Texas A&M University graduate James Richardson and his wife, Christene, have given $25,000 to establish a scholarship in memory of his brother, who was killed during World War II.

The scholarship is for members of A&M's Corps of Cadets and designed to remind members of the Aggie family that freedom comes at a cost.

James Richardson, a member of the class of 1953, graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. The scholarship is titled the Pfc. Johnie Richardson Memorial Sul Ross Scholarship.

A&M assistant math professors Laura F. Matusevich and Wolfgang Bangerth are among 118 scientists, mathematicians and economists selected by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation as research fellows.

The fellowships are designed to support outstanding young researchers at key stages in their careers.

Since the fellowships were first awarded in 1955, 35 recipients have gone on to win the Nobel Prize in their fields while another 14 have received the Fields Medal, the top honor in mathematics.

The fellowships in economics began in 1983, and Sloan Fellows have accounted for eight of the 13 winners of the John Bates Clark Medal, generally considered the top honor for young economists.

Grants of $50,000 for a two-year period are administered by each fellow's institution. The fellows, once chosen, can pursue whatever lines of inquiry that interest them.

Texas A&M professor emeritus of oceanography Greta A. Fryxell was honored recently by the publication of a "festschrift," a volume of writings by a scholar's students and colleagues presented as a tribute.

Fryxell's festschrift recognizes her long record of scientific achievement in oceanography and phycology. It was presented to her at a dinner in her honor Feb. 14 in California, where she lives with her husband.

A team of researchers from the Texas Transportation Institute was awarded with the "best paper" distinction during the Transportation Research Board annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

The paper -- titled "License Plate and Telephone Numbers in Changeable Message Sign AMBER Alert Messages" -- won the D. Grant Mickle Award for outstanding paper in the field of operation, safety and maintenance of transportation facilities.

Authors Conrad Dudek, Steven Schrock and Brooke Ullman conducted research in six Texas cities and in the institute driving simulator to determine the effects of displaying license plates and telephone numbers on changeable message signs.

The research revealed that the information can overload motorists, who are not likely to recall license plate and telephone numbers displayed in AMBER alerts.

Texas A&M geography professor Daniel Sui, holder of the Reta A. Haynes endowed chair in geosciences, will speak at a Global Dialogues on Emerging Science and Technology symposium next month in South Africa.

Sui was invited by the U.S. State Department to participate in the symposium. His talk -- "From Digital Divide to Dividend: Free Geospatial Technologies for Africa" -- will focus on whether open-source and volunteered geospatial information could bring new hope for a sustainable Africa in the near future.

The Celanese Corp. donated textbooks to students enrolled this semester in a fluid mechanics class in Texas A&M's Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering.

The books were purchased for students in assistant professor Victor Ugaz's Chemical Engineering 304 class as part of an impromptu donation. The company also purchased multiple-choice response clickers for the students to allow their answers to questions posed by Ugaz to be registered in a polling format.

Texas A&M history professor Walter D. Kamphoefner will deliver the 2008 Fallon-Marshall Lecture in the College of Liberal Arts at the George Bush Presidential Museum and Library in April.

His lecture is titled "What's New about the Newest Immigration? A Historian's Perspective." He is expected to recount the process of negotiation and mutual accommodation as immigrants have integrated into American society over the past two centuries.

The theme of the lecture revolves around what he described as a highly romanticized view of the melting pot.

Five members of the Regents' Scholars Program Student Planning Board earned certified student leader credentials during the National Conference on Student Leadership Certified Student Leader Weekend Retreat in Austin.

Chair Gary Young, co-chair Salma Abdullah, Madiha Rizvi, James Philip and Min Ho Seo were among 95 students at the conference and earned the award by scoring high on a leadership skills exam.

Eagle staff reports

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