Wheeler Named to New Position at Furman

GREENVILLE, SC – September 9, 2008 -Dr. John Wheeler, professor of chemistry at Furman University, has been named the school’s first Director of Integrated Research in the Sciences.

Wheeler will have responsibility for promoting interdisciplinary and integrated teaching and learning in the sciences, with a particular emphasis on securing and administering grant support for the undergraduate research infrastructure.  He will also develop international research opportunities, and establish math/science outreach initiatives to impact the Greenville community.

The 2008-09 academic year at Furman has been declared the Year of the Sciences.

Undergraduate research in the sciences has a rich tradition at Furman, and John is an outstanding choice for this new position, said Tom Kazee, Furman’s provost and executive vice president.  This additional support for undergraduate research, along with the opening of the new Charles H.
Townes Center for the Sciences, will raise the level of science education at Furman to an unprecedented level.

Wheeler, who joined the Furman faculty in 1991, is a graduate of Georgetown College and received his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Cincinnati.  He directs Furman’s IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence grant from the National Institute of Health, and he’ll oversee the implementation of a recent $1.2 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to develop new interdisciplinary programs in math and science.

Wheeler teaches a number of courses at Furman, including Foundations of Chemistry, Molecular Spectroscopy and Analytical Chemistry.  He was a Knight Foundation Fellow in 1993 and a Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar from 2000 to 2005.  He is a member of the American Chemical Society and the Council on Undergraduate Research.