{"564681":{"#nid":"564681","#data":{"type":"news","title":"College of Sciences Recognizes Outstanding Faculty Mentors","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EAt a presentation ceremony on Aug. 23, 2016, the College of Sciences will recognize three faculty members for exceptional mentoring of colleagues. They are \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/people.math.gatech.edu\/~dieci\/\u0022\u003ELuca Dieci\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.math.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Mathematics\u003C\/a\u003E; \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.chemistry.gatech.edu\/faculty\/fernandez\/\u0022\u003EFacundo M. Fern\u00e1ndez\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/chemistry.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemistry and Biochemistry\u003C\/a\u003E and a member of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/petitinstitute.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EParker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience\u003C\/a\u003E; and \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.aerosols.eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ERodney J. Weber\u003C\/a\u003E, a professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.eas.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/a\u003E. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe annual College of Sciences Award for Faculty Mentorship is presented to exemplary senior faculty who provide guidance to help junior faculty advance in their careers. The award is supported by \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/diversity.gatech.edu\/advance-program\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s ADVANCE program\u003C\/a\u003E to foster the successful development of collegiate educators in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ESeveral early-career faculty members in the School of Mathematics nominated \u003Cstrong\u003ELuca Dieci\u003C\/strong\u003E. His nominators had this to say: \u201cAs a mentor in the School of Mathematics, Luca provides new faculty with invaluable input on grant applications, promotion and tenure, service commitments, and teaching. Furthermore, he performs the standard mentoring tasks with thoughtfulness and care while employing the same level of engagement in advising on other, more far-reaching matters.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EFor Dieci, mentoring is a collaborative process with numerous analogies outside academia. \u201cMentoring is a natural two-way process, with younger people willing to observe older ones, and older ones willing to share their acquired experiences,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is very similar to other responsibilities we take in society at large, whether as soccer coaches or community volunteers.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFacundo M. Fern\u00e1ndez\u003C\/strong\u003E was nominated for his commitment to helping junior faculty secure funding for research and lab development. In a nomination letter, one nominator writes: \u201cAt the very beginning of my career at Georgia Tech, Facundo advised me on the funding applications process and provided me with information on multiple funding sources and application strategies. Even though he was often extremely busy, he still found some time to read my proposals. He even read one of my proposals in a hotel while on international travel.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EThe greatest satisfaction from mentoring is watching mentees excel \u201ceither with a new grant coming in, with fantastic press coverage on their scientific achievements, or publication of a new paper,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez says. \u201cThese events are the culmination of a long process that starts months, if not years, before the actual outcome, and that usually requires an enormous amount of persistence and dedication.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EOne of the nominators of \u003Cstrong\u003ERodney J. Weber\u003C\/strong\u003E was \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ng.chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESally Ng\u003C\/a\u003E, an assistant professor in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and in the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/chbe.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003ESchool of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cGraduate school does not necessarily train us with all the skills to be good professors,\u201d Ng says. \u201cRodney has greatly contributed to my career development by making sure that I started off well as a junior faculty. He is someone who truly cares; he provides continuous professional guidance and support, and he is an inspiration to me.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EWeber says mentoring can help address the vulnerability new professors can feel early in their career. \u201cStarting a new job that involves teaching new classes, writing proposals, getting and starting to mentor new grad\u0026nbsp;students,\u0026nbsp;combined with trying to do\u0026nbsp;new research, can be overwhelming,\u201d he explains. In most cases, Weber adds, the stresses can be relieved by setting reasonable expectations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u201cWe are thoroughly committed to the success of early-career faculty as they learn how to balance their multiple roles as researchers, teachers, and advisors to their own graduate students and postdoctoral fellows,\u201d says College of Sciences Dean Paul M. Goldbart. \u201cOur outstanding faculty mentors do our academic community a great service. I cannot thank them enough.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EMatt Barr\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EScience Communication Intern\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003ESchool of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Mentees appreciate advice, support, and guidance."}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp dir=\u0022ltr\u0022\u003EMentees appreciate advice, support, and guidance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Mentees appreciate advice, support, and guidance."}],"uid":"32503","created_gmt":"2016-08-17 15:34:49","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:22:23","author":"Scotty Smith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2016-08-23T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2016-08-23T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"564691":{"id":"564691","type":"image","title":"Luca Dieci","body":null,"created":"1471462861","gmt_created":"2016-08-17 19:41:01","changed":"1475895369","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:56:09","alt":"Luca Dieci","file":{"fid":"206871","name":"capture_9.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capture_9.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capture_9.png","mime":"image\/png","size":457784,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/capture_9.png?itok=04K5U2tD"}},"564701":{"id":"564701","type":"image","title":"Facundo Fern\u00e1ndez","body":null,"created":"1471462889","gmt_created":"2016-08-17 19:41:29","changed":"1475895369","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:56:09","alt":"Facundo Fern\u00e1ndez","file":{"fid":"206872","name":"capture1.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capture1.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capture1.png","mime":"image\/png","size":87671,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/capture1.png?itok=7JPmei2z"}},"564711":{"id":"564711","type":"image","title":"Rodney Weber","body":null,"created":"1471462916","gmt_created":"2016-08-17 19:41:56","changed":"1475895369","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:56:09","alt":"Rodney Weber","file":{"fid":"206873","name":"capture2.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capture2.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/capture2.png","mime":"image\/png","size":33995,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/capture2.png?itok=e1kDg6jg"}}},"media_ids":["564691","564701","564711"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"}],"keywords":[{"id":"714","name":"ADVANCE"},{"id":"4896","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"172266","name":"Facundo M. Fernandez"},{"id":"172267","name":"Luca Dieci"},{"id":"172268","name":"Rodney J. Webber"},{"id":"166928","name":"School of Chemistry and Biochemistry"},{"id":"166926","name":"School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences"},{"id":"168854","name":"School of Mathematics"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EA. Maureen Rouhi\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDirector of Communications\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECollege of Sciences\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["maureen.rouhi@cos.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}