Dr. Christopher Barney of the Hope College biology faculty will receive the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Wright State University Alumni Association on Friday, May 17.
The award, the association's most prestigious, is annually granted to a Wright State University (WSU) graduate who has attained a significant level of achievement in his or her chosen field and has demonstrated a positive impact on a local, state and/or international level. A 1973 WSU honors graduate with a major in biology, Barney will be honored during an evening awards ceremony and reception at the university.
Barney is the T. Elliott Weier Professor of Biology at Hope. He joined the Hope faculty as an assistant professor in 1980, and was promoted to associate professor in 1986 and full professor in 1992. He was appointed to his endowed chair in 2001.
He chaired the department of biology from 1996 to 2001. He served a term as the college's Faculty Moderator, and from 1996 to 2000 was a faculty representative on Hope's Board of Trustees. An active member of the Hope community, he led a seminar during the college's "Winter Happening" in January of 1999.
Through the years he has taught courses including "Principles of Biology," "Human Physiology," "Vertebrate Physiology," and "Science and Human Values," and helped initiate the college's First-Year Seminar program. He has also done collaborative research with more than 70 Hope students. His current research emphasis is on the role of hormones in water balance, temperature regulation and blood pressure regulation.
He has received more than 20 external grants in support of his research and education, including grants from the Beckman Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation (NSF). He serves as a grant reviewer for the NSF and a manuscript reviewer for "The American Journal of Physiology." He has written or co- authored more than 50 articles for professional journals, in addition to making numerous presentations at professional conferences.
He was a member of the Holland East Middle School PTA Feasibility Committee and the PTA Executive Committee. He is a member of St. Francis De Sales Church, where he has chaired the Adult and Family Faith Formation Board and the Pastoral Council, and currently serves as a member of the Grand Rapids Catholic Diocese Pastoral Council.
Barney obtained his Ph.D. in medical physiology from Indiana University in 1977 and then spent three years doing research at the University of Florida Medical School.
He is married to Julie Ann Surface Barney, who also works at Hope and is also a 1973 graduate of Wright State University. The Barneys have two children: Jeremy, a 2001 graduate of the College of Wooster, and Kara, who is a sophomore at the College of Wooster.