| Susie P. Gonzalez | 210-999-8406 | susie.gonzalez@trinity.edu |
Espey
Named Distinguished Life Sciences Professor |
| Professor Espey, whose research has focused for more than 40 years on ovarian function, will continue his vigorous application of state-of-the-art technologies to analyze ovarian gene expression that regulates ovulation and female fertility. He began studying ovulation as a graduate student at Florida State University, where his initial experiments disproved the prevailing hypotheses about the causes of follicular rupture and the release of fertile eggs. During the next 30 years, Professor Espey applied a variety of biophysical and biochemical techniques to gain basic information about the ovulatory process. Within the past decade, he has retrained himself in new laboratory procedures involving recombinant DNA technologies that are allowing him to learn how ovarian genes control the molecular events of ovulation. Professor Espey is a recognized expert in the field and has been a consultant on human reproduction to the World Health Organization. He has worked as a visiting professor at Baylor College of Medicine, at the Medical University of South Carolina, at Kyoto University Medical School, and at Shinshu University Medical School, where he is an honorary faculty member in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. In addition to the presentation of seminars at numerous American universities, he has been invited to lecture at research institutions in Canada, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland, France, Romania, Israel, and Japan. During his 36 years at Trinity University, Professor Espey’s work has received substantial support from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and he is currently funded by the National Science Foundation. These funds have included stipends for undergraduates to become involved in his research. In recent years, such student researchers have included Dr. Donald Ozumba, who is completing his medical residency in orthopedic surgery at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Dr. Molly Armstrong Skelsey, who recently completed her Ph.D. at Southwestern Medical School, Matthew Call, who is working on his Ph.D. at Harvard Medical School, Bogdan Vladu, who is working on his Ph.D. at the University of Washington Medical School in Seattle, and Janie Healy, a May 2002 Trinity graduate who has just begun her M.D./Ph.D training at Duke University Medical School in Durham. Professor Espey has been equally enthusiastic about his teaching responsibilities, and has taught approximately 20 different courses during his tenure at this institution. Although most of his courses have been on the topics of physiology and endocrinology, during the 1970s and ’80s he mainly taught classes in environmental studies, covering issues such as world population, environmental ethics, and environmental concepts in the classical literature. He continues to have a strong interest in the global environment and the impact of world population growth on international tensions. Professor Espey holds bachelors and master’s degrees in zoology from the University of Texas in Austin, and a Ph.D in physiology from Florida State University in Tallahassee. After two years of research experience as a Postdoctoral Fellow of the National Institutes of Health while working at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, he declined an opportunity to remain on the faculty at that institution, and elected to return to his home state of Texas. Trinity University is a nationally recognized liberal arts and sciences institution noted for its exceptional faculty and its commitment to the comprehensive preparation of a talented student body. It is a learning community that has charted its course with a steadfast commitment to academic excellence since it was founded in 1869. |
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Last updated on August 22, 2002 by the Office of Public Relations |
July
26, 2002 –