Eminent Scholars of German, molecular genetics named

Stephan is scholar of modern German literature and culture

Alexander Stephan has joined the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures at Ohio State as the Ohio Eminent Scholar in German.

In 1990, the Ohio Board of Regents presented the Eminent Scholar Award to the University to hire a distinguished, internationally renowned scholar of Germanic language or literature. The award provided a challenge grant of $500,000 toward the establishment of a $1.25 million endowment.

After a lengthy and intensive search which began in earnest in 1995 and brought a series of exceptional candidates to campus, the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures chose Stephan to occupy the position of Ohio Eminent Scholar in German.

"For the past half century, our department has consistently ranked among the top departments in the country,"said Acting Chair Harry Vredeveld. "It was this reputation for excellence in research and teaching that allowed us first to apply for the Eminent Scholar position and then, as the only humanities department in the state to do so, to bring that plum here to Ohio State.

"We are convinced that Professor Stephan's extraordinary gifts, both as a scholar and a teacher, will strengthen our department, enhance our national and international standing, and attract ever better students to our program."

Michael J. Hogan, dean of the College of Humanities, is equally gratified by Stephan's appointment.

"Professor Stephan brings a quality of mind and a level of expertise to the Department of Germanic Languages and Literatures that will heighten its visibility still further. He will reinforce, and allow the department to expand, a number of its existing strengths. In short, he is a superb addition to our college, and we are proud to have him on board."

Stephan's position provides for a 25 percent appointment with the Mershon Center, where he will conduct a collaborative, interdisciplinary research project on a book with the working title Exile Intellectuals and the Nazi State: Expatriation and Surveillance of German Writers by the Third Reich. At Mershon, he also is planning a lecture series and conference on "The American Century,"which will focus on the influence of America on German culture.

Most recently, Stephan was professor of German at the University of Florida, where he served as department chair for eight years. As chair, he developed a doctoral program in German, minor programs in German and Russian, and an international studies program. He established German Summer School and completely revised the German undergraduate and graduate curriculums and the Russian undergraduate program. He taught German at UCLA for 12 years.

Stephan studied American and German literature at Freie Universitat Berlin and earned a master's degree in German and American literature at the University of Michigan. Princeton University conferred his doctorate in German literature.

The Guggenheim Foundation, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the German Academic Exchange Service and the American Philosophical Society have provided support for his work on topics in modern German literature and culture studies, including books on writers from the German Democratic Republic and on intellectuals who had to leave Germany when the Nazis came to power in 1933.

A founding member of the International Anna-Seghers-Society, Stephan is the author of several books, articles, translations and book reviews on German writers. He served on the editorial and advisory boards of Germanic Review and is currently on the board of Peter Weiss Jahrbuch.

Communazis, Stephan's newest book, was recently reviewed in the national edition of The New York Times. Published this month by Yale University Press, the book examines several of the thousands of writers, artists, filmmakers and intellectuals who fled Germany in the 1930s.

Stephan will discuss his book in "Communazis: FBI Surveillance of German Emigre Writers"at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 24 at the Faculty Club. RSVP to 292-1882.

Shari Lorbach is coordinator of alumni and public relations for the College of Humanities.

Osmani is respected young scientist

Stephen A. Osmani, senior scientist at the Weis Center for Research at the Geisinger Clinic in Danville, Pa., has been named Ohio Eminent Scholar in Molecular Genetics at Ohio State. Osmani will join the faculty of the College of Biological Sciences' Department of Molecular Genetics on Jan. 1, 2001.

Osmani received his Ph.D. from Kings College, London, England, in 1984. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's Robert Wood Johnson Medical School from 1984-88. Osmani has been a professor of cellular and molecular physiology at Penn State College of Medicine and senior scientist at the Weis Center for Research since 1997. He was staff scientist at the Geisinger Clinic from 1992-97. Prior to that, he was assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

"Dr. Osmani is a highly accomplished young scientist with an outstanding future ahead of him,"said Alan G. Goodridge, dean of the College of Biological Sciences. "We are extremely fortunate to be able to attract someone of his caliber and potential to Ohio State."

Osmani, whose research area is cell cycle regulation and nuclear migration, is the author of numerous scientific publications and a frequent invited speaker at top professional meetings.

The focus of Osmani's research is how cells grow and divide to make exact copies of themselves and the way nuclei are positioned within cells. Using genetic approaches on a fungus called Aspergillus nidulans, he first identifies and isolates genes involved in these processes. Then, he isolates and studies the human counterparts. Understanding how cells regulate growth and division has implications for the understanding and treatment of cancer, a disease in which growth and division have become uncontrolled. Movement of nuclei is thought to be important for brain development in humans.

"We are delighted that Dr. Osmani will be joining our department,"said Lee F. Johnson, chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics. "His research interests mesh beautifully with many of our ongoing departmental research programs in the areas of cell cycle control, cancer, signal transduction, cellular organization, genome analysis and neurobiology. There will be many opportunities for productive research collaborations. Dr. Osmani's outstanding reputation and scientific stature will also help increase the 'visibility' of our department, the College of Biological Sciences and the University. We eagerly anticipate his arrival."

"I am extremely impressed with the Department of Molecular Genetics at Ohio State,"Osmani said. "This is a great opportunity to join a very strong department with people doing work similar to mine. I look forward to interacting with this group -- I believe there will be a real synergism between my lab and others. I am interested in working with the people using yeast, worms and flies as model systems. I have isolated some new proteins and hope to study their function outside Aspergillus."

A dedicated educator, Osmani also looks forward to the opportunity to teach and train a greater number of graduate and undergraduate students than he has been able to teach as a research scientist. For the past few years, he has run an unofficial summer laboratory experience for undergraduate students.

"I've had at least two or three undergraduates every summer doing small projects in the lab,"Osmani said. "It has worked very well, especially if they come back the second year. Normally, they do exceptionally well; we get a lot from them, and many have gone on to do Ph.D. work."

Sandi Rutkowski is director of communications for the College of Biological Sciences.

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