CSUN biology professor Dr. Steven Oppenheimer is among the 22 who will be honored by President Obama as recipients of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering...

He is tall but unassuming and his walk can only be described as a cool stroll. His long legs and arms move easily and gracefully, uncommon for most people of his stature. As he stood to the side of the room waiting for his turn to speak, with his arms folded, he scanned the crowd, all the while maintaining a slight smile.

Darfur, meaning house of the Fur, is a region in western Sudan that is three- quarters the size of Texas. There have been many years of rising tensions between the black and Arab groups over land and grazing right, but never to this extent. This region is the scene of a bloody battle since 2004, what some call genocide and others call ethnic cleansing, between rebel groups and the Arab militia group Janjaweed.