Dr. James Gentile of the Hope College faculty has been appointed to the Committee on Undergraduate Science Education (CUSE), a standing committee of the Center for Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Education at the National Research Council in Washington, D.C.
Gentile is the dean for the natural sciences and
the Kenneth G. Herrick Professor of Biology at Hope. His
term on the committee will begin on Jan. 1, 1998, and
continue through Dec. 31, 2000.
For the next several years, CUSE will focus its
attention on more effective preparation in science for
undergraduates who will go on to careers as K-12 teachers;
developing protocols and tools for more effective evaluation
of undergraduate teaching by faculty in the nation's
colleges and universities; increasing scientific literacy
for all undergraduate students in the U.S.; and other
projects related to improving science education.
The CUSE committee of the NRC is affiliated with
the National Academy of Sciences, and a substantial part of
the membership of the committee is comprised of members of
the National Academy. CUSE currently has a total of 14
members and is chaired by Dr. Marye Anne Fox, who is vice
president for research at the University of Texas at Austin
and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. The
committee will increase to 16 members in 1998 and to 18
members by 2000.
A member of the Hope faculty since 1976, Gentile
has been active nationally and internationally in discussing
issues related to science education. He is a member of the
Executive Committee of "Project Kaleidoscope," a Washington,
D.C.-based initiative focusing on identifying and promoting
effective models for undergraduate mathematics and science
education. He is also a council member for the Council on
Undergraduate Research.
His research in genetic toxicology has resulted in
more than 60 papers during the past 15 years. A past
president of the Environmental Mutagen Society, he is the
executive managing editor of the international journal
"Mutation Research."
Gentile is a consultant for the National
Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences, and is serving,
at the appointment of Governor John Engler, on Michigan's
State Hazardous Site Assessment Committee. He is a
consultant with the EPA's Office on Substances/Test Rules
Development Branch, and a past consultant to the EPA's
Science Advisory Board. He is also a scientific program
advisor to the Murdock Trust in Vancouver, Wash.