WMU awarded $3.6 million in grants during May
July 12, 2001
KALAMAZOO -- Bolstered by a $1 million award from the National Science Foundation, Western Michigan University garnered more than $3.6 million in grants during the month of May, according to a report presented to the University's Board of Trustees at its July 6 meeting.
A total of $3,630,729 was received in May, bringing the total of grants received by the University since the July 1, 2000, start of the 2000-01 fiscal year to $25,098,540. The fiscal year grant total will be reported at a future board meeting after awards received during the month of June, the final month of the fiscal year, have been tabulated.
Nearly three quarters of the grants awarded to WMU during May were for research initiatives at the University. One of those grants, a $1,053,254 award from the National Science Foundation, was received by Dr. Robert Laing, professor of mathematics, and Dr. Ruth Ann Meyer, professor emerita of mathematics, to continue the efforts of the Michigan Middle School Mathematics Reform Project, known as M3RP. The grant will fund the third year of a four-year, NSF-supported program that assists school districts in implementing new middle school math programs designed to boost student achievement. Laing and Meyer also received a $201,666 award from the Michigan Department of Education for the implementation of M3RP at sites around the state.
Other federal grants received by WMU during May included a $774,012 award from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to Dr. Richard G. Long, principal research associate in the Department of Blind Rehabilitation, to supplement the development of technology that will aid blind and low-vision pedestrians as they negotiate complex intersections.
Dr. Steven Kohler, senior research associate in WMU's Environmental Research Center, received a $149,996 award from the National Science Foundation to examine the impact of a decline in the population of a type of caddis fly on trout streams in Michigan and Maine.
Dr. Subra Muralihadran, associate professor of chemistry, received a $120,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to continue his three-year effort to develop a method to separate metal ions from nuclear waste in order to find new ways to dispose of the waste. Muralihadran also received $50,000 from the PG Research Foundation Inc. to continue his work developing a method to separate toxic and beneficial molecules in pharmaceuticals.
In addition, four grants totaling $341,100 were awarded by the Michigan Department of Corrections to Dr. C. Dennis Simpson, director of WMU's Specialty Program in Alcohol and Drug Abuse and professor of community health services, and James Kendrick, assistant professor of community health services. Three of those grants will provide funding for residential treatment, outpatient therapy and testing for substance abuse at the Kalamazoo Regional Programming Center. In addition, Simpson and Kendrick received $47,000 from the Department of Corrections to continue providing substance abuse treatment services for prisoners, parolees and probationers at state correctional facilities.
Media contact: Marie Lee, 616 387-8400, marie.lee@wmich.edu