Joseph Beckman, director of the Environmental Health Sciences Center at OSU, and Thomas Dietterich, director and professor of intelligent systems in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science will be honored for their achievements this spring.

Sabah Randhawa, OSU provost and executive vice president, said the two faculty members chosen for the award share similar traits of teaching excellence, critically important research contributions, leadership and service to the university and to their respective fields.

Joseph Beckman

“Joe Beckman and Tom Dietterich really exemplify what we hope faculty will strive to become as they develop their careers,” Randhawa said. “They serve as extraordinary role models and exemplars of multi-faceted achievement, from the classroom to the laboratory and beyond. They also have the respect and admiration from their colleagues and peers throughout the world, as well as on campus.”

Beckman is the Ava Helen Pauling Chair in the Linus Pauling Institute, as well as Principal Investigator. He is perhaps best known for his discovery of the role of peroxynitrite in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, as well as his studies on antioxidants and nutrients that may help slow progression of the disease.

He is the 2012 recipient of the prestigious Oregon Health & Sciences University Medical Research Foundation’s Discovery Award, as well as several other honors. An OSU faculty member since 2001, Beckman served as a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army Medical Services Corps, and spent a dozen years as captain in the U.S. Army Reserve’s Medical Services Corps.

“Joe is a true innovator in the study of neurodegenerative disease,” noted Vince Remcho, dean of the College of Science. “I first met Joe when he visited OSU in 2001, and I found his studies on superoxide dismutase and its potential role in ALS to be fascinating.  Joe is a valued colleague, a talented scientist, and a wonderful mentor to our junior faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates.”

Thomas Dietterich

Dietterich is a pioneer in the field of machine learning and, like Beckman, is one of the most highly cited scientists in his field. He has obtained more than $30 million in research grants over his career, helped build a world-class research group at Oregon State, and created three software companies. Dietterich also co-founded two of the field’s leading journals and was elected first president of the International Machine Learning Society.

In 2012, Dietterich was chosen president-elect of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. His research has numerous applications in such diverse fields as drug design, electronic manufacturing, information management, ecological modeling, and natural resource management.

“Tom leads by example providing exemplary mentoring for faculty and students, collaborating with nearly every discipline on campus, and gaining international respect for his work,” said Sandra Woods, dean of the College of Engineering. “We are so proud to have his leadership in the college.”

~ Mark Floyd

James Carrington

The award was made to Balz Frei, a professor of biochemistry and biophysics and director of the Linus Pauling Institute at OSU; and James Carrington, professor of botany and plant pathology and director of the Center for Genome Research and Biocomputing.

Frei, who received his doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and has been at OSU for 13 years, is a world leader in the study of vitamin C, as well as other antioxidants and micronutrients, in the prevention or treatment of cardiovascular diseases and other health problems. He is carrying on some of the pioneering research in orthomolecular medicine done by Linus Pauling, two-time Nobel laureate and OSU alumnus.

Frei has received numerous other career awards and honors, serves on the editorial boards of several professional journals, has authored about 200 publications, and done research that has been cited more than 14,000 times by other scientists. He led the drive to create the Linus Pauling Science Center, a $62.5 million facility now under construction on the OSU campus, and was also instrumental in the Linus Pauling Institute being awarded $6 million in 2003 by the National Institutes of Health for a Center of Excellence for Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a grant which was recently renewed for a second five-year term.

“When LPI moved from Palo Alto to OSU in 1996, Dr. Frei and just one other staff member completely re-built it, recruited several superb faculty colleagues, and made LPI a jewel in the crown of OSU,” said Andy Karplus, professor and chairman of the OSU Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics. “His work has stimulated research efforts and funding, attracted excellent graduate students and created an effective public education network for health maintenance.”

Balz Frei

Carrington, who was recently named as a member of the National Academy of Sciences, received his doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley and has been at OSU for nine years. He is one of the world leaders in the study of “small RNA,” part of the research that in 2002 was cited by the journal Science as the scientific “Breakthrough of the Year.”

Carrington’s work has received millions of dollars in grant support from the National Institutes of Health and other agencies, learning more about how genes are “silenced” through a natural mechanism involving tiny RNA. He and others have shown that animals, plants and other organisms use small RNA and gene silencing to control growth, development, and defend against viruses.

Also the recipient of many other career awards and honors, Carrington is a mentor for many other young scientists at OSU and has led a campus initiative to transform biological sciences, by linking them more closely with the huge potential of computational science and advanced, powerful computer systems.

“Dr. Carrington was one of the early pioneers in the RNA silencing field, which has exploded in recent years in basic and applied directions that are yielding new medicines, agricultural products and industrial processes,” said Dan Arp, dean of the University Honors College.

OSU distinguished professor titles have been awarded annually since 1988 to recognize outstanding, active faculty members who have achieved national or international stature as a result of their contributions to scholarship, creative activity, research, education, and service – such as recent recipients Steve Strauss, an expert in the application of gene research to forestry, or Jane Lubchenco, a marine biologist and current head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – and whose work has been highly influential in their fields.