A West Virginia University chemistry professor co- organized and directed a prestigious summer course for scientists from around the globe.

Kenneth Showalter, C. Eugene Bennett Chair in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, worked with Alexander S. Mikhailov of the Max Planck Society in Berlin to develop a two-week course for the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy.

Their class on theDesign and Control of Self-Organization in Physical, Chemical and Biological Systemsfeatured leading scientists from Europe, Japan, Canada and the United States. The course attracted participants from Thailand, Cameroon, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, India, China, Morocco, Tunisia, Peru, Bolivia and other developing nations.

While the scientific program was at the very highest level,Dr. Showalter said,there was also a wonderful mix of social and scientific interactions among people from very different parts of the world.

Hilda Cerdeira of Sao Paulo, Brazil, served as the courses local organizer in Trieste.

Showalter is regarded as one of the worlds leading researchers in nonlinear chemical dynamics. His research on spatiotemporal dynamics and complex systemsbroadly defined as how chemical entities interact with their environment and with one anotherrecently gained WVU s first grant, in the amount of $500,000, from the prestigious W.M. Keck Foundation of Los Angeles. The grant, administered by the WVU Foundation, is funding Showalters efforts to discover collective behavior in nonliving systems similar to that found in living systems.

The International Centre for Theoretical Physics was founded in 1964 as a collaborative effort among the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization; the International Atomic Energy Agency; and the Italian government. The centre provides a venue in which international experts who do research at the cutting edge of their fields, such as Showalter, have the opportunity to interact with their peers and colleagues while also responding to the needs of young researchers from the developing world.

Dr. Showalters selection to lead a course at ICTP brings recognition to the Eberly College,said interim Dean Rudolph P. Almasy.The work he is doing at WVU is ground-breaking and internationally respected.