About the Basler Chair of Excellence
In 1994 the Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence for the Integration of the Arts, Rhetoric, and Science was named in honor of an individual who has continuously supported the university over many years. This chair helps to bridge the gap in academia between the sciences, the arts, and the humanities disciplines.
Chairholders serve for one semester, or the equivalent, allowing a number of individuals from a variety of fields to participate over time. The primary duties of the chairholder are to teach two courses, typically one undergraduate and one graduate, and to present four public lectures/performances.
The Basler Chair Nomination Procedure
Past Basler Chairholders*:
1996 - John Bowers (fall semester)
1997 - Gustavo Perez Firmat
1998 - Coramae Richey Mann
1999 - Patrick Cronin (spring semester)
1999 - Lisa Alther (fall semester)
2000 - Dr. George Gale (fall semester)
2001 - Dr. Anne LaBastille (fall semester)
2002 - Dr. John Shelton Reed (fall semester)
2003 - Mr. John Blake, Jr.
2004 - Mr. Mel Chin
2005 - Dr. Martin A. Hendry
2006 - Dr. George Kampis (spring 2007)
2007 - Ivars Peterson (spring 2008)
2008 - Dr. Graham Leonard (spring 2009)
2009 - Dr. Phillip Rhodes (fall 2009)
2010 - Dr. Molly Faries (fall 2010)
2011 - Dr. Jennings Bryant (fall 2011)
2012- Dr. Thomas Schmickl (fall 2012)
*Created in 1994 but no chairholder chosen until 1996
Dr. Thomas Schmickl, Basler Chair of Excellence, Fall 2012 |
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Thomas Schmickl (Master: Salzburg, Austria 1998; Ph.D.: Graz, Austria 2001; Habilitation: Graz, Austria 2012) is an Associate Professor at Karl-Franzens University, Graz, Austria, and a lecturer at the University for Applied Sciences in St. Pölten, Austria. He is the founder of the Artificial Life Lab Graz, which is an interdisciplinary research lab hosting biologists, computer scientists, and simulation engineers. The laboratory researches swarm intelligence, biological self-organization, ecology, evolution, swarm robotics, modular robotics, and bio-inspired algorithms. He is a leading scientist in various international research projects such as I-Swarm, Symbrion, Replicator, and CoCoRo. A more detailed list of his accomplishments can be found here. Prof. Schmickl researches and teaches ecological relationships among species, including mathematical modeling and simulation of ecosystems. He also researches evolutionary dynamics in ecosystems, information processing and collective computation in social insect colonies, and other dynamics in decentralized multi-component systems such as collective decision making, opinion polling, and collective homeostasis. In recent years Dr. Schmickl has supervised research grants of more than $4.3 million, and he has published in his scientific career more than seventy peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals and book series, as well as eleven peer-reviewed chapters in scientific books. Local and international news (TV, radio, newspapers) has covered his research with various stories and features in recent years. For the fall semester 2012, Prof. Schmickl will be the holder of the Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence for the Integration of the Arts, Rhetoric, and Science at East Tennessee State University. He will teach special sessions in several courses, and he is scheduled to teach two courses of his own. The first is an interdisciplinary course entitled "Dynamic systems in Biology" (BIOL 4910-004/5300-002 cross-listed as CSCI 4957/5957-003). The second course is entitled "Artificial Life and Swarm Intelligence" (Biol 4910-002/5910-002 cross listed as CSCI 4957/5947-004). You can find detailed information on these courses here. We will post information about his public lectures as it becomes available. |
Past Holders of the Basler Chair
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| Dr. Jennings Bryant (fall 2011) |
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| Dr. Molly Faries (fall 2010) |
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| Dr. Phillip Rhodes (Fall 2009) |
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| Dr. Graham Leonard (Spring 2009) |
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| Ivars Peterson (Spring 2008) |