Twenty-four alumni were honored at the College of Science inaugural Alumni Awards Celebration held Wednesday, March 26. The impressive crowd of alumni, their families and members of the Mason community offered champagne toasts and congratulations to the honorees amid a setting of flickering candles and yellow tulips.

Award winners were selected from each department in the college for their professional achievements, as well as service and dedication to their communities and the university. In making the award presentations, Dean Vikas Chandhoke told the audience, “True leaders in science work hard, have the vision to see obstacles as opportunities, and are committed to finding answers and solving problems.”

The 2008 Outstanding Alumni Award winners in the College of Science are:

Bioinformatics and Computational Biology

• Jeffrey L. Solka – ‘95 PhD CSI

Chemistry & Biochemistry

• Michael E. McCollum, MD – ‘84 BA CHEM
• T. Alex Shan, PhD – ‘92 MS CHEM

Climate Dynamics

• Susan C. Bates – ‘06 PhD CLIM
• Robert J. Burgman – ‘06 PhD CLIM
• Julia V. Manganello, PhD – ‘95 MS PHAE

Computational and Data Sciences

• Anjuli S. Bamzai – ‘97 PhD CSI
• Michael A. Keegan – ‘92 BS PHAE, ‘99 PhD CSI
• Jeffrey W. Mirick – ‘02 PhD CSI

Earth Systems and GeoInformation Sciences

• George Y. Lu – ‘07 PhD ESGS

Environmental Science and Policy

• Florence C. Katrivanos – ‘77 BS BUAD, ‘03 BA GEOL
• Kristopher K. McCandless – ‘88 BS GEOL
• Steven L. Monfort – ‘93 PhD EBPP
• JoAnn M. Schrass – ‘97 PhD EBPP
• Cynthia A. Warrick, RPh – ‘99 PhD EVPP

Geography

• Terry J. Busch – ‘94 BA GEOG, ‘98 MS GECA
• Mark L. DeMulder – ‘93 MS GECA
• Neri G. Terry, Jr. – ‘04 MS GECA

Mathematical Sciences

• Christine H. Fox – ‘76 BS MATH, ‘80 MS MATH

Molecular and Microbiology

• George J. Bitar, MD – ‘80 BS BIOL
• Jeffery K. Taubenberger, MD, PhD – ‘82 BS BIOL
• Zobair M. Younossi, MD, MPH, FACG, FACP – ‘84 BS BIOL

Physics and Astronomy

• Cynthia L. Dion-Schwarz, PhD – ‘88 BS PHYS & MATH
• Jaroslaw W. Tuszynski, PhD – ‘93 BS PHYS

At the conclusion of the ceremony, Dean Chandhoke announced that George Bitar will be named the College of Science Alumnus of the Year and Jeffery Taubenberger will be tapped as Mason’s Alumnus of the Year at the annual Celebration of Distinction in April. In addition, Harold Geller, associate chairman of physics and astronomy and director of the Mason observatory, will be honored as Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year at the event.