Benoit, Anderson focus on physiology of mentoring at faculty lecture Thursday "Systems and Cycles: The Physiology of Mentoring" will be the next topic discussed as part of the Faculty Lecture Series. Joseph "Joey" Benoit, dean of the Graduate School, along with Cindy Anderson, assistant professor of nursing, will deliver the presentation Thursday, Nov. 13, at the North Dakota Museum of Art. A reception starts at 4 p.m., followed by the lecture at 4:30 p.m. In honor of the 125th anniversary of the founding of the University and the 10th anniversary of the re-establishment of the lecture series at UND, the committee of Chester Fritz Professors coordinating the University Faculty Lecture Series have invited the deans of colleges to speak on their research. This occasion allows the deans to reflect on the important role that their scholarly work plays not only in their career paths, but in their work on campus today. The lecture series is free and open to the public. Benoit was appointed dean of the Graduate School and professor of Pharmacology, Physiology and Therapeutics Aug. 15, 2001. A native of south central Louisiana (Opelousas), Benoit holds bachelor's degrees in biology and chemistry from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, a bachelor's degree in basic medical science from the University of South Alabama and a Ph.D. in basic medical science with an emphasis in physiology from the University of South Alabama. A postdoctoral fellowship in microvascular physiology was completed at Texas A&M University. He has also studied at the Wood’s Hole Marine Biological Laboratory (Woods Hole, Mass.) and the Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, Maine). Benoit has served on faculty at the Louisiana State University Health Science Center at Shreveport (1987-95), and the University of South Alabama (1995-2001), where he attained the rank of professor. During his tenure at LSU, he held an adjunct appointment in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Louisiana Tech University. He also served as the director of the graduate program in basic medical sciences while at the University of South Alabama. Benoit’s research interests center on cardiovascular consequences of chronic portal hypertension, the pathophysiology of arterial hypertension and the role of the lymphatic system in the prevention of interstitial edema. He has published over 200 research related papers, chapters and abstracts. His research programs have been funded by the National Institutes of Health and American Heart Association along with several other foundations and contracts. To date, he has served as the research supervisor for 49 undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and visiting scholars. Cindy Anderson recently was named one of only 15 junior university faculty members nationwide to receive the inaugural Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar award. Her primary research focus is on nutrition as a determinant of the fetal origins of hypertension. In her current study, she is investigating vitamin D deficiency in rural pregnant women from the Northern Plains. She seeks to identify how vitamin D deficiency affects blood vessel development and function of the placenta, the organ that provides oxygen and nourishment to the to the developing fetus. In 2005, Anderson was recognized for her teaching excellence by being selected as the American Nurse Foundation/Midwest Nursing Research Scholar. And more recently, she received a New Faculty Award from UND and the 2008 Harriet Werley New Investigator Award from the Midwest Nursing Research Society. Anderson also co-authored a recently published pathophysiology text book titled, "Pathophysiology: Functional Alterations in Human Health." The textbook offers a unique conceptual approach by first teaching general mechanisms of disease and then demonstrating how to apply these processes to specific conditions. A native of Massachusetts, Anderson began her career at UND as a clinical instructor in 1992. She had previously served eight years as a registered nurse officer in the U.S. Air Force. She received her bachelor's degree in nursing from Salem State College (Mass.) in 1980. She earned a master's in parent/child nursing from UND in 1991, and earned her Ph.D. in physiology from UND in 2003. The next faculty lecture is Thursday, Dec. 11, with Jan Kelly Moen, sociology and peace studies, addressing "Conceptual Underpinnings of Peace Studies: History of an Idea in Transition."