For Immediate Release—Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Contact:
Mary E. McCrank
Media Relations Officer
(585) 245-5516
mccrank@geneseo.edu

Two SUNY Geneseo Professors Receive
Research Foundation Research & Scholarship Awards

GENESEO, N.Y.—Two professors from the State University of New York at Geneseo have been selected as recipients for the 2007 Research Foundation Research & Scholarship Award.

Anthony J. Macula, associate professor of mathematics, and Michael Lynch, associate professor of psychology, received their awards May 2 at a dinner honoring research and scholarship at the Desmond Hotel & Conference Center in Albany. The Research Foundation of SUNY presented the awards.

Macula, of Geneseo, is a mathematician whose research helps address secure communications, how diseases are identified and how computers may be designed in the future. Since 1998, he has been the project director for 13 externally funded projects that were awarded more than $1.75 million. His most significant research has been in the applied discrete mathematical areas of experimental design, coding theory, computational molecular biology and biomolecular computing. Macula, who has more than 50 refereed peer-reviewed publications, works extensively with undergraduates. He has co-authored 10 research papers and supervised more than 50 research assistants. Macula received his bachelor's degree from SUNY Plattsburgh and his Ph.D. from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn. He joined the Geneseo faculty in 1993. In just eight years, his projects have provided Geneseo undergraduates with more than $750,000 in external support.

"Dr. Macula is an outstanding researcher focused on applied discrete mathematical issues. His research has a clear interdisciplinary focus, and he is a significant voice on campus for biomathematical research and studies that interface mathematics with real-world issues and concerns," said Geneseo Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Kate Conway-Turner. "He continues to produce outstanding scholarship and includes undergraduate students in the production of scholarly work. The consistency and quality of his research activities reflects his outstanding contributions to his field of study and to the overall research agenda of Geneseo."

Lynch, of Webster, focuses his research on the development of psychopathology and serves on the editorial board for the leading journal in his discipline, Development and Psychopathology. Much of Lynch's research has focused on high-risk urban children, many of whom have been victimized by child maltreatment and exposure to violence. Lynch has been the primary author of three successful federal grants, receiving continuous federal funding since arriving at Geneseo in the fall of 2000. He was co-principal investigator on a $1.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study the processes linking early experiences of neglect to children's initial adaptation to school. Based on his work, Lynch was named to the Federal Child Neglect Research Consortium. Lynch also serves as co-principal investigator on a $2.5 million grant from NIH to study traumatic stress reactions in children exposed to violence. His current funded project focuses on the genetic, physiological, cognitive, emotional and social processes and mechanisms that either increase individual vulnerability to, or provide protection against, the development of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in children who have been victimized by violence. Lynch, who received his bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees in psychology from the University of Rochester, frequently provides opportunities for undergraduate students to be involved in his research.

"Dr. Lynch's research focuses on high-risk children who have faced violence or victimization. This is an extremely important area of research, and it has significant implications for intervention strategies and social policy," said Conway-Turner. "Dr. Lynch has risen to be one of the leaders in understanding the psychological and physiological mechanisms that contribute to children's vulnerability to the consequences of violence. His successful grants program and his leadership on the leading journal in the field highlight his outstanding contributions to his field of study and to Geneseo."

 

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