Young named interim chair of microbiology and immunology Kevin Young has been named interim chair of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Young, professor of microbiology and immunology, takes over from Roger Melvold, who retired as chair Dec. 31. Melvold, Chester Fritz Distinguished Professor of Microbiology, plans to continue to assist with teaching, as needed, for the UND medical school. He has served as chair and professor of microbiology and immunology since 1997. Young joined the UND medical school in 1985. He completed his doctoral degree at the University of Oklahoma and took postdoctoral training at Texas A&M University and at the University of California at Berkeley. He conducts research aimed at increasing scientists' understanding of the process of bacterial cell division, which has implications for antibiotic resistance. His investigations have been supported by the American Cancer Society. In May 2007, he was recognized by the University, which presented him with the William Crozier and Edith Magwood Fawcett Faculty Enhancement Award for excellence in teaching, research and service. He also received the UND Foundation McDermott Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research or Creative Activity and Service in 2002 and the Sigma Xi Faculty Award for Outstanding Scientific Research in 1994. His research has been funded with grants totaling more than $3 million from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and other agencies. He has written numerous articles for research journals and book chapters, and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Bacteriology and as a peer reviewer for several scientific journals. Young's appointment was effective Jan. 1. He also served as interim chair in 1997, prior to the appointment of Melvold as chair. -- Shelley Pohlman, Assistant to the Director, Public Affairs, spohlman@medicine.nodak.edu, 701-777-4305