through three areas of the GW

Police Department, as described

below. If the student has sched-

uling restrictions, i.e. he/she is

unable to volunteer during the

day or during the evening hours,

the student may be assigned to

spend the required 6 hours per

week in one of three different

areas within the GW Police

Department:

Patrol/Operations

(highlighting preliminary

investigation and response

to incidents)

Crime Prevention

(highlighting victims‘ ser-

vices and educational initia-

tives) Investigation (highlighting

investigative techniques and

the use of physical security

equipment in investiga-

tions)

Benefits The Auxiliary Campus Police

program would provide stu-

dents with valuable practical law

enforcement experience and

additional professional refer-

ences.

It would require students to

participate in an in-depth back-

ground check that includes; Sex

Offender Registry check,

driver‘s license check, profes-

sional and personal reference

check, NCIC/Wales check, a

criminal background check, and

psychological evaluation.

( cont on pg. 3)

Proposal for a Joint Pro-

gram between the Univer-

sity Police Department and

the Forensic Science Pro-

gram

Title

Auxiliary Campus Police Officer

About the Program

The GWPD Police Auxiliary

Officer program will be a joint

venture between The George

Washington University‘s De-

partment of Forensic Sciences

and the University Police De-

partment. The program will be

open to all Forensic Science

students, but will be targeted

for all students in the Crime

Scene Investigation concentra-

tion. The program will allow

students to apply their class-

room knowledge first hand in

real life situations, while gaining

valuable law enforcement ex-

perience.

Requirements

Students who participate will be

required to volunteer 6 hours

per week. If they do that for the

four semesters that they are

here working on their degree,

this initiative will provide them

with a minimum of 384 hours of

experience.

Students may choose to do this

for academic credit under the

Practicum Class (FORS 298).

Training

The training for the Auxiliary

Campus Police Officer would be

similar to that required of a

commissioned Special Police

Officer in DC (The require-

ments for Campus Police Offi-

cer commission are more strin-

gent than the requirements for

a basic Special Police Officer

Commission).

At the end of the training, the

student will have the option to

officially apply for a Special Po-

lice Officer Commission

through the Security Officer‘s

Management Branch.

The training will include a mini-

mum of : 6 hours of Pre-Assignment

Training, including:

DC Code

Use of Force

Search and Seizure

Arrest Powers

24 hours of Job Related Train-

ing, including:

Terrorism Awareness, includ-

ing suspicious packages, build-

ing evacuation, unknown

substances

Emergency Procedures, in-

cluding emergency First-Aid

and CPR ,Customer Service and 40 hours of Field Train-

ing.

Areas of Study Students will typically rotate

University Police Internship Program

CCAS GWU

Fall 2008 Volume 1, Issue 2

Forensic Science Newsletter

Inside this issue:

Police Internship

Program

1

Chair‘s Column 2

The Greatest

Case You Never

Heard About

3

Faculty News 3

Future Events 8

Alumni News and

Donors

9

Student News 10

Chair‘s Column

The Department has had an

eventful fall semester. In Au-

gust we held a new student

orientation for almost forty

new students. For the Fall

2009 semester we had 110 on-

campus students and 57 off-

campus students. To attract

more applicants the Depart-

ment held an open house on

October 18th (during Colonials

Weekend). Sixteen prospec-

tive applicants spent almost

two hours listening to presen-

tations by the entire full-time

faculty about forensic science

and about our degree program.

We are also working closely

with the Dean‘s office to in-

crease the number of new

students entering in the Spring

2009 semester.

The Department has also em-

barked on a search for a new

chair. Advertisements will be

appearing in the Chronicle of

Higher Education and in the jobs

postings on the American

Academy of Forensic Sciences

and the American Society of

Crime Laboratories websites.

The complete text of the ad-

vertisement is given elsewhere

in this newsletter.

We are losing Bridget Foster as

the instructor for ForS 203:

Examination of Questioned

Documents. This semester she

had been team-teaching the

course with Gerry LaPorte of

the Secret Service. Ms. Foster

has been accepted into the

special agent class at the FBI.

In the Spring 2009 semester

Jennifer Kessel will take over

that questioned document

course. Ms. Kessel has an

MSFS degree from the Univer-

sity of New Haven. She has

been working at the Secret

Service as a handwriting exam-

iner for a couple of years.

The Department has entered

into an internship agreement

with the University Police De-

partment. Prof. Robinson

worked closely with Chief

Dolores Stafford to create this

new internship opportunity for

our students. Our student

interns would get extensive

training (sufficient for them to

be commissioned in the Dis-

trict of Columbia as Special

Police); they would also get a

taste of actual police work.

The University Police Depart-

ment is one of the 1% of col-

lege or university police de-

partments that are certified law

enforcement agencies. This

agreement is described in more

detail elsewhere in this news-

letter.

The Department is working

with the Departments of Bio-

logical Sciences and Anthropol-

ogy to develop joint degree

programs. Prof. Podini is

working with faculty in the

Department of Biological Sci-

ences to develop a five-year

bachelors/masters degree

whose graduates would meet

the basic requirements to be-

come DNA analysts. Prof.

Schanfield is working with the

Department of Anthropology

to create a masters degree in

forensic anthropology. This

degree program would com-

bine classical physical anthro-

pology with course work in

DNA profiling. Prof. Robinson

and myself will also be working

with Prof. Eric Cline, the pro-

gram director of the under-

graduate archaeology major, to

develop a five-year bachelors/

masters degree in forensic

archaeology. This degree pro-

gram would be one the first of

its kind in the United States.

nent liberal arts colleges at one

of the world's preeminent uni-

versities. You can make your

gift to the Department in a

number of ways:

Securely online at

www.gwu.edu/give2gw. Just

choose ―other‖ under designa-

tion and type in the name of

the department.

By mailing your check, made

out to The George Washington

University with ―Forensic Sciences

Department” in the memo line.

Many thanks to recent donors:

Frank Joseph Massaro, MA ‗78

Gifts to the Department of

Forensic Sciences allow us to

provide support for faculty and

student research and academic

travel, graduate student fellow-

ships, and student enrichment

activities including guest speak-

ers, visiting faculty, and sympo-

sia. Each gift, no matter how

large or small, makes a positive

impact on our educational mis-

sion and furthers our standing

as one of the nation's preemi-

Chair’s Column

Donations

The upcoming 2009

meeting of the

American Academy

of Forensic Sciences

in Denver will be a

big one for the

Department: our

students and

faculty already

have eight papers

accepted for oral

presentation.

Page 2 Forensic Science Newsletter

By mailing your check, made

out to The George Washington

University with “Forensic Sciences

Department” in the memo line,

to:

The George Washington

University

2100 M Street NW, Suite 310

Washington, DC 20077-2685

By phone call the

GW Annual Fund at

1-800-789-2611

Thank You!

Working on an

interesting case

or Project? Tell

us about it!

We‟ll feature it

here in the next

issue!

This semester‘s newsletter

inaugurates an occasional spe-

cial feature – the exploration of

an important forensic case that

is likely to be unfamiliar to our

readers. Our first case is what

is known as the Howland Will

Case. It is the first case in

which testimony regarding

probabilities was presented in

an American court; it is also a

case occasionally still cited by

handwriting examiners in sup-

port of the idea that no one

writes his or her signature

exactly the same way each

time.

Sylvia Ann Howland died in

1865, leaving behind an estate

of slightly more than $2 million.

According to her will (dated

September 1, 1863) and a codi-

cil (dated November 18, 1864)

half the estate was to go to a

number of individuals and insti-

tutions; the remainder was to

be held in trust for Ms.

Howland‘s niece, Henrietta

(Hetty) Howland Robinson.

Hetty Robinson would receive

the income of the trust but

would not have access to the

principal. The terms of the will

also provided that upon Hetty‘s

death the remainder of the

trust was to be distributed to

lineal descendants of Gideon

Howland (Hetty‘s grandfather

and Sylvia Ann Howland‘s fa-

ther). Hetty Robinson filed

suit in Federal court against the

executor of her aunt‘s estate

seeking to set aside the Sep-

tember 1, 1863, will and its

later codicil in favor of a Janu-

ary 11, 1862, will that left the

entirety of Ms. Howland‘s es-

tate to her without restriction.

Hetty alleged that she and her

aunt had entered into a con-

tract according to the terms of

which each would make out a

will disinheriting Hetty‘s father.

The wills were to be ex-

changed and both parties

agreed not to execute a new

will without informing the

other party. These stipulations

were set out on a second page

of the aunt‘s 1862 will which

was supposedly signed by the

aunt in two places (the signa-

tures designated 10 and 15 at

trial). According to Hetty, the

pages of the 1862 will were

arranged so that the witnesses

to the will could not read the

second page. Thomas Mandell,

the executor of Sylvia Ann

Howland‘s estate, insisted that

the second page had never

been part of the 1862 will

and that it was a forgery in

its entirety. The suite was

filed in Federal court be-

cause Sylvia Ann Howland

was a resident of New Bed-

ford, Massachusetts, and

Hetty Robinson of New

York City.

Much of the testimony in

this case was devoted to the

issue of the existence of a

contract between Hetty

Robinson and her aunt.

Testimony relating to the

authenticity of the two signa-

tures on the second page of

the 1862 will was also of-

fered by a swarm of expert

witnesses: an 1870 article in

The American Law Review

summarizes the testimony of

twenty-nine expert wit-

nesses (twelve for plaintiff

Hetty Robinson and seven-

teen for the defendant ex-

ecutors). These included

photographers, heads of

commercial colleges, bank

managers, bank cashiers

(such as one Lemuel Gulli-

ver, cashier of the National

Union Bank), accountants,

engravers, scientists and

mathematicians.

The Greatest Forensic Case You Never Heard About

University Police Internship Program (cont from pg 1)

will satisfy the Forensic Sci-

ences internship requirement.

Initiatives for the Future

Students will also be able to

collaborate with the DC Mo-

bile Crime Lab as well as the

DC Medical Examiner, helping

to build inter-agency collabora-

tion.

The program may expand in

the future to include under-

graduate criminal justice stu-

dents.

The training and background

investigation provided would

allow the student to become a

commissioned Special Police

Officer in the District of Co-

lumbia.

The variety of areas of partici-

pation will allow students to

adjust the times they volunteer

to fit their work and school

schedules. Students can also

seek a full internship with the

GW Police Department that

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 2

Several of these wit-

nesses were frequent

expert witnesses on the

examination of handwrit-

ing. The testimony of

these witnesses gives us a

window into forensic

questioned document

examinations in the mid-

dle to the 19th Century.

Albert S. Southworth

(photographer and

teacher of handwriting)

provided the most power-

ful evidence against the

authenticity of signatures

10 and 15: he prepared

photographic enlarge-

ments of signatures 10

and 15 and showed that

they could be exactly

superimposed on the

authentic signature on the

1862 will (designated sig-

nature 1). His conclusion

was that signatures 10 and

15 were traced forgeries

of signature 1. South-

worth‘s testimony was

backed up by that of

George N. Comer, the

president of the Commer-

cial College in Boston,

who claimed twenty-five

( cont on page 4)

years experience in ―the critical

examination and comparison of

handwriting.‖ Comer elabo-

rated further on how the

traced forgeries were created:

according to Comer, signature

10 was traced with lead pencil

from signature 1, and then filled

in with ink, while signature 15

was traced in ink directly from

signature 1. Hetty Robinson‘s

attorneys brought in two ac-

knowledged handwriting ex-

perts to contradict Southworth

and Comer: Joseph A. Willard,

clerk of the Superior Court for

the County of Suffolk, and

Charles French, principal of

French‘s Commercial and Nau-

tical College.

The contested signatures were

examined microscopically for

traces of pencil lead. Dr.

Charles T. Jackson, State As-

sayer of Massachusetts, claimed

to find evidence of writing with

two inks in signature 10: a very

pale ink overwritten with a

very thick and gummy black

ink. Jackson‘s opinion was

supported by the testimony of

Professor Eben N. Horsford,

former professor of chemistry

at Harvard College, who con-

ducted his own microscopical

examination of signature 10.

On this issue, Hetty Robinson

was able to deploy heavier

artillery than the executors of

the estate. The testimony of

Professor Louis Agassiz, profes-

sor of zoology and geology at

Harvard College, particularly

impressed the anonymous au-

thor of the case summary in

The American Law Review:

Professor Agassiz has sub-

jected the disputed signa-

tures to a most searching

microscopic test. Under a

compound microscope, with

a power exceeding thirty

diameters, the paper ap-

peared to consist of ―fibres

felted together, intercrossing

each other in every direc-

tion, not unlike a pile of

chips pressed together.‖ The

action of the ink on these

fibres is analyzed and ex-

plained with his usual clear-

ness; the thicker portions

being accumulated upon the

superficial fibres, like mud

along the river-side after a

freshet, while the more fluid

portion has penetrated

deeper. Pencil, not being a

fluid substance, would have

left a mark upon the superfi-

cial fibres; of this he finds no

trace, nor is the surface of

the paper disturbed as it

would have been if india-

rubber had been used. He

declares that the inequality

of the distribution of the ink

has led to a mistaken theory

about the lead pencil. He

sees no marks of tracing.

Although Agassiz is remem-

bered today as one of the most

prominent scientific opponents

of Darwin‘s theory of evolution

by natural selection, at the time

of the trial he one of the lead-

ing naturalists in the United

States. Agassiz was apparently

the first scientist to suggest

that the Earth had experienced

ice ages. He was also founder

of Harvard‘s Museum of Com-

parative Zoology, which is still

in existence. Hetty Robinson

was also able to call upon the

expertise of Oliver Wendell

Holmes, Sr., Parkman Professor

of Anatomy and Physiology at

Harvard Medical School, who

testified that he did not find any

evidence of the use of two inks,

nor did he detect any traces of

pencil marks. Holmes, Sr., is

remembered today mainly as

the father of the great United

States Supreme Court justice.

At the time of the Howland

Will Case he was an interna-

tionally recognized scientist as

well as an important New Eng-

land man of letters (e.g. The

Autocrat of the Breakfast

(cont on pg 5)

Howland Will Case (cont’)

“The testimony

of these

witnesses gives

us a window into

forensic

questioned

document

examinations in

the middle to the

19th Century.”

Page 4 Forensic Science Newsletter

Table). Holmes had also been

an expert witness in an earlier

precedent-setting trial: the

Parkman-Webster Murder

Case (1849). The Parkman-

Webster Murder Case was

the first in the United States in

which dental evidence was

used to identify a decedent.

The most compelling evidence

that signatures 10 and 15 were

tracings of signature 1 was the

almost exact correspondence

of 10 and 15 with 1. Several

witnesses for the defense

maintained that writers cannot

produce two signatures that

correspond as closely as 1 and

10 or 1 and 15. For example,

James B. Congdon, treasurer

and collector of New Bedford,

offered the opinion

(summarized in The American

Law Review) that it is utterly

impossible for any individual to

write his name three times so

that the resemblance may be

such as appears in 1 10, and

15; that he has examined the

signatures of eleven different

persons, five hundred and

seventy-two signatures, ren-

dering necessary thirty-seven

thousand seven hundred com-

parisons, and found no such

resemblance between any two

of them; that his conviction is

entire and undoubted that

they are not the signatures of

Sylvia Ann Howland.

The issue of the probability of

a match between signature 1

and signature 10 was ad-

dressed in the testimony of

Professor Benjamin Peirce,

formerly Perkins Professor of

Astronomy and Mathematics

at Harvard College and at the

time of the trial Superinten-

dent of the United States

Coast Survey. Professor

Peirce had had his son,

Charles Sanders Peirce, an

employee of the Coast Survey,

do pair-wise comparisons of

overlays of forty-two authentic

signatures of Sylvia Ann

Howland and tally the coinci-

dence of the thirty downward

strokes in the two signatures.

Professor Peirce concluded

that the probability of two

corresponding downward

strokes overlapping was 1/5.

Charles Sanders Peirce re-

peated the overlaying and tally-

ing procedure with signature 1

and signature 10. All thirty

downward strokes in 1 and 10

matched up, allowing Professor

Peirce to opine that the prob-

ability of such a match of au-

thentic signatures was (1/5)30

or one in 2,666,000,000,000,

000,000,000.‖ Professor Peirce

went on to say:

This number far transcends

human experience. So vast

an improbability is practically

an impossibility. Such evanes-

cent shadows of probability

cannot belong to actual life.

They are unimaginably less

than those least things which

the law cares not for.

The coincidence which is

presented to us in this case

cannot therefore be reasona-

bly regarded as having oc-

curred in the ordinary

course of signing a name.

Under a solemn sense of the

responsibility involved in the

assertion, I declare that the

coincidence which has here

occurred must have had its

origin in an intention to pro-

duce it.‖

The testimony of Benjamin

Peirce and his son warrants

several comments. We have

here a definite ―Hercules-in-his

-cradle‖ moment. Charles

Sanders Peirce is widely re-

garded as the most important

philosopher yet produced in

the United States: with William

James he was one of the foun-

ders of pragmatism and he was

also one of the founders of

semiotics (the study of signs

and symbols). Charles Sander

Peirce made significant contri-

butions to statistics. For exam-

ple, he was the first to develop

a significance test for the elimi-

nation of outliers in data sets.

We must note that Benjamin

Peirce made a math error

(trivial in its context): (1/5)30 ≈

1/9.31 × 1020 or 1.07 × 10-21.

Professor Peirce‘s stated value

is equivalent to (1/5)30.65. Stat-

isticians Paul Meier and Sandy

Zabell have also pointed out

that Professor Peirce‘s model

has a number of deficiencies. A

χ2 test of Peirce‘s model of a

uniform 1/5 independent prob-

ability for the coincidence of

each downward stroke in the

signature can be applied to the

data collected by Charles Sand-

ers Peirce in his pair-wise com-

parison of the forty-two au-

thentic signatures. When this

is done a χ2 value of 170.7 with

twelve degrees of freedom

results; the probability of get-

ting such a value due to ran-

dom sampling error is 3.4 × 10-

30. In other words, the model

fits the data extremely poorly.

However, in defense of Ben- jamin Peirce it should be

pointed out that at the time no

general statistical methods for

goodness of fit existed.

Peirce‘s assumption of the

same match probability for

each stroke is open to chal-

lenge, as is his assumption that

the match probabilities for each stroke are independent of

one another. The Peirces may

be also be faulted for assuming

that it was valid to

Howland Will Case (cont’)

Page 5 Volume 1, Issue 2

compare the coincidence of

authentic signatures written

over a span of time with the

coincidence of signatures (1,

10 and 15) supposedly written

the same day.

Hetty Robinson‘s attorneys

took the testimony of the

Peirces head on with the testi-

mony of Boston engraver, J.C.

Crossman. Mr. Crossman had

obtained one hundred and ten

cancelled checks of President

John Quincy Adams and over-

laid photographic enlarge-

ments of the signatures.

Crossman found one match

which, in his judgment, was

better than that obtained

when signature 10 was placed

over signature 1; he also

found several matches that he

judged better than that of 1

over 10 or 15 over 1. Similar

comparisons were made with

signatures of six other indi-

viduals, with like results: sev-

eral pairs of signatures were

found that covered one an-

other as well as 10 covered 1,

while many pairs were found

that covered one another

better than 1 covers 10 or 15

covers 1. The anonymous

commentator in The American

Law Review objected to the

logic of these demonstrations:

But in point of fact, how can

it be possible to argue one

person's liability to repro-

duce her signature, from

the habit of six others se-

lected for this concededly

singular peculiarity? It

would be as well, as was

suggested, to infer one's

power of shooting with

precision, ploughing a

straight furrow, or drawing

a straight line from an ex-

amination of the perform-

ances of others.

However, Crossman also made

a direct assault on the Peirces‘

comparisons of the exemplar

signatures of Sylvia Ann

Howland. He had these signa-

tures re-photographed and

produced overlays of admit-

tedly authentic signatures

which he claimed demon-

strated the uniformity of Ms.

Howland in signing her name.

According to Crossman one

pair of authentic signatures

matched each other almost as

well as 10 covered 1. He also

several instances where pairs of

authentic signatures covered

one another better than signa-

ture 15 covered 1 or 1 covered

10.

Faced with a mass of contradic-

tory testimony what was the

Court to do? In his decision,

Judge Nathan Clifford excluded

Hetty Robinson‘s testimony

regarding the existence of a

pact or contract between her-

self and her aunt to write mu-

tual wills. Other than Hetty‘s

testimony there was no evi-

dence that the second page of

the 1862 will had ever been

part of that will: Hetty had not

been able to produce other

witnesses to support her claim.

As a beneficiary of the aunt‘s

1862 will she was excluded by

Massachusetts law from testify-

ing regarding the circumstances

surrounding its preparation.

Judge Clifford dismissed Hetty‘s

suit and assessed her court

costs.

In the end, Hetty Robinson

(who by the time the Court‘s

decision was handed down was

Mrs. Edward H. Green) did not

fare too badly. She reached an

out-of-court settlement with

the executors of her aunt‘s

estate which covered her trial

expenses, court costs and at-

torneys‘ fees. This settlement

may have entailed her dropping

her appeal to the United States

Supreme Court. Hetty‘s share

of the estate provided her with

an annual income of $65,000.

Using her shrewd business

sense and parsimony, Hetty

Green went on to become

‗The Witch of Wall Street.‘

When she died in 1916 she left

behind a fortune worth $100

million, which makes her the

wealthiest woman in American

history.

Further reading: Paul Meier and Sandy Zabell,

―Benjamin Peirce and the

Howland Will,‖ Journal of the

American Statistical Association,

Vol. 75, No. 371 (Sep., 1980),

pp. 497- 506

The American Law Register (1852

-1891), Vol. 38, No. 9, New

Series Volume 29 (Second Se-

ries, Vol. 3) (Sep., 1890), pp.

562-581. [This contains the

summary of the Howland Will

Case from The American Law

Review.]

Robinson v. Mandell et al., 20 F.

Cas. 1027; 1868 U.S. App.

LEXIS 1215; 3 Cliff. 1

Assay to Quantify Nuclear and

Mitochondrial DNA Deter-

mine Sex of the Donor and

Detect Inhibition‖ (co– au-

thored with Molly L. McBeth

and Christina Lindquist); and

―Evolution and Molecular Basis

of Microvariant Alleles of the

D21S11 Locus‖ (co-authored

with Megan E. Van Kirk, Alex-

andra McCary and Moses

Schanfield)

Joni L. Johnson, Ronald Lai and

Sabrina N. Walborn are cur-

Prof. Podini has had three pa-

pers accepted for presentation

at the 2009 annual meeting of

the American Academy of Fo-

rensic Sciences:

―Evaluation of the SNPlex™

Genotyping System for Screen-

ing Ancestry and Phenotype

Informative SNPs‖ (co-

authored with Joni L. Johnson,

Ronald Lai, Sabrina N. Walborn

and Moses S. Schanfield);

‖A Tetraplex Real-time qPCR

rent students; Molly L. McBeth,

Megan E. Van Kirk and Alexan-

dra McCary graduated in May

2008; and Christina Lindquist

graduated in May 2006.

Howland Will Case (cont)

Faculty News

Hetty Green

went on to

become „The

Witch of Wall

Street.‟

Page 6 Forensic Science Newsletter

Prof. Daniele Podini

Prof. Edward Robinson

This semester Prof. Robinson

has been working on the sec-

ond addition of his textbook,

Crime Scene Photography. He is

also continuing to work on the

hand from the glacier

(described in the summer 2008

newsletter): he and his stu-

dents will attempt to rejuve-

nate the second and third fin-

ger joints and the palmar tissue

using various techniques in

order to determine the most

effective process. Prof. Robin-

son is also doing research on

capturing deep muscle bruises

by ultraviolet and infrared pho-

tography.

Prof. Robinson was elected

First Vice President of the

Chesapeake Bay Division of the

International Association for

Identification at its November

2008 conference.

Prof. Walter Rowe

In October Prof. Rowe pre-

sented a seminar to the De-

partment of Statistics, entitled

―Forensic Science and Statis-

tics.‖ In addition to discussing

his own research applying prin-

cipal components analysis and

discriminant analysis to the

forensic examination of differ-

ent types of ink, Prof. Rowe

discussed the application of

statistics and probability in

forensic science in general. In

preparing this talk Prof. Rowe

researched several interesting

cases in which probability argu-

ments were used in court,

including the Howland Will

Case (discussed elsewhere in

this newsletter).

Prof. Rowe had two papers

accepted for presentation at

the 2009 annual meeting of the

American Academy of Forensic

Sciences: ―Looking at How to

Differentiate Measurements

Used to Test Printing on Docu-

ments‖ (co-authored with re-

cent graduate George Virgin)

and ―Analysis of Blue Gel

Inks‖ (co-authored with recent

graduate Stephanie Moore).

Prof. Moses Schanfield

Prof. Schanfield has just pub-

lished a new article: Schanfield

MS, , Ferrell RE, Hossaini

AA, Sandler SG, Stevenson JC

(2008) Immunoglobulin Allo-

types in Southwest Asia: Popu-

lations at the Crossroads,

American Journal of Human Biol-

ogy 20(6):671-682. (published

on line 7 May 2008).

Prof. Schanfield also co-

authored two papers that have

been accepted for presentation

at the 2009 annual meeting of

the American Academy of Fo-

rensic Sciences:

―Evaluation of the SNPlex™

Genotyping System for Screen-

ing Ancestry and Phenotype

Informative SNPs‖ (co-

authored with Joni L. Johnson,

Ronald Lai, Sabrina N.

Walborn and Daniele Podini);

and

―Evolution and Molecular Basis

of Microvariant Alleles of the

D21S11 Locus‖ (co-authored

with Megan E. Van Kirk, Alex-

andra McCary and Daniele

Podini)

Prof. Eva Vincze

Prof. Vincze was Technical

Editor for a new digital forensic

book entitled E-Discovery: Creat-

ing and Managing an Enterprise

Program: A Technical Guide to

Digital Investigation and Litigation

Support, by Karen Schuler, ed.

Sygress Press, 2009.

science attracting students

interested in an array of con-

centrations including crime

scene investigation, forensic

chemistry, forensic molecular

biology, forensic toxicology,

high technology crime investi-

gation and security manage-

ment from all over the United

States and abroad.

Basic Qualifications: Appli-

cants must possess a PhD in

chemistry, biology, toxicology,

pharmacology, molecular biol-

The Department of Forensic

Sciences invites applications for

a faculty position at the level of

ASSOCIATE OR FULL PRO-

FESSOR. Faculty responsibilities

include serving as chair of the

department, teaching and advis-

ing master‘s students and par-

ticipating in and developing

research projects in your rele-

vant area, as well as service to

the University and community.

The George Washington Uni-

versity has an established

graduate program in forensic

ogy, genetics, biological anthro-

pology or information technol-

ogy; experience teaching at an

accredited institution of higher

learning; commitment to schol-

arly research as evidenced by

publications in scholarly jour-

nals or scholarly works in pro-

gress; a minimum of two years

experience in a forensic science

laboratory.

Preferred Qualifications:

Applicants with backgrounds in

(cont on pg 8)

Faculty News (cont)

Tenure Track Faculty Position

Available at

amazon.com

Page 7 Volume 1, Issue 2

Prof. Ted Robinson

forensic molecular biology and

forensic chemistry preferred.

Applicants with managerial

experience or potential pre-

ferred. Applicants with experi-

ence in writing grant proposals

preferred.

Information on the department

can be found at http://

www.gwu.edu/~forensic/. This

position offers the opportunity

to work with scientists at The

George Washington University,

The Smithsonian Institution,

NIST and federal and state

agencies that collaborate with

the Department of Forensic

Sciences. The starting date for

the position is 1 July 2009.

Salary is commensurate with

experience.

Application Procedure: To be

considered please send a letter

containing a brief statement of

interest, a curriculum vitae, a

statement of research and

teaching interest, copies of at

least three representative pub-

lications and complete contact

information for at least 3 refer-

ences to:

Moses Schanfield, Professor

Dept. of Forensic Sciences

The George Washington

University

Samson Hall,

2036 H Street

Washington, DC 20052

ADFSL 2009 Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law May 20-22 Burlington, VT http://www.digitalforensics-conference.org 2009 Techno Security Con-ference May 31-Jun 03 Myrtle Beach, SC www.techsec.com/

2009 DoD Cyber Crime Con-ference Jan 24-30 St. Louis, MO http://www.dodcybercrime.com/ ShmooCon 2009 Feb 06-08 Washington, DC http://www.shmoocon.org/ Blackhat DC Feb 16-19 Washington, DC https://www.blackhat.com/html/bh-dc-09/bh-dc-09-main.html

Call for Papers 2009 ADFSL Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and the Law See details at: www.digital-forensic-conference.org

Tenured Faculty Position (cont)

Future Events—Digital Forensics and Security

Future Events—Forensic Science

(http://www.aafs.org/

Mid-Atlantic Association of

Forensic Scientists, May 8-9,

2009, Hunt Valley Marriot,

Hunt Valley, Maryland. (http://

www.maafs.org/annualmtg.htm)

Chesapeake Bay Division-

International Association for

Identification

Spring Conference: March 29-

April 3, 2—2009, The Foun-

der‘s Inn and Spa, Virginia

Beach, Virginia.

Fall Conference: October 9-

11, 2009, Stonewall Jackson

Resort Spa, Roanoke, West

Virginia.

(http://www.cbdiai.org/)

American Academy of Forensic

Sciences, February 16-21, 2009,

Colorado Convention Center,

700 14th Street, Denver, Colo-

rado.

Know of a

conference,

meeting or

event that

would be of

interest? Tell us

about it! We‟ll

add it to our

next issue.

Page 8 Forensic Science Newsletter

What ever happened to…?

Juli Allen (now Juli A. Cru-

ciotti), who was in the forensic

toxicology concentration under

Prof. Lappas, is now a forensic

drug chemist and mass spectro-

scopist with the Northern

Virginia regional laboratory of

the Virginia Department of

Forensic Sciences.

Howard Dobres retired from

the Drug Enforcement Admini-

stration (DEA) in 2002 after 32

years of service. At that time

he was Director of the DEA

laboratory in New York City.

He is teaching an introductory

forensic science course at the

University of Maryland, Univer-

sity College (UMUC). This

course is a part of the new

UMUC Investigative Forensics

program. Mr. Dobres is also

teaching freshman chemistry at

Montgomery College.

Kiyomi Griffey graduated in

2001 and has spent the last five

years working with Naval

Criminal Investigative Service

(NCIS). Most recently she has

been working as a forensic

consultant for three of the

NCIS overseas field offices. In

the summer of 2008 Ms. Grif-

fey visited Bahrain to conduct

training with the Bahrainis.

Wesley P. Grose spent his

last semester at GWU as an

intern with the U.S. Secret

Service, working with the fo-

rensic document examiners.

This opened up the door for

him to work for the Los Ange-

les Auditor-Controller‘s Office

as a document examiner in the

Warrant Investigation Sec-

tion. After two years Mr.

Grose took a position with the

Los Angeles District Attorney‘s

office in the Bureau of Investi-

gation, where he eventually

became the lead examiner. He

worked on the case of the

police officers who were

charged with beating Rodney

King and on the case of the

Menendez brothers, who killed

their parents in Beverly

Hills. After eight years with

the District Attorney‘s Office

Mr. Grose accepted a position

with the Los Angeles Sheriff‘s

Department Scientific Services

Bureau in the Questioned

Documents Section, where he

worked for seven years. He

then worked in administration

for a year, was promoted to

Supervising Criminalist and

served in the Latent Prints/

Crime Scene Investigation Sec-

tion for four years. Mr. Grose

was promoted to his current

position as Crime Laboratory

Assistant Director in 2005. His

responsibilities include over-

seeing the overall operations of

the Los Angeles Sheriff‘s De-

partment Scientific Services

Bureau, including the nearly

$30 million dollar budget and

the personnel management, as

well as the oversight of the

Questioned Documents Sec-

tion and Photo/Digital Imaging

Section. Mr. Grose is certified by the

American Board of Forensic

Document Examiners. He

belongs to the American Acad-

emy of Forensic Sciences

(AAFS) and the Southwestern

Association of Forensic Docu-

ment Examiners (SWAFDE).

Mr. Grose is also an inspector

for the American Society of

Crime Laboratory Directors/

Laboratory Accreditation

Board (ASCLD-LAB). He has

served on the Board of Direc-

tors for SWAFDE, as program

chairman for meetings with

SWAFDE and the AAFS, and

on the program committee for

the IAFS. Mr. Grose has been

happily married for 26 years

and has six children.

Patrick W. Murray gradu-

ated with a MFS Degree in

1975. He retired from the FBI

as a Special Agent in Charge in

New York City in 1986. In

1975, with the late Dr. Corne-

lius (Glenn) McWright, he

helped produce the first auto-

mated GC-MS file on record.

Mr. Murray was a participant in

the founding of the American

Association of Crime Labora-

tory Directors (ASCLD). From

1989 until 1992 he was Secre-

tary of Public Safety in Dela-

ware, with responsibility for

the Delaware State Police. Mr.

Murray came out of the original

NCIC Section at FBI-HQ and

was later chief of the auto-

mated response section in the

old Fingerprint Division at the

FBI.

Shelly Progovitz is working

as a crime scene technician in

the Charles County (MD)

crime laboratory. She was

instrumental in solving an un-

solved rape of a 12-year-old

girl that occurred in 1996. She

realized that new DNA tech-

nology might be able to detect

‗touch DNA‘ on some of the

items of evidence. Bode Tech-

nology in Fairfax, VA, was able

to get a usable DNA profile

that matched an incarcerated

rapist. The new rape case will

come to trial in December.

This case was the subject of an

article in the September 22,

2008, issue of the Washington

Post.

Sheryl (Reilly) Tryba (now

Sheryl Colliver) has been work-

ing at the Environmental Pro-

tection Agency (EPA) since

1992. She has been a branch

chief since 2000. Sheryl man-

ages a branch that performs

risk assessments (human and

environmental) and registers

microbial pesticides and plant-

incorporated protectants

(pesticides produced by genetic

engineering in corn, cotton,

soybeans, potatoes, zucchini

Alumni News

Page 9 Volume 1, Issue 2

Reconnect!

Please join us

at The Forensic Sci-

ence Department’s

Reception at the

AAFS 2009

Feb. 18,2009

8 P.M.—10 P.M. Hyatt Regency

Denver Centennial Ball-

room F

650 15th Street

Denver, CO.

This reception is free to

all GW Forensic Sci-

ences alumni, faculty

and students

Please register at:

www.alumniconnection

s.com/olc/pub/GEW/

events/

GEW2215967.html

Sponsored by the

CCAS Forensic Science

Department and the

Alumni Association.

and the like). She often thinks

about GW and wonder what

life would have been like had

she actually had an opportunity

to work as a forensic serolo-

gist. Sheryl has three grown

stepsons, seven grandchildren

and two adopted children from

China. We want thank those alumni/

alumnae who filled us in on their lives

since GWU. If you have something

interesting to relate send it to:

On campus: Walter F. Rowe at

wfrowe@gwu.edu

Off-campus: Eva Vincze at

evincze@gwu.edu

Page 10 Forensic Science Newsletter

Alumni (cont)

The National Museum of Crime & Punishment and The George Washington Univer-

sity’s Forensic Sciences Department are teaming up in a unique and exhilarating part-

nership to revolutionize the way forensic science is taught to the general public.

Be one of the first students to participate in this distinctive program geared at educat-

ing museum patrons of all ages about the “real CSI” through highly interactive, stimu-

lating, and entertaining forensic workshops.

NMCP is looking for motivated students interested in being part-time instructors for

our newly established CSI workshop program. Instructors will have the opportunity

to develop new and fresh lessons based on their areas of expertise, will be com-

pensated for their work, and will even get credit for their course research compo-

nent.*

Don’t let this opportunity pass you by! For more information about becoming an in-

structor, please contact: Michael Bybelezer Edward Robinson

CSI Coordinator Assistant Professor

NMCP The George Washington University

mike@crimemuseum.org erobinso@gwmail.gwu.edu

Visit us on the web: www.crimemuseum.org

*Subject to Instructor’s approval.

Please include the year you graduated and the name under

which you attended GWU.

Job Opportunity

Want to work for the FBI? The FBI is hiring to fill over 2100 Professional Staff

Positions and 850 Special Agent Positions

For more details visit : www.fbijobs.gov

Page 11 Volume 1, Issue 2

Student News—High Technology Crime Investigations Concentration

Students

Department of Forensic Sciences

2036 Samson Hall

Washington, D.C.

Department of Forensic Sciences

Samson Hall

2036 H Street

Washington, D.C.

Phone: 202-994-7319

Fax: 202- 994- 7397

E-mail: forsc@gwu.edu

Alison Shapleigh (right) and Jackie Romero (left) co-presented with Prof. Ted

Robinson at the IAI Annual Conference. The presentation entitled, "Dim

Lighting, No Problem! The Nikon D3 to the Rescue" assessed the Nikon

D3's ability to capture details in minimal lighting because of the first ever ISO

rating of 25,600. They were able to recover details from images 12-stops

underexposed! Danielle Schulz (center) offered a Poster, "Comparison of

DFO and IND Fluorescence Over Time," which is shown behind the group as

we posed for the Charlie's Angels photo.

Prof. Robinson’s Angels

AAFS 61st Annual

Scientific Meeting

February 16-21, 2009

Colorado Convention

Center

700 14th Street Denver, Colorado

80202

To register go to:

www.aafs.org

Looking for Students

Across the country rising seniors are beginning to think about graduate degree pro-

grams. If you know of someone who is considering a career in forensic science, you

should put in a good word for your alma mater. The George Washington University

has the oldest forensic science degree program in the United States and has graduated

more forensic scientists than all the other forensic science degree programs combined.

The Washington area also has the largest concentration of forensic science laborato-

ries in the country, so that there are unparalleled internship and research opportuni-

ties. The Department offers the Master of Forensic Science degree with concentra-

tions in the following areas:

forensic molecular biology crime scene investigations

forensic chemistry high tech crime investigations

forensic toxicology security management

Photography Credits: Front page: French mid-18th century microscope made of gilt

bronze. Repository: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio. Purchased from J.

Wade Fund.

This page: Long bones and mandible from Burial 2. Ruler a little over 30mm in length.

Mayan Dig. Repository: Peapody Museum of Archeology & Ethnology Collection: Car-

negie Institution of Washington