Professor Jane Davidson wins the Ada Comstock Distinguished Women Scholars Award and will present a lecture on her solar energy research at the U of M

Contacts: Peg Lonnquist, Women’s Center, (612) 625-9837 or women@umn.edu
Mark Cassutt, University News Service, (612) 624-8038

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (02/27/2009) — Jane Davidson, professor of mechanical engineering and director of the department’s Solar Energy Laboratory, has been named the recipient of the Ada Comstock Distinguished Women Scholars Award. This prestigious award/lecture has been established to acknowledge and honor the scholarly accomplishments and leadership of distinguished women faculty at the University of Minnesota and to offer a forum for them to share their insights and ideas with a campus and community audience.

As part of the award, Davidson will deliver a lecture -- “Solar After Dark: Going Green at night” -- at 4 p.m. Tuesday, March 24 in Cowles Auditorium, Hubert H. Humphrey Center, 301 19th Ave. S., Minneapolis. Her lecture will focus on one of the world’s most pressing challenges -- the need to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions while simultaneously meeting an exploding global demand for energy. Davidson will discuss the potential of solar fuels, and will share the results of her research. The lecture is free and open to the public.

Davidson holds a master’s degree in engineering science and mechanics from the University of Tennessee and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Duke University.Her current research focuses on solar systems for buildings and solar thermo-chemical cycles to produce fuels. Davidson serves on the National Research Council’s America’s Energy Future (AEF) Renewable Electricity Panel, Gov. Pawlenty’s Clean Energy Technology Task Force and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Global Climate Change Task Force. Her efforts in research and engineering education have been recognized with the American Solar Energy Society Charles Greeley Abbot Award and the ASME John I. Yellott Award.

Davidson’s lecture is sponsored by the Women’s Center at the University of Minnesota along with co-sponsors: the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost; The Graduate School; and the University of Minnesota Libraries.

A dessert reception will follow the lecture in Hubert H. Humphrey Center Atrium. For more information about the event, visit http://www.umn.edu/women.