Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Achievements

 IN THIS ISSUE: ACES | Alumni Association | Engineering | FAA | International Programs & Studies | LAS |

agricultural, consumer and environmental sciences

Sonya Salamon, professor of community studies, has received the 2004 Robert E. Park Best Book Award for her work “Newcomers to Old Towns: Suburbanization of the Heartland.” The award was given by the Community and Urban Sociology section of the American Sociological Association.

“John L. O’Sullivan and His Times,” by Bob Sampson, an Extension communications specialist, was named the best biography published in 2003 by the Society of Midland Authors. The society, founded in 1915 by Carl Sandberg and Vachel Lindsay, annually honors authors from the 12 Midwestern states. Sampson also contributed two articles, “The Staley Lockout” and “Robert Dale Owen,” to a new two-volume “Historical Encyclopedia on American Labor,” published this spring.

Robert L. Thompson, professor of agriculture and consumer economics, has been appointed the first Leonard and Lila Gardner/Illinois Farm Bureau Family of Companies Chair in Agricultural Policy. The position was created to increase the UI’s national and international impact on policy decisions of agricultural economics and trade.

Five UI animal scientists received major awards for teaching research and outreach. Janice Bahr, professor of reproductive physiology, was made a fellow of the Poultry Science Association in recognition of her distinguished services to poultry science. Her research, which began in the late 1970s, has contributed to understanding egg production and also examining the causes for decreased fertility in roosters.

Geoff Dahl, a professor of dairy science, received the Merial Dairy Management Research Award from the American Dairy Science Association. His work on the role lighting plays in enhancing or inhibiting milk production has been widely accepted in the dairy industry.

Walter Hurley, a professor of lactation, has received the Land-O-Lakes/Purina Teaching Award from the American Dairy Science Association. He has taught in the department for 22 years and teaches one of the department’s most popular classes.

Floyd McKeith, professor of meat science, has received the American Association of Animal Science’s Meat Science Research Award for the significance of his research on the influence of various environmental effects and the use of growth modifiers on quality of meat produced from swine and cattle.

James Pettigrew, professor of animal nutrition, was presented the Animal Industry Service Award for his research in swine nutrition that also has been honored in the past by the American Association of Animal Science.

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alumni association

Loren R. Taylor, president and CEO of the UI Alumni Association since 1998, was elected president of the Council of Alumni Association Executives at its annual meeting in July. The CAAE represents the interests of top alumni associations from around the country and provides executive directors with the tools to better serve their respective associations.

engineering

Andrew Alleyne, professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, was one of 86 young engineers selected to participate in the National Academy of Engineering’s 10th annual Frontiers of Engineering Symposium. The Sept. 9-11 event at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center in Irvine, Calif., explored topics in multi-scale modeling, designer materials, engineering for extreme environments, and engineering and entertainment. The participants, ages 30 to 45, were from industry, academia and government.

AnHai Doan, professor of computer science, has received the ACM Doctoral Dissertation Award for 2003, which is presented to the best doctoral dissertation in computer science and engineering. His dissertation, “Learning to Map Between Structured Representations of Data,” applies machine learning techniques to data mapping that manipulate data from different formats.

Jiawei Han, professor of computer science, has won the 2004 SIGKDD Innovations Award for his significant contributions to data mining and knowledge discovery. Han was also selected, along with professors Kevin Chang and Yuanyuan Zhou, as an IMB Faculty Award winner. Han also was named a fellow by the Association for Computing Machinery.

Josep Torrellas, professor of computer science, was named an IEEE Fellow for his contributions to shared-memory multiprocessors.

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fine and applied arts

Mir Ali, professor of architecture, is the editor of “Catalyst for Skyscraper Revolution: Lynn S. Beedle – A Legend in his Lifetime,” a book published by the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat to honor the achievements of Beedle. Beedle was the council’s founder and a leading exponent of tall building research.

international programs and studies

Rajmohan Ghandi, a visiting professor of South Asian and Middle Eastern studies, was one of two people to receive the 2004 C-U International Humanitarian Award. The award honors individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions in the areas of international human rights and humanitarian relief. Recipients are chosen by the city of Champaign and the C-U International Humanitarian Awards Steering Committee.

liberal arts and sciences

Scott Althaus, professor of political science, has won the David Easton Award for his book “Collective Preferences in Democratic Politics: Opinions and Surveys and the Will of the People.” The award, established by anonymous donors, is given to books published in the last five years that broaden the horizon of contemporary political science.

Paul W. Bohn, professor of chemistry, has won the Coblentz Society’s 2004 Bomem-Michelson Award, a prize given annually to scientists who have advanced the techniques of vibrational, molecular, Raman or electronic spectroscopy. Bohn’s recent research includes study of molecular transport on the nanometer length scale and inventing new optoelectronic materials and devices.

Cara Finnegan, professor of speech communication, has received the 2004 Diamond Anniversary Book Award from the National Communication Association for her book “Picturing Poverty: Print Culture and FSA Photographs.” The award recognizes the most outstanding scholarly book published in the last two years that is critical to the discipline of communications.

Benjamin McCall, professor of chemistry, will receive the 2004 Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award for his research in the areas of structure, dynamics and astrochemistry of carbocations. He is one of nine new professors nationwide to receive this honor.

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