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By: David Tisdale
Two pillars of The University of Southern Mississippi’s (USM) faculty have stepped away, but their many important contributions to the school – including its nationally recognized research enterprise – will remain evident well into the future.
Dr. Sabine Heinhorst, professor emeritus and former dean of the USM Honors College, and her husband, Dr. Gordon Cannon, professor emeritus and former Provost and Vice President for Research (now Vice President Emeritus for Research) – recently retired from the University, where they played key roles as administrators and scholars in helping it attain Carnegie I Research Institution (Very High Research Activity) status as one of America’s research leaders in higher education.
Since 1987, the two have made major contributions in the fields of chemistry and biochemistry, while also working with colleagues across all academic disciplines to expand scholarly opportunities for faculty and students, including through their strong support of both the Drapeau Center for Undergraduate Research and its Undergraduate Research Symposium.
“Dr. Cannon and Dr. Heinhorst have shaped all areas of research, teaching and service at The University of Southern Mississippi for nearly 40 years,” said University President Joseph S. Paul. “They are the epitome of faculty leadership and mentorship of our students, and their legacy is truly immeasurable.”
A T.W. Bennett Distinguished Professor in the Sciences at the university, Dr. Cannon began his career at USM in its former Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry before later leading the University’s research efforts for more than a decade in administrative roles, working with campus partners to advance pedagogy, research, and creative scholarship across the Division of Academic Affairs and the Division of Research. He is credited with helping establish greater support for research and scholarly work through proposal development grants, competitive research start-up packages for new faculty, and internal project funding opportunities, ultimately supporting the rich tradition of faculty research excellence that helped position the University to achieve R1 status. For these and many other achievements, he earned the Southern Miss Lifetime Achievement Award from the University Research Council.
As Vice President for Research, Dr. Cannon’s duties included service as executive director of the USM Research Foundation; supervision of the University’s technology incubator, The Accelerator, and the Trent Lott National Center for Excellence in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship, among other research centers. He oversaw the original acquisition of the Research Vessel Point Sur, which formed the foundation for the University to be selected by the National Science Foundation to operate the Regional Class Research Vessel Gilbert R. Mason, in partnership with LUMCON (Lousiana Universities Marine Consortium).
In his work with USM’s Gulf Coast research teams, he was instrumental in the development of critical infrastructure in partnership with the Port of Gulfport to springboard the University’s ocean science and engineering programs, and ongoing work to elevate Mississippi’s Blue Economy, including the Marine Research Center and Roger F. Wicker Center for Ocean Enterprise; and enhancing the University’s work as the leading economic development resource in the region through the Trent Lott National Center for Excellence in Economic Development and Entrepreneurship based in Hattiesburg, and the Gulf Blue Accelerator Program in Gulfport.
Dr. Heinhorst served in various academic leadership roles during her tenure, including as dean of the Honors College, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Research and Outreach, and as Director of the Drapeau Center for Undergraduate Research. She also served as chair of USM’s former Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and was the first female faculty member named a T.W. Bennett Distinguished Professor in the Sciences, with a research focus on the biochemistry and genetics of bacterial carbon dioxide fixation.
While at USM, she has co-authored many peer-reviewed publications and has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on approximately $20 million-plus in externally funded research grants, including with support from the National Science Foundation. Dr. Heinhorst’s scientific doctoral work has also been published in the prestigious journal Nature and has held multiple three-year appointments to the editorial board of the scientific journal Analytical Biochemistry.
Drs. Cannon and Heinhorst came to USM from the Roche Institute, where they worked after receiving their Ph.D.’s from the Department of Biochemistry at Clemson University. The two first met at the University of Hamburg in Germany, where Dr. Heinhorst earned undergraduate and master’s degrees while Dr. Cannon was there as part of a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) research project.
Dr. Heinhorst said academia provided her career opportunities – at a time when many others often didn’t for women – to make substantial and important research contributions in her field, while also guiding young scholars into their own path as scientists.
“When I was pursuing [university] studies in biochemistry and microbiology, jobs [in those fields] in industry were few and far between for young women, which was extremely discouraging,” Dr. Heinhorst said. “Later, when I was a doctoral student, I realized how much I loved working in the lab and teaching and mentoring younger students.”
When the two arrived at USM, both were engaged in research to understand DNA replication in plants; in the last 10 years, their work focused on the structural biology of particles found in many bacteria that facilitate the dark reactions of photosynthesis. Dr. Cannon also had a long-term collaboration with Dr. Charles McCormick in the School of Polymer Science and Engineering to design stimuli responsive protein-like polymers.
“Dr. Cannon and Dr. Heinhorst each made highly significant contributions to Southern Miss during their careers, and their cumulative contribution to the institution has been remarkable,” said Dr. Chris Winstead, dean of the USM College of Arts and Sciences. “They individually were very successful researchers, advisors, teachers, mentors, and colleagues before they moved into their respective administrative roles.”
Getting the call congratulating USM on being named a Carnegie R1 Research Institution is among Dr. Cannon’s most memorable moments in his tenure at USM, along with the day its research vessel Point Sur set sail, and the opening of the USM Marine Research Center in Gulfport. Another milestone included finding a long-predicted enzyme in the CO2 fixation pathway critical to bacterial photosynthesis.
But among so many high points along the way that stand out for him was meeting a recent graduate of USM’s School of Ocean Science and Engineering – who is working with a marine technology company the university helped recruit to Mississippi from California. That encounter was another reminder to him that the work he and the university undertook is, indeed, making an impact on its students.
“The CEO of the company told me he would hire everyone like her that we could send him,” Dr. Cannon recounted. “Watching how our students, both graduate and undergraduate, succeed after they’ve left our research labs never gets old, and probably is the biggest highlight of my career.”
Dr. Heinhorst concurs, citing the many relationships the two have enjoyed establishing with students over the years that they maintain to this day.
“The personal relationships we have maintained throughout the years with former students in our home department, and more recently for me as dean of the Honors College, have been and continue to be most gratifying,” she said.
Having been undergraduate researchers themselves, the two have naturally been passionate in their support for growing USM’s work in this area.
“I joined Dr. Jess Shively’s lab (at his alma mater, Clemson University) as a sophomore and have never considered doing anything else,” Dr. Cannon said. “We hear similar stories from many of our undergrad researchers, and even though not all of them go on to a career in research, most of them tell us later how their research experiences helped them after they graduated.”
One of those former students, Dr. Meredith Barefield Cobb, will attest to the couple’s devotion to their students and scientific research. A native of Columbus, Mississippi, Cobb is a 2015 USM Honors College alumna who studied under both Drs. Cannon and Heinhorst. She has received her MD-Ph.D. degrees from the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) is now a second-year internal medicine resident at UMC, with plans to complete a pulmonary care fellowship and after an internal medicine residency.
Dr. Cobb recounts fondly her mentorship from both while at USM.
“When I was a young freshman at USM, I was assigned Dr. Sabine Heinhorst as my advisor,” Dr. Cobb said. “Twelve years later, I still see her as a mentor and friend, and I am so grateful for her influence in my life.
After completing a summer research experience early in college, Dr. Cobb reached out to Dr. Heinhorst about research opportunities. To her surprise, she trusted Dr. Cobb to be an undergraduate research assistant in hers and Dr. Cannon’s lab.
“The projects I worked on fueled my early interest in science and research, and she frequently taught me one-on-one about methodologies, result interpretation, and research presentations,” Dr. Cobb said.
While at USM, Dr. Cobb said Dr. Heinhorst and Dr. Cannon encouraged her success academically and professionally, nominating her for departmental awards and pushing her to present research at local and regional meetings. Dr. Heinhorst’s mentorship of her has reached past graduation from USM with inclusion of Dr. Cobb in the Honors College application review process as an alumni reviewer for the last four cycles.
“While I’ve certainly benefited from her knowledge and mentorship, I am most grateful for her friendship,” Dr. Cobb said of Dr. Heinhorst. “She is the blueprint for women in science and academia.
“I cannot imagine the impact she and Dr. Cannon have made on so many other students just like me, but I know that they have left us better than they found us, as such is the Southern Miss way. Thank you, Dr. Heinhorst and Dr. Cannon, for believing in a scared freshman and seeing the potential I didn’t see in myself then.”
Although they have achieved much in their academic collaborations, Drs. Cannon and Heinhorst cite their daughters and grandchild as their most important joint accomplishment. And they also count USM as part of their family, saying they plan to stay involved with the university going forward.
“We love the university, and Hattiesburg and South Mississippi have become our home,” Dr. Cannon said.
Drs. Cannon and Heinhorst established the Cannon-Heinhorst Research Endowment with the USM Foundation in support of undergraduate researchers in the USM Honors College, with preference for first generation college students or a student with financial need. To support this fund, contact the USM Honors College at 601.266.4533 or visit the USM Foundation at usmfoundation.com/honors.
CUT LINE: Dr. Sabine Heinhorst and Dr. Gordon Cannon, longtime members of the faculty and administration at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM), retired this summer after serving nearly 40 years apiece at the institution (USM photo by Kelly Dunn).
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