Dr. Wang awarded Welcome Fellowship

SALISBURY, MD ---Dr. Xiaohong (Sophie) Wang of Salisbury University has been awarded the Welcome Fellowship by the Maryland Higher Education Commission. Wang, a native of China, received her doctorate from the University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. She joined SU in 2001 and is assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. The Welcome Fellowship is a $20,000 grant, paid over a three-year period.

Wang's research involves "object-oriented" programming in scientific computing. She plans to build a library of selected mathematical functions--or "objects"--that are commonly used in scientific computing. These functions will be used in the fields of meteorology, oceanography and climate research by bridging a gap between computer programming and scientific applications.

In addition, her work will focus on developing a programming framework for a multidisciplinary computer model of the Chesapeake Bay.

"Dr. Wang's cutting-edge research represents the best of the best," said SU Provost David H. Buchanan. "Her work is indicative of the increasingly high standards being set at Salisbury University."

The fellowship is named for Dr. Henry C. Welcome, who served on the State Board for Higher Education, the predecessor of the Maryland Higher Education Commission. He was active in politics and civil rights with his wife, the late Senator Verda F. Welcome, the first black woman in the United States to be elected senator.

Last year, Dr. Anjali Pandey of SU's Department of English was a recipient of a Welcome Fellowship.