Strategic Communications and Marketing News Bureau

Achievements

IN THIS ISSUE: ACES | Broadcasting | Engineering | FAA | IPS & UNI HIGH | LAS | Student Affairs

agricultural, consumer and environmental sciences

Farmdoc, a UI department of agricultural and consumer economics research team, was awarded the 2004 Donald A. Holt Achievement Award by the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research at the organization’s annual meeting on Feb. 17 in Springfield. The award recognizes a C-FAR-funded research team that has demonstrated outstanding and innovative research and outreach that addresses priorities of Illinois’ food, agriculture and related sectors. Farmdoc, initiated in 1999, consists of faculty and staff members with the goal of developing comprehensive programs to improve farm decision-making through education and research. They were honored for their development of Web-based resources. Members include Scott Irwin, Darrel Good, Paul Ellinger, Robert Hauser, Gary Schnitkey, Bruce Sherrick and Donald Uchtmann, all professors of agricultural and consumer economics; Joao Martines, former visiting scholar of agricultural and consumer economics; and Dale Lattz, a farm management extension specialist.

broadcasting

Alison Davis Wood, a creative specialist for WILL-TV, has won a 2004 Gracie Allen Award from American Women in Radio and Television for her documentary “Gold Star Mothers: Pilgrimage of Remembrance.” Her program was named best documentary in the category for programs of 31-59 minutes. Wood’s documentary tells the story of mothers of World War I casualties who, through a governmental program, made pilgrimages to Europe to visit their sons’ graves.

Tim Hartin, a creative specialist for WILL-TV, has won a 2004 Gracie Allen Award for his segment of the station’s “Prairie Fire” series on 10 sisters from Coles County who were separated during childhood. Hartin’s program was named best documentary for programs less than 30 minutes long. This “Prairie Fire” episode will rebroadcast at 4:40 p.m. March 20.

The Gracie Allen Awards are given for the positive and realistic portrayal of women in entertainment, commercials, news, features and other programs. The awards will be presented in New York City on June 21.

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engineering

Nancy R. Sottos and Richard L. Weaver, professors of theoretical and applied mechanics, and Junlan Wang, a former doctoral student at Illinois who is now a professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California-Riverside, have been selected to receive the 2004 Hetényi Award by the Society of Experimental Mechanics Inc. The recognition is for the Best Research Paper published in Experimental Mechanics in 2002. The three researchers wrote “A Parametric Study of Laser-Induced Thin Film Spallation.” The paper was one of several papers the researchers wrote together as part of Wang’s thesis. The paper explains a new technique for producing a decompression shock in a substrate using pulsed laser ablation of a sacrificial layer on one surface of a solid bock. The award was established in 1967 to honor Miklos Hetényi, one of the society’s four founders.

fine and applied arts

Sherban Lupu, professor of music, was given the title of Commander of the National Order of Merit and Service on Jan. 16 by the president of Romania for his contributions to worldwide musical and cultural activities. A world-class violinist, Lupu received the Romanian Cultural Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.

international programs and studies &
university laboratory high school

Melina Barona, assistant to the director in International Programs and Studies, and Suzanne Linder, a teaching associate at University Laboratory High School, were chosen for the 2004 Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad program. The program is geared toward giving experience to educators, administrators, librarians and/or curriculum specialists who wish to enhance their curriculum through short-term study and travel abroad. Barona will be traveling to Bulgaria for four to six weeks while Linder will spend six weeks in New Zealand.

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liberal arts and sciences

John A. Lynn, professor of history, was elected to a four-year term as president of the U.S. Commission on Military History. The commission acts as the international face of the military history community in the United States, which includes historians within academia, the government, the military and private organizations. Since the U.S. commission is a constituent of the International Commission of Military History, Lynn heads both the commission within the United States and leads the U.S. delegation in international meetings and projects worldwide.

Thomas B. Rauchfuss, professor of chemistry and director of the School of Chemical Sciences, received the Washington State University Alumni Achievement Award on March 1. He returned to WSU to deliver the Carl M. Stevens lecture, named for the late WSU chair of chemistry. Rauchfuss received his doctorate from the institution in 1976.

student affairs

Pat Askew, vice chancellor for student affairs, has been awarded a Fulbright grant for the U.S.-Japan International Education Administrators Program. She will be one of five U.S. higher education administrators who will participate in the Fulbright program in Japan from June 19 to July 10.

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