IN THIS ISSUE: ACES | Business | Communication | Engineering/LAS | Engineering | FAA | LAS | University Administration | University Library
agricultural, consumer and environmental sciences
Four UI faculty members in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences have been cited by National Hog Farmer magazine as among the 50 men and women who have done the most to mold the swine industry over the past half century. Three retired faculty members from the department of animal sciences – Dick Carlisle, Stan Curtis and Gilbert Hollis – and Arthur J. Muehling, professor emeritus of agricultural and biological engineering, were named to what the magazine termed “a veritable Who’s Who in the U.S. pork industry.” According to the magazine, the honorees were selected from among 201 individuals nominated. The accomplishments and brief biographies of the 50 honorees appeared in the May 15 issue. business Richard Ziegler, professor emeritus of accountancy, was presented the Illinois CPA Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award in May. Ziegler and another member were honored for their service and leadership to the Certified Public Accountant profession. Ziegler has served on several committees within the society. The Illinois CPA Society is the fourth largest state CPA society in the nation and is the only professional organization that represents CPAs in Illinois.
A student publication, “iElect,” supervised by Eric Meyer and Nancy Benson, UI professors of journalism, earned first place in the Professor Newspaper Publishing Awards competition sponsored by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. The publication was part of a convergence project with TV, radio and Web site components, designed to make the 2004 election personally relevant to college-age voters. To qualify, the publication must have been edited and produced as part of the curriculum, reported and written by students, and professors must have been responsible for editing and/or advising.
engineering/liberal arts and sciences
Neil L. Kelleher, chemistry, and ChengXiang Zhai, computer science, are among 58 young researchers named recipients of the 2004 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on young professionals at the outset of their independent research careers. They received their awards June 13 in a White House ceremony. Kelleher was recognized for developing new approaches for analysis of proteins and their post-translational modifications, and for outstanding teaching. Zhai was cited for working on user-centered, adaptive intelligent information access that has far-reaching impact for information technology users. The young scientists and engineers receive up to a five-year research grant to further their study in support of critical government missions.
The U.S. Department of the Navy announced that Patrick Chapman and Yi Ma – both professors of electrical and computer engineering at Illinois – have been chosen as Office of Naval Research Young Investigators for 2005. Those chosen are among the best and brightest young academic researchers in the nation.
Jonathan Fineberg, the Gutgsell Professor of Art History, has been elected to the board of trustees of the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C. He recently gave an invited talk, “Gifts of Seeing,” about children’s drawings at the Luckman Gallery at California State University, Los Angeles, and at a symposium at the Tate Modern, London’s national gallery of international modern art.
Robert L. Switzer, professor emeritus of biochemistry, has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. Switzer is a leading investigator of novel mechanisms that regulate bacterial metabolism, including allosteric inhibition, selective intracellular proteolysis of biosynthetic enzymes, and the role of transcription attenuation in gene expression.
A course developed and taught by Virgil E. Varvel Jr., a computer-assisted instruction specialist for the Illinois Online Network, won a 2005 WebCT Exemplary Course Project award. The course, “Copyright and Intellectual Property Issues in Education,” is one of six courses honored this year and the first course developed for a faculty audience to win. The course is part of the curriculum for the Master Online Teacher certificate offered by the UI and the Illinois Online Network. WebCT is a provider of e-learning environments for colleges and universities.
Barbara Ford, distinguished professor and director of the Mortenson Center for International Library Programs, was elected a member of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions Governing Board. Her term begins in August during the association’s conference in Oslo, Norway, and will continue through 2007. IFLA is the leading international body representing the interests of library and information services and their users.
Yoo-Seong Song, labor and industrial relations librarian and economics librarian, received the “Highly Commended Award” from Emerald publishing. The winning paper is “International Business Students: A Study on Their Use of Electronic Library Services,” published in Reference Services Review, Vol. 32, No. 4.
