Bios
Jim Gentile, Ph.D. is President of Research Corporation. He comes to Research Corporation most recently from Hope College in Holland, MI where he held an endowed professorship in biology and served for twelve years as Dean for the Natural Sciences. Jim received his B.S. degree from St. Mary’s University in Winona, MN, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Illinois State University. He spent two years in postdoctoral studies in the Department of Human Genetics at Yale School of medicine before assuming his previous position at Hope.
His research has focused on the role of metabolism in the conversion of natural, and xenobiotic, agents into mutagens and carcinogens. He and his colleagues were the first to define the unique processes through which plant systems use their unique biochemistry to metabolize agents into carcinogens that can affect humans, and his current research investigations are targeted towards gaining an understanding of the role of chronic inflammation in mammals and cancer causation. Among his many awards he has received Medallions of Scientific Achievement from the National Cancer Institute of Japan and from the Provincia Di Pisa, Italy; the Alexander Hollaender Research Excellence Award from the Environmental Mutagen Society; and has been named an AAAS Fellow.
He is a former member of the Science Advisory Board for the U.S. EPA and of the State of Michigan Hazardous Waste Site Review Board. He is currently a National Associate of the National Research Council (NRC), where he is a current member of the NRC Life Science Board and a previous member of the NRC Committee on Undergraduate Science Education. He played a leadership role in the highly praised NRC publication Biology 2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Research Biologists and is a sought-after speaker on issues involving the integration of scientific research and education.
Jim is a past-President of the Environmental Mutagen Society and currently serves as President for the International Association of Environmental Mutagen Societies. He is the past Editor-in-Chief for the international journal Mutation Research and is a current member of Editorial Boards for four international journals. He is a past Councilor for the Council on Undergraduate Research, a former Governor for the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research, and a current member of the Executive Committee for Project Kaleidoscope. He currently is the Co-Chairperson of the National Academies Summer Institutes for Education in Biology and a National Academies Education Mentor in the Life Sciences.
Over the years he has been a program director for grants from many public (FIPSE, NIH, NSF, USEPA, WHO) and private (HHMI, Beckman Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Research Corporation, Sherman Fairchild Foundation, W.M. Keck Foundation) sectors to support education and research. During his career he has had the opportunity to work with over 120 undergraduate students in collaborative research in his laboratory and has authored more than 100 research articles, book chapters, book reviews and special reports in areas of scientific research and higher education.
Read Dr. Gentile's interview at Meet Research Corporation's new president, Jim Gentile
Click here for Dr. Gentile's profile page.
Ray Kellman is the Vice President of Research Corporation. His duties include
responsibility for the administration of Research Corporation's Science Advancement
Programs, which are described elsewhere on this web site. He joined the foundation
as a Program Officer in 1992 with primary responsibility for the Cottrell College
Science Awards Program. When he arrived in 1992 the foundation did not have
programs to support faculty at research universities, and Dr. Kellman was instrumental
in the initiation and design of the Cottrell Scholars Awards Program in 1993.
He was named Senior Associate in 2000, and Vice President in 2002.
A native of Staten Island, New York, Dr. Kellman earned his PhD in organic
chemistry from the University of Colorado, Boulder. He did postdoctoral research
at the University of Wisconsin, Madison and at the University of Arizona where
he worked in organic and polymer chemistry. Following that he served as a professor
of chemistry at the University of Texas at San Antonio (1977-81) and at San
Jose State University (1982-92). While a faculty member his research focused
on the synthesis and characterization of highly fluorinated aromatic polymers
as well as on the mechanism of their formation. His research interest broadened
to include the effects of high energy radiation (e.g., gamma rays) on polymers
following his tenure as a visiting Fulbright Professor in the Polymer Group,
Department of Chemistry at the University of Queensland, Australia.
Jack Pladziewicz came to Research Corporation as a program officer in April,
2003 from the chemistry department at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
where he is Professor Emeritus, was on the faculty from 1973-2002 and served
as department chair from 1999-2002. He received a BS degree in chemistry from
Wisconsin-Eau Claire, a Ph.D. with specialization in inorganic chemistry working
with James Espenson from Iowa State University and did postdoctoral research
with Henry Taube and Eugene van Tamelen at Stanford University.
He has been a Visiting Fellow at the University of Sydney and Research School
of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia; Visiting
Professor at the Chemical Center, Lund University, Lund, Sweden; Department
of Biochemistry, University of Notre Dame; Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry,
University of Minnesota-Minneapolis; and Visiting Scientist, Stanford Research
Institute.
He has served on the Research Corporation Grants Advisory Committee, the Petroleum
Research Fund Advisory Board, Committee of Visitors Triennial Oversight Review
of NSF Chemistry Division, and as a consultant to industry and academia. His
research interests include coordination chemistry, electron transfer reactions,
and bioinorganic chemistry, with particular interest in radical cation-neutral
reactions and metalloprotein electron transfer. More detailed information can
be found at: http://www.chem.uwec.edu/pladzijr/index.html
Silvia Ronco came to Research Corporation in September 2003 from the University
of South Dakota where she was professor of chemistry. Her research interests
involve the synthesis and electron transfer studies of transition metal complexes
with applications in solar energy conversion, and the design of luminescence
sensors and photocatalysts. She received a Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from
the National University of La Plata in Argentina. Before joining the USD faculty
in 1992, she did postdoctoral work with Guillermo Ferraudi at the Notre Dame
Radiation Laboratory and with John D. Petersen at Clemson University.
She has been a visiting professor at the University of California-San Diego,
a Program Officer for the Photochemical and Radiation Sciences Program at the
U.S. Department of Energy, and the P.I. for an interdisciplinary NSF-Research
Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site at USD. She is currently a member
of the National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) Board of Governors,
and a Chemistry Councilor for the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR).
Richard Wiener began working as a program officer at Research Corporation in September 2006. From 1995-2006 he was a physics professor at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon and Chair of the Division of Natural Sciences from 2004-2006. He also held a joint appointment in the College of Optometry where he taught applied optics for eleven years. His research interests center on nonlinear pattern formation with an emphasis on controlling chaotic patterns in fluid flows. Many of his publications in Physical Review Letters, Physical Review E, the Physics of Fluids, and the American Journal of Physics include undergraduate student coauthors. He is also interested in environmental physics and modeling of resource depletion. His teaching interests involve implementing new curricula developed from empirically based physics education research including Workshop Physics, Interactive Lecture Demonstrations, Peer Instruction, and Tutorials for Introductory Physics.
He completed a BA in philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley in 1978 and an MS and PhD in physics at the University of Oregon under the direction of London prize recipient Russell Donnelly in 1988 and 1991, respectively. He also worked as a teaching assistant with David Sokoloff, a leading physics education researcher. He has been a National Corporation for Atmospheric Research Postdoctoral Fellow in Ocean Modeling at Oregon State University, a Visiting Professor at Lewis & Clark College, and a Visiting Scientist and Visiting Professor in Eberhard Bodenschatz’ research group at Cornell University.