Holiday Letter 2004
Dear Alumni and Friends,
Greetings from Purdue's Department of Biochemistry! I hope this year has been filled with intellectual
excitement, good health and wonderful memories for you and your families. There are many things to be
thankful for in the Department of Biochemistry as we move into 2005. Dr. William (Randy) Woodson
was appointed Dean of the College of Agriculture. Randy has been a tremendous asset to Purdue as
Associate Dean of Research and I cannot imagine a better choice to lead the College into the next decade.
One of Dr. Woodson's first actions as Dean was to name Mark Hermodson interim Associate Dean of
Research for the College of Agriculture. Effective December 6, Mark assumed a half-time appointment as
interim Dean, which we all know means that he will be working two full time jobs until the position is
filled! Former Dean Vic Lechtenberg was a pleasure to work with. I appreciate his steady and strong
support of the Biochemistry Department. Dr. Lechtenberg is now Vice-Provost for Engagement at
Purdue.
I am thankful for the two new faculty members we hired in 2004. Dr. Mark Hall and his family arrived
from North Carolina this summer. Mark's investigations of anaphase promoting complex fit perfectly
with our research programs in cell cycle and signal transduction. In addition, Mark's expertise in the
analysis of post-translational protein modifications using mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF/TOF) brings a
critical new technology on-campus. One of my new jobs is to protect Mark from the ever-growing
number of research groups on campus that seek his assistance with mass spectrometry. Our second faculty
hire, Dr. Andy Tao, confirmed Purdue's reputation as a great place to work when he accepted our offer as
Assistant Professor of Biochemistry rather than take a position in San Diego! Andy earned his Ph.D. with
Dr. Graham Cooks in the Department of Chemistry at Purdue University, left for postdoctoral work at the
Systems Biology Institute in Seattle and now returns to West Lafayette. Andy combines techniques in
organic chemistry and mass spectrometry to pursue large-scale proteomics analysis. Purdue's Discovery
Park contributed resources for instrumentation needs that were critical to both Mark and Andy. Together,
Drs. Hall and Tao will expand our historical strength in protein analysis. Their presence on campus will
certainly help attract other talented faculty members.
Tremendous thanks go to Karl Brandt, Mark Hermodson and the Office of Academic Programs for
recruiting the largest entering undergraduate class for Biochemistry in recent memory.   Twenty-one
freshmen started this fall! We are close to meeting our goal of 70 students in the undergraduate program
and we hope to exceed that target in 2005. Undergraduate research experience is now a requirement for
graduation and our recruiting material has been redesigned to attract more of these high ability students. I
want to thank all of you who have contributed to our undergraduate scholarship funds. We have an
excellent pool of potential scholars for these awards.
In the new age of electronic journals, the need for physical library space is less critical. As a result the
Life Science Library vacated Biochemistry Room 101 and we are turning that space into a conference
room. It will be large enough for Ph.D. defense presentations and perhaps even faculty candidate
seminars. The construction work is nearly finished and furniture will arrive this spring. If you are on
campus, please stop by and take a look.
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