COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND LIFE SCIENCES: Awards
2003
Arizona Agricultural Experiment Station Research Report
2003 RESEARCHER OF THE YEAR AWARD
LESLIE GUNATILAKA, Professor, Office
of Arid Lands Studies
Director, Southwest Center for Natural Products Research and Commercialization
(Natural Products Center)
Leslie Gunatilaka joined the University of Arizona in 1997. Acting as
principal investigator, he has attracted over $3 million in grants and
contracts, and over $1 million as a co-principal investigator. He has
invested more than $500,000 of his grant/contact funds to purchase equipment
and improve the research infrastructure of the Natural Products Center.
Gunatilaka has written 146 peer-reviewed publications and has authored
and coauthored more than 115 research communications, contributed seven
book chapters and is an author of four patent applications. The common
theme, “search for anticancer drugs from Sonoran desert organisms”
is prominent throughout Gunatilaka’s research projects. He has trained
23 graduate students, 11 postdocs and numerous undergraduates as part
of his commitment to excellence in education during his academic career.
Gunatilaka is currently a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the
international journal Natural Products Letters, and serves as a manuscript
and a book reviewer for nine other international journals. He has delivered
more than 65 invited lectures and research seminars in the USA and abroad.
In 1985, during his tenure as professor of organic chemistry and head of the department of chemistry, he won the Sri Lankan Presidential Award for “developing a center of academic excellence in natural products chemistry” at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He was elected in 1997 as a Fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences (Italy) in recognition of his outstanding contributions to science and its development of the Third World. In 1998 he was elected a member of the Arizona Cancer Center in recognition of his work on anticancer drug discovery, and in 2000 he received the CaPCURE award for his “dedication to ending prostate cancer as a risk for all men and their families.”
2003 OUTSTANDING TEAM AWARD
ANIMAL SCIENCES EQUINE PROGRAM
Mark Arns, Bill Schurg, Wendy Davis, Mary Ann Harris, Susan Rose and Laura
Walker
This team has successfully increased the number of animal sciences majors to a 30-year high of 146 students this year. The University of Arizona has created an active thoroughbred breeding program consisting of quality stallions for use by our program and clients throughout the state. The breeding of UA mares provides an opportunity to generate revenue to maintain the Equine Center and the foals are used in several academic courses. The UA Equine Sciences Program is known as a leader in the thoroughbred breeding program in Arizona. This team was formed three years ago and since then the Equine Center has been transformed from a “solely operational facility” needing financial assistance from the College to remain in business, to a self-sufficient operation unit and the center of the equine science teaching program. The outreach efforts have led to initiation of educational programs for Arizona horse owners. Due to the increase in faculty and staff, and their diverse backgrounds, Arizona horse owners have been able to capitalize on a number of new educational opportunities.
Return to the Title Page
Return to the Table of Contacts
The University of Arizona is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative
Action Employer. Any products, services, or organizations that are mentioned,
shown, or indirectly implied in this publication do not imply endorsement
by the University of Arizona.
Published January 2004
Return to College publication list