The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 35, Ed. 1, Friday, February 8, 1991 Page: 3 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Texas Digital Newspaper Program and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Abilene Christian University Library.
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To touch the mind of God
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Wscusses the virtues of science in his Christian life.
ty Brandon Lird
aniel Brannan microbio-
il researcher teacher and
lairman of the Biology
apartment aits back noncha-
intly in his office in the Foa-
sr Science Building a man
rtio defies ordinary preconcep
tions about stodgy supra-intel-
tectual scientists His beard is
Mose-cut and his rounded face
tad smile accent the wit that
srvades everything he does
irom working m the laboratory
'to talking with his secretary
On his coffee mug are two
sayings: "Success is loving
rvimb yuu utvouccuss is aoing
What you love." That ideology
lias been an elemental part of
'Brannan's outlook since the
s time ho began deciding what
' ho would do with his life he
paid.
with neip irom other people
ion for his life a direction .
hat would be successful for
im and positive for other peo-
le.
"Growing up in the church
there's a little old lady who
keeps coming up to you and
saying 'You should become a
preacher and serve the Lord
( Well I didn't like preaching
yo much -but I did like
racience. I did want to serve the
Lord; so I suddenly thought of
a'way to make sure the littV '
old lady would be happy with
meandlwoulddowffitt-
wanted to do educate stu
dents in science at a Christian
university" Brannan said
i The interest began at a very
early age for Brannan and has
continued until today ho said.
"Scientists really are just
children looking at something
for the first time and asking
Wow how does that work?" he
said.
"I think one of the great
blasphemies is to look at what
God has made and say 'So
what?' True scientists look at
something and say This is
amazing Let's figure out how
God did it" Brannan
said.
Young Brannan was first
unystified by the wonders of
science at four years oW when
he saw kids taking care of
their sick dogs nursing them
back to health.
"I was fascinated with the
fact that people could actually
heal animals; make things well
WnAvniAr'.'Wr.mr.n -
hat were wrang'
aid.
Tr
sTrfln
-- rw"nan's childhood in
Albequerque N.M. was ono of
innate curiosity for tho world
around hinu. experimenting
iwitn his jumor tmimistry ml
rand relishing time he ppent
outdoors hunting and
playing
"If you love nature and being
outside then you can't help ' '
but be a'biologist" Brannan
explained.
Since the early days ofhis (
kispirtioq Brannan lias man-
tgao to qarve out his own spe-
ACUmicrdbiologist researcher
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It a regular IIqM mtcroccopt
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teaching and a Chnsti
cine place in science as a micro-
research
Christian per
spective of life.
He received his master's
degree from Ohio State Univer-
sity and graduated in 1980
with a doctorate in biology from
the University of New Mexico.
With a strong desire to work at
ACU Brannan came looking
for ajob and had a colorful
interview with Clark Stevens
then microbiologist and depart-
ment chairman.
"In 1980 1 walked into the
same office I'm sitting in right
now sat in that very chair
looked Clark Stevens in the eye
and told him 'I want your job'"
Brannan said
Stevens conceded on the '
grounds the job was would be
rannan's when Stevens either
retired or died.
In the meantime Brannan
waited patiently.
He worked lor nearly eight
years as a reaeareh nkrobwto-
gist at Jfroctor and Gamble
7S!iS!iS!fmTm'
tOPriCt COMMtlCt fro
from
infections by microbes. Bran
nan also supervised the testing
ui piuuuviB jut ramunier ievj
environmental safety and
accurate labeling of
information. Two of his major
projects were improving the
Bmuiy oi pregervauves in
dandruff shampoo and Crush
soda.
Jav or Brannan tne well-paid
work at Proctor and Gamble
laboratories became mundane
afUr alaet a 4eca4e
"I woke ua one day in a high
tech busihea environment and
.
wovrvyiv.i lauvinkui y hi nmin
tha kty that opans up microbiological mystar laa for Brannan.
I asked myself: What are they
going to say on my epitaph? He
kept ladies hair clean and he
rotted kids teeth out with soda
pop? That's not a very great life
statement. I wanted to do more
and at AU u teaching is a mm-
istry of Jesus Christ and that
is what I wanted" Brannan
said.
In 1988 Brannan was offered
ajob as assistant professor at
ACU and two years later after
Stevens retired and replace-
ment John Little abandoned
the chair Brannan became the
chairman of the Biology
Department.
It s very important for peo-
pie to make long-term goals.
Here is one in my life a 10-
year goal that finally came
through" Brannan said.
Brannan views his new posi-
tion at ACU not only as a
fruition of his dream but also
as a way to serve humanity and
serve Jeeus Christ.
"I believe that when you die
Jesus will ask you in essence:
What did you do to help allevi-
ate Human suiierinK ana rain
on earth?' In" the position I am
in now I can say I trained stu
uunta wj on pnyaicians ana l
did research that helped save
human lives and tho environ- '
ment" Brannan said.
Without the limitations of
assigned projects Brannan has
had "complete and total '
freedom" with research at
ACU.
Since he has been herefv
Brannan has worked on
developing potent new disin-
fectants for hospital and
domestic uses in order to actu-
ally cksan and prevent filth.
which many current disinfec-
tants fail to do Brannan said
Daniel Brannan L
Photo by RobynShrfte
vjvmn. luuiruiny. lira nnuuimiil
"Instead they just make the
house smell good" Brannnan
said
In review of tho matrerial
Brannan and his follow scien-
tists have returned concerning
disinfectants doubts have
arisen about tho effectiveness
on part of the Environmental
Protection Agency.
Like the FDAapproves food
and drugs the EPA has.to
approve the research we do
i. " n ""' BU"UUUI6UMU iC
tv" Brannan said.
The reason for doubts is he
neutralizer which allows Bran-
nan to determine exactly how
many microbiotic "bugs" a bio-
cide has killed Brannan
said.
One way to explain would be
to equate the neutralizer with
waterthat a burning log is
thrown into. By throwing the
log in the water and putting it
out it is easy to see how much
of the log has burned and how
much hasn't.
"The affect of the neutralizer
is veiy important in determin
ing how many bugs we can kill
witottiediMnfectant Brannan
said. "The neutralizer remains
the main problem of our
research with that project1
JaJLe and his department
have been subcontracted by the
U.S. Department of Energy to
work on another project to rid
coal of the pollutant sulfur with
likj iiuuro-uruinm xnerjnotii
rix thiopra (literally: "a hot
hair that loves sulfur") that
eats sulfur.
Tha subcontract has given up
$18000 in funds Ttiq Texas ..
M
'.ft
-..4
i
B
j i'
'3!
4
Higher Education Commission j
has provided $148000 to con-?i
tinue the research. v j
The trick in the research is t
containing the sulfur-eating ' s 1
bug to meals on sulfur and not ;
carbon which is the main coni-'
ponent of coal. !)!
"We are working on this
problem ultimately to help v !
solve acid rain. When sulfur ia j
burned out of coal it pollutes1
the air.w Brannan said. "So we": :
want' fcn &mk. fh au'lfnr mif. Vint'
V t
we yfnt to keep coal as a'fiiet
Brannan said. ' -i
-o
Ml
-CjL
more abstract long-temi '" :
goal for Brannan is preparing '
the Biology Department for tK$
21st century. He predicts many
necessary cnanges out today
sees the undergraduate Biolov ; j
gy Department ranked in the
top five percent in the nation. ' )
Among all his classes whicH I
include Microbiology ! ".j
ImmunologyPathogenics andv I
BioBtatisticg Environmental ? ;
and Applied Microbiology is his !
; faVpritetdj4chvjr; '; 4J
" tfr l$b ohly is the' field his spe-'
cialty but Brannan also enjoys
the freedom to challenge the 0
mind of older studentsin the )
w.
"The key thing I emphasize' '
IS UJ aiWayS question ine
assumDtions that oeonle are Y !
basing their opinion and scien:. j
tific knowledge on. Be a critical j
thinker and question every- ' ;
thing" he said. j
Brannan prefers to see his :
job as one primarily of ;
introducing students to ways
m which to learn and
-
question and not as an end
unto itself.
"What good is a college edu-'
cation? Not much all it doe ?
;H f.i v hw f tMnt Vn4' :
never gtop teaming; you '
never stop queetioning the peoV. :
pie wno are teaching; you
never stop questioning the '
books you are reading" Bran--''
nan said. '
"The minute you stop learn;'' '' j
ing is the minute you start .'
dying" lie said.
nn
rw
JL he path of curiosity whiclir ;
has so far led the life of Daniel'' ;
Brannan he avows will contiii- .
ue to kad him in both his ' i
research prefects and as the . :
chairman of the Biology
Department. j'5
Aware of his uniqueness as ai
Brannan feels very happy witk.
scientist ana a linnsuan
the direction his life has taken..
and where he is headed. As that
coffee mugs imply Brannan is"
successful he loves what lie .v
does. t
"I'm a scientist who is not 1
ashamed to bring the creator -
into the picture of everything L
do and teach" Brannan said ?
"This is the beauty of my expel
rience: a true scientist one - v
who ig not afraid to 11 in
God has a unique opportunity
through his stwdy and eurioai A'
tv to touch the mind of God" 4
Brannan said sighing. I
ou cant sjtt cleaer" he '' I
said. ' ' J
m v
i
V
JMJj3tiMWjitCV?MwiSSyjCww
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The Optimist (Abilene, Tex.), Vol. 79, No. 35, Ed. 1, Friday, February 8, 1991, newspaper, February 8, 1991; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth96229/m1/3/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 15, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Abilene Christian University Library.