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The department of human resource education at the UI has received the Outstanding HRD Academic Program of the Year award from the Academy of Human Resource Development. The award was announced Feb. 26 in Colorado at the annual academy’s conference. The academy is the premier professional association that promotes the link between research and practice in the field of human resource development. The award is a tribute to the efforts of the faculty and staff members and students in the department.
Bill Hammack, a professor of chemical and of biomolecular engineering , has been named a Jefferson Science Fellow by the U.S. Department of State. Hammack is one of five tenured research scientists and engineers chosen to work alongside senior diplomats and policy makers for a year in Washington, D.C. Candidates for Jefferson Fellowships are selected based on their scientific achievements, communication skills and their ability to describe scientific topics accurately for non-expert audiences. They also must be interested in issues at the intersection of science, diplomacy and foreign policy. Jefferson Science Fellows are asked to advise and also to educate. Hammack produces “Engineering and Life,” weekly radio essays on topics from air conditioning to Tupperware. The two- to three-minute essays are distributed by Illinois Public Radio, and can be heard locally on WILL-AM (580).
Nick Holonyak, professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been named a Lincoln Laureate by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Holonyak and five other Illinoisans will receive the Order of Lincoln Medallion in April. The award names six Laureates of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois every year. It is the highest honor the state bestows on people of outstanding achievement who were born, or have lived, in Illinois. Holonyak is being honored for inventing the light-emitting diode, which is commonplace in digital displays. In addition, the semiconductor lasers used in CD and DVD players stem from Holonyak’s work.
Thomas Overbye, professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been awarded the first Alexander Schwarzkopf Prize for Technological Innovation from the Industry/University Cooperative Research Center Association. The group is a voluntary, independent organization of past and present members of the National Science Foundation’s Industry/University Cooperative Research Center Program. Overbye is being recognized for his creation and development of the power system visualization software known as PowerWorld Simulator. This software helps visualize the complex processes in which power flows in the nation’s electrical grid so engineers can better understand events associated with its operation and repair. The prize is awarded annually in the name of Alexander Schwarzkopf, who established the Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers Program at the National Science Foundation.
Kathleen Conlin, dean of the College of Fine and Applied Arts, will be named a Fellow of the American Theatre during ceremonies at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on April 24. Membership in the College of Fellows of the American Theater is one of the highest honors theater educators and professionals can bestow on their peers. The College of Fellows of the American Theater was founded in 1965 to recognize life achievement and distinguish service to the American theater. Since its founding, 202 leaders have been invested, of whom 121 are still living.
Thomas H. Schleis, a lecturer in the School of Music, has been awarded one of three Outstanding Instructor awards by the Illinois Lifelong Learning and Service Coalition. The coalition is a statewide group that represents community colleges, universities and other senior organizations that provide education programming for older adults. Schleis received the award for his 10 years of dedicated teaching of opera and musical theater in the UI Elderhostel and Senior Scholars programs.
James Zagar, professor of theater, has won the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society’s Outstanding Professor of Freshmen Award. This award is determined by nominations and votes from incoming honorees in the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society. Zagar will receive a plaque and stipend, and was invited to speak at the society’s spring banquet and initiation on March 7.
Paul J. Hergenrother, professor of chemistry, will receive a Sloan Research Fellowship from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Hergenrother ‘s grant of $40,000, to be used toward his research, is one of 20 Sloan awards given annually in chemistry. The fellowships recognize the very best young faculty members in science and are meant to enhance their careers.
Cindy Ingold, Women and Gender Resources librarian at the UI, has won the 2005 Women’s Studies Section Award for Significant Achievement in Women’s Studies Librarianship. The award is sponsored by Routledge and honors a significant or one-time contribution to women’s studies librarianship. Ingold worked with Linda Krikos, head of the Women’s Studies Library at Ohio State University and the other recipient of the award, to edit a volume titled “Women’s Studies: A Recommended Bibliography, 3rd ed.” A cash prize of $1,000 and a plaque will be presented to Ingold and Krikos during the 2005 American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago at the WSS Program on June 27.
Richard Painter, professor of law, has been appointed assistant to the president and associate White House counsel. Painter will have primary responsibility for handling ethics matters that arise in the White House and the Executive Office of the President. Painter will report to White House General Counsel Harriet Miers, the successor of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
A three-volume set designed and produced by the UI Press and written by William Kinderman, professor of music, was selected as a winner in the 2004 Chicago Book Clinic book show. The set, titled “Artaria 195,” was designed by Copenhaver Cumpston. Willis Regier, director of the UI Press, was the acquiring editor. The book is a special format, 12 inches by 10.5 inches, full color with facsimile and transcription of a Beethoven manuscript.
