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By Gayla Marty
John Finnegan was approved by the Board of Regents this month as the new dean for the School of Public Health. See November 14, below.
Fulbright Scholar Grants for special research projects in 2005-06 have been awarded to five Twin Cities campus staff and faculty members: John Gulliver, civil engineering (University of Chile, Santiago, Chile); Roberta Hunt, nursing (Semmelweis University of Medicine, Budapest, Hungary); Sally Kenney, public affairs (Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland); Kathleen Sellew, international programs (Korea); and Jole Shackelford, history of medicine (University of Bergen, Norway). The Fulbright program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. For more information, see the news release and staff profile pages for Gulliver, Kenney, and Shackelford (History of Medicine faculty page). See also the Fulbright Scholar Program directory.
Humphrey
Institute of Public Affairs professor and associate dean
John Bryson (center) has been elected a fellow in
the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA). He was
inducted at NAPA's fall meeting November 17-18 in Washington, D.C.,
where he received a certificate from NAPA president C. Morgan
Kinghorn and board of directors chair Valerie Lemmie. Fellows
provide leadership, analysis, and recommendations on projects
commissioned by Congress, federal agencies, state and local
governments, and the private sector. The academy has more than 600
elected fellows, including current and former Cabinet officers,
members of Congress, governors, mayors, and diplomats. For more
information, see the NAPA
news release and Bryson's faculty
profile.
Economics and
management faculty member Stephen Burks (left),
Morris campus, has been elected vice president and president-elect
of the Minnesota Economic Association (MEA). He will become
president in October 2006. The MEA provides a professional
connection between business and economic professionals and college
economics professors. For more information, see the MEA Web page and the Morris
Management/Economics home
page.
Morris campus
grants development staff member Roger Wareham
(right), Morris, has been selected to serve on the Lake Region Arts
Council board of directors for a three-year term. For more
information, see the council Web
site.
Morris campus Office of Residential Life staff member Pat Hein received the Support Staff Service Award from the Upper Midwest Region-Association of College and University Housing Officers. The award honors those staff members employed at a member institution who have gone "above and beyond their call of duty." Colleague Julie Phelps nominated Hein for the award. For more information, see the association's Web site.
Two University of
Minnesota professors have been elected as fellows of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The AAAS named
376 members as fellows this year for efforts toward advancing
science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially
distinguished. Chemical engineering and materials science professor
and head Frank Bates is recognized for outstanding
contributions to the development of new polymeric materials. He is
a Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Institute of
Technology. Plant biology professor Pete Snustad
(left), College of Biological Sciences, is recognized for
outstanding contributions to understanding how viruses control host
cells and the genetic basis of proteins that underlie cell
structure. Ceremonies will be February 18 in St. Louis, Missouri.
For more information, see the news releases about
Bates and
Snustad.
Adam Greene, a lecturer in composition and theory, School of Music, Twin Cities, has been awarded a 2005 Fromm Music Foundation Commission. The award aims to strengthen composition and bring contemporary concert music closer to the public. For more information, see the Fromm Music Foundation and his faculty profile.
The College of
Continuing Education (CCE) 2005 Distinguished Teaching Award winner
is Judith Martin (left), professor of geography
and American studies. She was honored at the CCE annual celebration
November 17 at the Weisman Art Museum. The award recognizes
excellence in CCE instruction, commitment to CCE student growth and
development, and accessibility to CCE students. For more
information, see the CCE Web page and
Martin's faculty profile.
The new director
of the systemwide Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender (GLBT)
Programs office is Anne Phibbs (right). She will
join the University January 3, reporting to the associate vice
president for Multicultural and Academic Affairs, in a role that
has been expanded from the Twin Cities campus. Phibbs has worked as
GLBT student services director at Metropolitan State University for
eight years. For more information, see the
news release.
Laura Weber, General College communications director, has won the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) 2004 Solon J. Buck Award for best article of the year in recognition of originality, excellence, and creativity in article research and writing. She was honored at the MHS annual meeting November 10. "The House That Bullard Built" told the story of Casiville Bullard (1873-1958), an African American union bricklayer whose St. Paul family home claimed a spot on the National Register of Historic Places. The article appeared in the summer 2004 issue of Minnesota History. For more information, see Minnesota History Prizes and her staff profile.
North Central Research and Outreach Center horticulturalist Dave Wildung will be honored when the U's newest apple patent is named for him. The apple will be known to consumers as Snowsweet. University of Minnesota apples are known for their winter hardiness, a characteristic Wildung helped to develop. For more information, see the news release.
The Board of Regents approved the appointment of John Finnegan (above) as the new dean of the School of Public health in their meeting November 10. Senior vice president for health sciences Frank Cerra hosted a welcome reception for Finnegan November 30 in the atrium at Northrop Auditorium. Finnegan has served as interim dean for the past year. He joined the faculty in 1986 and is a national expert on public health and mass media. For more information, see the news release.
Mary Jo Kreitzer, professor of nursing and director, Center for Spirituality and Healing, was inducted in the American Academy of Nursing at its annual scientific session in Phoenix November 13. The academy includes 1,700 nursing leaders in education, management, practice, and research. For more information, see the School of Nursing home page and the news release.
Retired Regents Professor Rutherford "Gus" Aris, a brilliant scientist who laid much of the groundwork for chemical engineering and also championed the arts and humanities, died November 2 at age 76. Aris came to the University in 1958 and eventually held appointments in the Institute of Technology and the College of Liberal Arts. He is credited with safer, more cost effective and more energy efficient industrial manufacturing because of his discoveries, teaching, and influence on his field. For more information, see story in UMNnews .
UMD McKnight Professor of Philosophy James Fetzer will particiate in an Oxford Round Table at Harris Manchester College, University of Oxford, in July 2006. Membership is limited to an interdisciplinary group of approximately 40 scholars with an expertise in the Round Table's topic, "The Two Cultures: The Current Debate," focusing on relations between the sciences and the humanities. For more information, see his faculty profile and the Oxford Round Table Web site.
The new Twin Cities campus University Relations chief of staff is Bobby Wangaard, former vice president of operations for the Minnesota High Technology Association. She brings a broad range of experience in the nonprofit, governmental, and corporate sectors. For more information about the office, see the University Relations Web site.
Professor of
pediatrics Julie Ross (right) has been selected to
lead the Childhood Cancer Research Network, a new North American
childhood cancer research registry. The registry will collect and
maintain information on children and adults diagnosed with cancer
at medical centers affiliated with CureSearch Children's Oncology
Group and used to study causes and effectiveness of treatments.
Hospitals in the group treat more than 90 percent of children
diagnosed with cancer in the United States and Canada; University
of Minnesota Children's Hospital, Fairview, is a member. Ross is
associate director of the U's Cancer Center. For more information,
see the news
release.
School of Nursing professor Donna Zimmaro Bliss has been appointed director of the research arm of the professional association Wound, Ostsomy, and Continence Nursing Society (WOCN). Bliss is a Horace T. Morse U of M Alumni Association Distinguished Teacher and holds the Professorship in Long-Term Care of Elders. WOCN is an international society of more than 4,000 nurse professionals. For more information, see the news release.
Opthalmology
professor Linda McLoon (left) has received the Lew
R. Wasserman Merit Award from the organization Research to Prevent
Blindness. The unrestricted award allows mid-career scientists to
actively engage in vision research by advancing their research
objectives. McLoon has studied muscle diseases of the face and eyes
for many years with funding from the National Institutes of Health.
For more information, see her faculty
profile and the Research to Prevent
Blindness Web site.
Edward Swanson, manager of the Contract Cataloging Program of the MINITEX Library Information Network, Twin Cities campus, was elected to a second two-year term as a member of the Governing Board of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) during its 71st General Conference and Council in Oslo, Norway, in August. IFLA includes some 1,750 member associations and institutions in more than 150 countries and is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users. For more information, see the IFLA Governing Board and Contract Cataloging Web sites.
Paulette Fairbanks Molin, Morris '66, Twin Cities '75, '87, received the 2005 University of Minnesota, Morris, Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award. She is a noted educator and author who conducted a pathbreaking study of stereotypes with which Native American children must deal. For more information, see the news release. CSM Corp. president and founder Gary Holmes, active supporter of the Carlson School of Management, was awarded the the University's Outstanding Achievement Award Nov. 2. For more information, see the news release.
The Upper Midwest Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions officers presented an outstanding service award to Jackie Carlson, assistant director, Student Support Services, UMD, for ten years of service to the group, marked by her infectious sense of humor. Carlson has chaired the Special Projects Committee since 1996 and volunteered in countless ways, from staffing hospitality booths at conferences to writing newsletter articles. The award was given at the annual conference in Sioux Falls, October 23-25. For more information, see the UMACRAO Web site.
Duane Paskett, longtime Twin Cities campus employee and a familiar face at parking lot 86 next to Mondale Hall, retired November 1. Paskett came to the U in the 1960s and worked 15 years as a painter and several months at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum before joining Parking and Transportation Services for 19 years. A crowd came out for his retirement party, including Law School staff members who presented him with the parting gift of a classic car book. Duane always took his job seriously, said one coworker: "He showed up on time--and even early, kept his area exceptionally clean, had a good story to tell, and kept all the birds and squirrels around well fed!"