and the Candler Building downtown, bought the land from Major Houston in the early 1920s and constructed his home, now known as Houston Mill House. Mr. Carr used fieldstone, poured concrete, and wrought iron for his three-story, fourteen-room home. He also built a magnificent stone fireplace in the House's great room.
In the 1960s Emory University purchased the House and the surrounding property from Mr. Carr's estate. In the mid-'70s the Emory Women's Club orchestrated the renovation of the House. By the fall of 1979 the renovations were completed and the house was open for business. The House is still known throughout Atlanta to be one of the most elegant event facilities in the city. http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_REPORT/erarchive/2001/April/erApril.23/4_23_01hmh.htmlI added a few more exterior photos of the House below. If you haven't ever strolled around the grounds to get a closer look, I highly recommend doing so.
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Emory University Emeritus College The Luce Center
825 Houston Mill Road NE #206 Atlanta, GA 30329 |
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