Jackson-Hope Faculty Development Leave

Col. Joe Blandino and two cadets inspect a lightweight deployable boom that could be used to construct a solar sail or solar array. His research was funded in part by a Jackson-Hope grant. -- VMI File Photo by H. Lockwood McLaughlin.

The Board of the Jackson-Hope Fund recognizes the importance of faculty development and has provided funds for faculty members to travel to professional conferences and to conduct research.

It also has supported leave time to allow faculty members to engage in scholarly activities within their respective disciplines, such as conducting research and writing books, as well as providing technology training grants to prepare them for teaching in the 21st century.

In recent years, Jackson-Hope funds have provided leave time so that mechanical engineering professor Col. Joseph Blandino could study solar arrays, biology professor Lt. Col. Paul Moosman could study bat habitat and behavior, and chemistry professor Col. Tappey Jones could conduct arthropod phylogenetic studies.

Leave periods allowed history professors Lt. Col. Ryan Holston and Lt. Col. Eric Osborne complete book manuscripts, Lt. Col. Elena Andreeva to do research in archives in Russia, Col. Geoffrey Jensen to do research in archives in Spain, and international studies professor Lt. Col. Howard Sanborn to do research in China.

Economics and business professor Lt. Col. Valentina Dimitrova-Grajzl used her leave to study institutions and their socio-economic indicators while psychology professor Lt. Col. Scott Frein used his leave to study memory and his colleague, Lt. Col. Glenn Sullivan, completed a draft of a book on combat trauma.

The Jackson-Hope Fund sharpens the edge of academic excellence at VMI by ensuring that faculty have the time and resources to contribute to the existing body of knowledge in their fields.