The story our solar system and the galaxy in which it moves
has to tell will be orbiting closer to home in years to come. The W.M.
Keck Foundation – the Los Angeles-based organization well-known
for funding the two largest optical telescopes in the world, Keck I and
Keck II, on Mauna Kea in Hawaii – has made a $600,000 challenge
grant that will help erect a modern astronomy observatory at Cal State
San Bernardino.
The Keck Foundation, a world-renowned supporter of scientific
research and education, is supplying funding for an observatory at CSUSB,
the first time it has provided such funding for any of 23 campuses in
the California State University system. The $1.4 million, state-of-the-art
observatory will sit on Little Badger Hill north of the campus, and will
feature two observatory towers, facilities for astronomy equipment and
an array of instrumentation for laboratories and research to complement
both telescopes. One tower will house a research-grade, 20-inch Ritchie
Chretien telescope for nighttime observation and the other will accommodate
the university’s 12-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and a new
solar telescope.
The observatory will help meet new California science
requirements by providing laboratory space for future teachers at all
levels and for faculty and student research projects. The observatory’s
purpose is to provide future teachers and scientists hands-on experience
in modern observational astronomy and imaging.
“The Keck Foundation grant recognizes the inland
region’s need to expand science opportunities for students and faculty,
and Cal State San Bernardino’s continuing commitment to providing
an exceptional education to students,” University President Albert
Karnig said. “The observatory will have a significant impact on
our physics and science students, and it will better help prepare teachers
for 21st-century science education.”
Susan Lederer and Leo Connolly, both professors in the
department of physics at CSUSB, are the university’s principal faculty
members heading the project. They worked with Robert Carlson, CSUSB dean
of the College of Natural Sciences, and Klaus Brasch, director of research
development and technology transfer. Lederer, an expert on comets and
asteroids, has received a three-year, $495,000 award from NASA for an
astronomy program that will directly involve CSUSB students participating
in her research. Connolly, the university coordinator of liberal studies,
the degree program for approximately 2,500 future K-8 teachers, also is
an astronomer.
“The Keck challenge grant is a great opportunity
for the Inland Empire community to have a hand in building the observatory
by giving directly to this project,” said Carlson. Each dollar raised
will go directly toward the funding still needed to build the observatory.
The university has invited community members to join its other business
partners who have already committed to the project, including Matich Corp.
of San Bernardino; Yeager/Skanska of Riverside; Associated Engineers,
Inc. of Ontario; Orco Block in Riverside; Fourth Street Rock of San Bernardino;
and Newport Beach-based architects Hill Partnership, Inc.
Beyond seeking support from existing CSUSB partners, says
natural sciences’ development officer Roberto Redondo, the university
is looking for contributions from new partners, and has made naming opportunities
and endowment support avail-able as well.
Quick Takes
Ellen Daroszewski, an assistant professor of nursing
at CSUSB, has received a Caring Spirit Award as a Nurse of Distinction.
The award recognizes nurses for their outstanding accomplishments,
excellence in nursing practice and education. Daroszewski joined more
than 300 other nurses who were nominated in 12 categories.
Avenues to more meaningful research and more scholarships
for CSUSB students are major benefits of CSUSB’s entrance into the
California Space Grant Consortium. The space grant opens doors
to more aerospace-related research, education and outreach programs, statewide
activities and programs run by NASA and by the nation’s other 51
space grant consortiums.
In a region of 10 western states, the American Dietetics
Association named Dorothy Chen-Maynard an Outstanding Dietetics Educator
this past spring. Also, the California ADA handed Chen-Maynard, an associate
professor of health science, its Excellence in Education award, which
goes to one dietician in the state. Meanwhile, her health science colleague
Richard Eberst earned the 2004 Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for Service
Learning. He was chosen from among 72 nominees nationwide for his efforts
to make service learning an institution in CSUSB’s programs. He
also has received the 2004 Ernest A. Lynton Award for Professional Service
and Academic Outreach. This past summer, Eberst left for Arizona, where
his wife accepted a post as president and CEO of a new hospital.
