Professors are researchers of the year

Dr. Tin-Chun Chu and Dr. Kurt Rotthoff received the Seton Hall University Researcher of the Year Award in February for the research they have done over the last academic year.

Chu, assistant professor of biological studies, focused on ge­nome projects, studies of physi­ological response of stress factors on bacteria, and a novel approach to fighting diseases using natural products.

Rotthoff, assistant professor of economics and legal studies at the Stillman School of Business, published eight papers, which focused on finance policy, educa­tion research, economics theory and sports economics.

Both professors said they are grateful to have received this award.

"It certainly feels good to be recognized," Chu said. "I am so humbled and honored to have re­ceived this prestigious award."

Rotthoff appreciated that the University is encouraging re­search.

"It's very nice to hear that you work so hard trying to do things like publishing those papers and working so hard to get your re­search out there for people to read and someone is recognizing it," Rotthoff said.

Chu and Rotthoff said they believe that the award gives them great recognition beyond the Se­ton Hall community.

"It's nice because people out­side Seton Hall can see that we are honoring and valuing research here at the University," Rotthoff said.

Chu's research was done in conjunction with national and in­ternational universities.

"Some of these projects in­volved Montclair State Univer­sity, Georgia Health Sciences University, California State Uni­versity Northridge, National Chi­ayi University in Taiwan and Zhe­jiang University in China," Chu said.

Both professors said they be­lieve that research and teaching are compliments of each other.

"I love to integrate my re­search into teaching, as I believe the students at SHU can obtain valuable experience through hands-on experiments," Chu said.

Similarly, Rotthoff's research has helped enhance his classes.

"My ability to do research al­lows me to talk about more cut­ting edge things and it makes the classroom experience a lot bet­ter," Rotthoff said. "The fact that we have a lot of research going on here signals a lot about the Uni­versity."

Chu has worked closely with students to publish her research. Chu has had 32 student co-authors and her students have won many presentation awards including the Best Doctoral Student Presenta­tion Award.

"I am grateful for the oppor­tunities that SHU has provided me to serve our students, training them to be productive scientists," Chu said.

Rotthoff used his papers on sports economics in his sports fi­nance class. Students critique and analyze his research in order to answer questions that are preva­lent in the field.

"It gets the students think­ing about how and why we can answer questions," he said. "It teaches students to answer their own questions, which is my ulti­mate goal here."

Outside of the classroom, both professors are involved with sports.

"If I manage to find some spare time, I enjoy swimming, play­ing badminton and bowling with friends," Chu said.

She is also an avid lover of mu­sic, museums, Broadway shows and ball games.

Rotthoff said that he "forces" himself to have free time. He en­joys spending time with his wife and 1-year-old son. Rotthoff also enjoys swimming and weightlift­ing.

"I try to be somewhat normal outside of the classroom," Rot­thoff said. "You'll find me in the gym here at SHU lifting weights. I also enjoy watching and playing sports."

Patrick Maroun can be reached at patrick.maroun@stu­dent.shu.edu.