>> George Langford: Board of Visitors for the College of Arts and Sciences.
We have just completed our meeting we have very good representation from our board.
Members of the Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute Board of Advisors,
and Cory Driscoll [phonetic] who's here representing Congressman Dan Maffei
who couldn't be with us today.
We have Lindsey Baniski [phonetic] who's representing State Senator John DeFrancisco
who couldn't be with us today, Jared Jones [phonetic] who's representing Senator Gillibrand
and we're very happy that Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli is with us today.
So thank you for coming.
And I also want to give a special thanks to the many faculty, staff,
and students who've been instrumental in making this day a reality.
So please join me in thanking them for this celebratory event.
[ Applause ]
And now we gather today here in Lyman Hall for the opening of state
of the art research laboratories.
And Lyman is the right place for this institute.
It has an illustrious history in the sciences.
It was the original home of the Department of Biology, of Botany, of Geology,
Zoology, Psychology and Geography.
So it has a long history of supporting research in the sciences.
And now it is home to these new laboratories which mark a new chapter in the life
of the building and in the college.
So I want to now introduce Eric Spina, our Chancellor and Provost.
Chancellor Spina has been at S.U. for 25 years.
He was Dean of the LC Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science prior
to his appointment as Provost, and he assumed his duties
as Chancellor in October of this year.
He's a revered teacher, scholar, mentor and academic leader.
He's brought pivotal leadership to S.U. and has built research programs for the future.
He has forged collaborations that simultaneously enrich scholarship and education
that transform our community and tackle some of the greatest challenges of our time.
So please join me in welcoming Chancellor Eric Spina.
[ Applause ]
>> Eric Spina: Well good afternoon everyone.
Great to see so many folks here.
And before I offer some remarks, I just want to really ask you to join me in thanking George
for his leadership, for his vision, working closely with Kim Spencer [phonetic] and a host
of faculty and staff to really take the institute from an idea to something
that over the last few years has really taken on a lot of meaning,
and now today will move forward even further.
So thank you [inaudible].
[ Applause ]
It's a pleasure to be here, a pleasure to have the opportunity to participate
in this important dedication ceremony, a landmark event that promises
to further propel the critically important work of the Forensic
and National Security Sciences Institute here at S.U. Now as we all know, this is a field -
forensics, forensic science - that hold particular significance for S.U.,
having been touched directly by terrorism 25 years ago with the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103
over Lockerbie, a senseless act of violence that took the lives
of 35 S.U. students returning home from a semester abroad.
National and global events since that dark time have only further underscored the vital need
for groundbreaking research and scholarship that will help to deter such devastating acts
of violence at home and around the world.
It's also a field that exemplifies S.U.'s deep commitment to interdisciplinary
and collaborative scholarship and research, dedicated to tackling some
of the most pressing challenges of the day.
The institute was founded two years ago as George said,
in response to really an urgent national call from the National Academy of Sciences
for enhanced research and educational training in the field of forensic sciences
which we differentiate from forensics.
With -- as Jim and George have schooled me from Day 1,
really a deep foundation in the hard sciences.
The new laboratory suite that we're here to dedicate reaffirms the college's
and the university's response to that call and it dramatically speaks
to our institutional commitment to leveraging and building on our strengths
across disciplines, to create signature research opportunities and educational environments
in which student and faculty scholars can work together,
and pursue transformational scholarship with global ramifications.
This laboratory suite is a place where first rate scholars, students,
and professionals from across a range
of disciplines can collaboratively pursue innovative solutions to some of the [inaudible]
and unprecedentedly complex problems of the day.
Their work will perpetuate the spirit of collaboration that made development
of this laboratory space possible through an asset transfer agreement
between Syracuse University and SRC Incorporated, which we're deeply thankful for.
The laboratories upstairs house nearly a million dollars in biochemical research equipment,
and even more valuable is the addition of two distinguished scientists to our faculty:
Professor in Practice, Dave Knaebel, and Senior Scientist Mike Marciano
who join SU Biology Professor Bob Silver in pursuing bio-forensics research.
This state of the art laboratory suite and team
of accomplished scientists further enhance S.U.'s teaching and research capabilities,
underscore institutional commitment to collaborative interest [inaudible] scholarship,
and strengthen S.U.'s standing as a national leader in advancing research
that addresses the vastly complex forensic
and security challenges facing the nation and world today.
So profound thanks to all who played a key part in making this laboratory suite a reality
and thanks to all of you here for your support leading to this point.
And as we move forward, to make sure that this facility, that this institute continue
to place Syracuse University where we should be: in the Vanguard of research
in this critically important area.
So thanks to you all.
[ Applause ]
>> George Langford: Thank you very much Chancellor Spina.
I forgot to mention that we also have as a visitor today,
David Scolesi [phonetic] who's representing Assemblyman Roberts.
We welcome you here today.
So it is now my pleasure to introduce the Founder and Executive Director of the Forensic
and National Security Sciences Institute, Professor Jim Spencer.
Jim is Professor of Chemistry.
He's the [inaudible] Professor and Associate Dean for the Division of Natural Sciences
and Mathematics in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Associate Dean for Research.
He's an inorganic chemist who - with over 75 papers and 6 patents - and he's responsible
for the development of the college's Forensic Science Excellence Initiative
that was transformed into the Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute.
He has developed new courses in forensics.
He has launched an undergraduate major.
He's created a minor in forensics.
He's led the development of a master's degree program in forensic science and has worked
to create a joint law degree - a JD - [inaudible] program.
And he's prepared various long range planning strategies and he serves as a P.I.
on grants from the National Institute of Justice.
It was Jim's vision that inspired our work toward a future that we are now realizing
and we really thank him for his leadership.
So please welcome, Professor Spencer.
[ Applause ]
>> James Spencer: Thank you Dean Langford and Chancellor Spina.
For all of your steadfast and support and encouragement over the years,
it has really been together that we've developed the standard setting Forensic
and National Security Sciences Program in the nation, and I would contend even in the world.
My deepest thanks to all of you and to the faculty members
and institute leaders who've contributed in such exceptional and seminal ways to bring us
to this key stepping point today -- stepping stone today.
As Chancellor Spina mentioned, the National Academy of Sciences Report called
on the professional community to strengthen scientific research and education in the field.
And bring forensic science and national security sciences together as a rigorous discipline.
Our institute has responded to this and is still the first and only institute
that brings together these feels --
truly in a quest to discover and develop new science based forensic understanding
and methods, and to prepare highly trained professionals to combat crime
and terrorism locally, nationally, and even globally.
Today we really face complex problems in both forensic science
and international security sciences.
And they share something in common.
Forensic science tends to look backwards in time to piece together what has happened in the past,
while national security looks forward to try to determine what might happen with a goal
to predict, detect, and mitigate potential problems and threats.
But both of these intersect at the present,
and rely centrally upon science and technology to show the way.
The institute's mission is to employ S.U.'s state of the art,
scientific research capabilities and expertise at the heart of a national research university
to lead the way through science and technology to deal effectively
with these real world problems through research, curricular programs,
professional partnerships and collaborations.
But the institute is also opening new doors and collaborations for research
that were never really possible before
by providing a collaborative interdisciplinary place where our work
in these fields can coalesce under one banner.
One of the central goals of the institute, is to bring researchers, scholars, teachers,
and students together to begin to address these problems in new and creative ways.
And our commitment to be the national leader
in these disciplines is really wonderfully exemplified today by the work to be performed
in the new laboratories that we dedicate.
A luster of this, it is really my pleasure to introduce one of the gifted scientists
who will be leading the work in some of the labs that we opened today.
Dr. David Knaebel is a world recognized leader in bio-forensics with extensive expertise
in forensic ecology, molecular biology, and related disciplines.
He and his group along with [inaudible] Professor Robert Silver,
are developing new pioneering methods that were unimagined just a few years ago,
and are leading to amazing results.
These new labs will allow the continuation of this stunning forensic research
with truly worldwide implications.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
>> Dr. David Knaebel: Thank you Dean Langford, Chancellor Spina, FNSSI Director Spencer,
and welcome members of the Board of Trustees and the Board of Visitors and our guests.
Today's a great day.
I'm honored to be here as a member of a distinguished team, Robert Silver,
Mark Marciano, our students and graduate students, as we celebrate S.U. commitment
to forensics and national security science.
Our team is rounded out by Professors Spencer, Sweder, Sponsler, and Ulrich Englich.
The three of us - Bob, Mike and I - are fairly new here at S.U. and as you've heard,
we are helping to write a new chapter in the direction of the life
of the university in forensic sciences.
The three of us bring our expertise, but we also bring collegial
and professional relationships that are both near and far.
Here in Lyman, we'll be using DNA technologies
to solve problems associated with crime and terrorism.
The application of molecular biology and ecology
to law enforcement and forensics is a new concept.
Add that to Bob's groundbreaking work in the detection and ormediation [phonetic],
the inertization [phonetic] of combustible materials and you've a new template
for the study, application, and teaching of forensics.
And of course the work is not possible, we couldn't do this, without the support
of the college and the university.
Access to the cutting edge facilities that you'll see upstairs state of the art equipment.
But it is also built upon these relationships that we have with colleges and universities,
those in U.S. agencies both locally, nationally and globally, their positioned around the world
to help focus on forensic problems.
As well as teachers and practitioners in the forensic sciences.
Our colleagues have critical needs in the forensic domains that we study.
Problems that we have created novel solutions for and which we'll continue
to push the envelope towards in generating solutions to new problems that arise,
whether it be local, national, or global as Jim said.
And we've learned that our college are thrilled for us to be here
at FNSSI and [inaudible] University.
The community of excellence that the university represents and has created for us here,
and what we recognize and celebrate today.
And the three of us also bring something else that's critical to the [inaudible] University.
We represent teaching and mentoring and scholarship excellence.
We bring award winning teaching experience to this group and we want
to foster that with our students.
So our passion is not just with science of forensics and discovery,
but in teaching students and training them for the future.
And we've all had those critical experiences in our lives, those events that happen
that set us apart from our colleagues, that we personally grew
from in powerful, but probably unexpected ways.
Our desire for our students here is they experience those same kinds
of rigorous experiences, that will also help them separate them apart
from their colleagues from other institutions.
We want them to excel in their careers as forensic scientists.
So today is more than just a celebration of this wonderful space and this new equipment.
It's a celebration of our values, rigorous training, creative teaching,
personalized mentoring, the same values that we honor for all --
preparing all of our students at the university to succeed in the global marketplace.
And I'll add one more point.
S.U. has a special place in my personal and professional career.
My PhD mentor, Jay Robie Vestule [phonetic],
did his post-doc here with Donald Lundren [phonetic].
He studied a wonderful bacteria named Thiobacillus ferrooxidans.
[laughter] Hey, that's the loving bacterium that had interesting ways of metabolizing metal.
And little did I know when I started with him 1984 that I'd be walking in some
of the same halls that he did when he was here at S.U. So it's a wonderful day.
Thank you for being here.
I'd like to introduce one of our students who's going to be pushing the future
of forensics, Stephanie Gladick [phonetic].
[ Applause ]
>> Good afternoon everybody.
My name's Stephanie Gladick and I'm a first year student
in the Forensic Science Graduate Program here at Syracuse University.
I received my Bachelors of Science in Forensic Science as well as a minor in Chemistry
and a certificate in DNA analysis from Madonna University which is a small,
private institution located in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan.
My ties to S.U. began in my undergraduate years when an opportunity arose
from Dr. Shannon Novack's [phonetic] anthropology lab located upstairs in Lyman.
I was granted access to one of her collections through my mentor
for independent student research involving the use of ancient DNA for ancestral analysis.
However, Madonna at the time was an institution that was still getting its footing
in student research which meant we had to make do without high tech equipment.
Coming from a small university to a large research institute
such as Syracuse University does have its perks.
The addition of the new labs of Dr. Dave Knaebel, Mike Marciano, and Dr. Robert Silver,
in conjunction with the existing forensic research labs allows students - much like me -
the opportunity to encounter equipment that appears on many laboratory job postings.
Trust me. I've looked.
These new laboratories facilitate encounters not only with shiny, high tech equipment,
but more importantly they will also expand the space for students who want
and need the independent research experience and mentorship
which is invaluable as a young scientist.
I couldn't be more excited with the opportunities presented through the Forensic
and National Security Sciences Institute and everything it has
to offer, including the new labs upstairs.
Thank you.