IN THIS ISSUE: ACES | BUSINESS | EDUCATION | ENGINEERING | FAA | STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY | LAS | LIBRARY | CAMPUS
agricultural, consumer and environmental sciences
Charles E. “Chuck” Cagley, a UI Extension-affiliated farm management specialist, has received the Illinois Farm Bureau’s Eagle Award for Excellence.
Cagley served as state coordinator of the Illinois Farm Business Farm Management Association and was recognized for nearly three decades of service. The award noted his managerial skills and leadership in working with local FBFM directors to develop services to meet the evolving needs of agricultural producers.
Jozef Kokini, associate dean of research, and Laurie Kramer, associate dean of academic programs, were accepted into the Food Systems Leadership Institute, a top-tier leadership development program for academia, industry and government.
The institute is dedicated to advancing and strengthening food systems by preparing new leaders with the skills and knowledge needed to invent and reinvent the food systems of the future. It is a program of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, with funding provided by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
business
Finance professor Jeffrey R. Brown has received a national award for a research paper that shows a flawed Medicaid program discourages Americans from buying long-term care insurance that could provide better care and spare their life savings.
Brown and co-author Amy Finkelstein, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist, will share a $10,000 award after winning the TIAA-CREF Paul A. Samuelson Award for Outstanding Scholarly Writing on Lifelong Financial Security.
The paper, published last year in The American Economic Review, is the first to demonstrate how Medicaid stifles demand for private long-term care policies by creating financial disincentives that steer people toward the no-cost safety net, which covers nursing homes and other care but only after their finances are exhausted.
Madeleine d’Ambrosio, vice president and executive director of the TIAA-CREF Institute, says the research “will likely play a major role in the future design of products to manage long-term care needs in retirement, and where and how individuals save for such expenses.”
Brown is the William Karnes Professor of Finance and also serves as director of the college’s Center on Business and Public Policy.
TIAA-CREF is the nation’s leading provider of retirement financial services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields.
education
Elizabeth Delacruz, professor of art education, has been awarded The National Art Education Association’s Higher Education Art Educator of the Year award. The association recognizes one member for “extraordinary achievements and service of national significance during previous years.”
Delacruz also was awarded the 2009 June King McFee award, which is conferred annually to honor an individual who has made distinguished contributions to the profession of art education and has brought distinction to the field through an exceptional and continuous record of achievement in scholarly writing, research, professional leadership, teaching or community service. Delacruz will be presented with both awards at the annual convention of the association in April.
engineering
Three faculty members in the college have been named 2008 fellows of the American Physical Society: William Hammack, professor of chemical engineering; Peter Kammel, research professor of physics; and Michael Stone, professor of physics.
Hammack was cited “for enhancing public awareness about physics, science and technology through his radio commentaries and for his governmental service at the State Department.”
Kammel was cited “for scientific leadership and development of novel experimental techniques related to muon capture, muon catalyzed fusion and other precision muon and antiproton measurements.”
Stone was cited for his “profound contributions to the physics of quantum fluids and to the application of modern quantum field theory to condensed matter physics.” Election to the society is limited.
Benjamin Lev, professor of physics, has been selected for a 2009 National Science Foundation CAREER Award. The Faculty Early Career Development Program is a cross-disciplinary program that offers the NSF’s most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.
Huimin Zhao, a professor of bioengineering, has been elected a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering beginning in 2009. The institute is the leading advocacy group for medical and biological engineering. The College of Fellows comprises roughly the top 2 percent of the medical and biological engineering community. Zhao was noted for “his pioneering contributions in the area of directed evolution for industrial and medical biotechnology applications.”
fine and applied arts
Emeritus professor of ethnomusicology Bruno Nettl is receiving the Jan Patocka Memorial Medal from the Academy of Science of the Czech Republic. The award “recognizes results of the work of Czech and foreign scientists, or persons promoting science,” according to the academy’s Web site.
“X Over Trombone,” an album by music professor Jim Pugh, has been named by National Public Radio as one of the best classical CDs of 2008 that include improvisation. Pugh has played with the Woody Herman Big Band, has recorded classical music with Yo-Yo Ma and electric jazz with Chick Corea, and toured with Steely Dan. His CD features three jazzy concertos for trombone and orchestra including Pugh’s own trombone romp from 1992.
Deke Weaver, professor of art and design, has been selected as one of nine artists whose work is featured in Volume 12: “Vital,” the latest installment of the biannual DVD publication ASPECT. The publication distributes and archives the time-based work of artists working in new or experimental media that is video- or sound-based.
Included in this volume is Weaver’s “Polar Bear God” monologue – which is described as connecting “polar bears, a drastic increase in the number of children with autism and the numbing frustration of office work.”
illinois state geological survey
Several UI faculty members were honored at the 2008 Illinois State Geological Survey awards program on Dec. 5. The awards were presented by interim director E. Donald McKay III in recognition of outstanding contributions for the benefit of the people of Illinois.
The awards and recipients:
The Special Recognition Award was presented to William W. Shilts, professor of geology and executive director of the Institute of Natural Resource Sustainablity, in appreciation of his vision, determination and actions as survey chief that led to the merger of the four scientific surveys with the university and to the creation of the institute.
The Outstanding Alumni Contributions Award was presented to Morris W. Leighton, professor emeritus of geology and former survey chief, in appreciation of his post-retirement dedication to the survey through his contributions to the centennial celebration and annual open house and for his continuing support of the survey.
The Distinguished Achievement Award was given to survey petroleum geologist Hannes E. Leetaru, professor of geology, in recognition of his contributions in geologic research, interpretation of refraction seismic data, 3-D geologic modeling and his education and outreach efforts.
Robert J. Krumm, retired head of the survey’s Geospatial Analysis and Modeling Section, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of his 25 years of leadership in the application of Geographic Information Systems to geologic problems.
Survey geochemist William R. Roy, professor of nuclear plasma and radiation engineering, received the Outstanding Contribution to Survey Health and Safety Award for his work in this area, both at the survey and in coordination with the university.
Kane County Mapping Project Team members William S. Dey, associate geohydrologist; B. Brandon Curry, senior geologist; and Alec Davis and Curtis C. Abert, associate geologists, were honored with the Special Achievement by a Team Award in recognition of the survey team’s outstanding contributions in completion of the three-dimensional geologic and aquifer maps of Kane County.
Two survey scientists were honored as Outstanding New Staff Member. Seyed Dastgheib, chemical and environmental engineer, was recognized for his outstanding contributions in the development of the water-energy research program. Steven E. Brown, senior geologist, received the award for his outstanding leadership of the ISGS Quaternary Geology Section and geologic mapping programs
liberal arts and sciences
The American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, the leading private, nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of knowledge about Russia, Central Eurasia, and Eastern and Central Europe, presented its annual awards on Nov. 22 during its 40th National Convention in Philadelphia. John Randolph, professor of history, received the W. Bruce Lincoln prize for an author’s first published monograph or scholarly synthesis that is of exceptional merit and lasting significance for the understanding of Russia’s past. His book, “The House in the Garden: The Bakunin Family and the Romance of Russian Idealism” was published by Cornell University Press.
The AAASS Davis Center Prize Committee also presented an honorable mention award to Zsuzsa Gille, professor of sociology, for “From the Cult of Waste to the Trash Heap of History: The Politics of Waste in Socialist and Postsocialist Hungary,” published by Indiana University Press.
The 2009 American Society for Microbiology will present its Graduate Microbiology Teaching Award to Abigail A. Salyers, professor of microbiology. This award recognizes distinguished teaching of microbiology and mentoring of students at the graduate and postgraduate levels.
Known as a gifted educator and scientist who excites her students about science, Salyers has had an impact on students directly, by teaching in the classroom, and indirectly, through her publications. She teaches undergraduate and graduate students.
The award will be presented during the 109th general meeting of the society, May 17-21, in Philadelphia. The society is the world’s oldest and largest life science organization and has more than 43,000 members worldwide. Its mission is to advance the microbiological sciences and promote the use of scientific knowledge for improved health and economic and environmental well-being.
Mara R. Wade, professor of Germanic languages and literatures, has been elected the chair of the International Society for Emblem Studies. The society exists to foster the study of emblem books and related materials in literature and the visual arts, their origins and influence on other cultural forms, in all periods, countries and languages. The current membership includes teachers and students of literature, art historians, librarians and archivists, collectors of antiquarian books, historians of Renaissance and Baroque cultures, students of comparative literature, and scholars interested in the wider relationship between literature and the visual arts, theories or representation, iconology and iconography.
library
Brewster Kahle, a digital librarian, director and co-founder of the Internet Archive, has been awarded the 2008 Robert B. Downs Intellectual Freedom Award by the faculty of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the UI.
In May 2008, the FBI withdrew a national security letter it issued to the Internet Archive, one of the largest digital archives in the world. Kahle was recognized with this award for his successful challenge to the national security letter. Among the estimated hundreds of thousands of national security letters that have been issued, it was only the third time the FBI had withdrawn its request. The Internet Archive, according to its Web site, is a “digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form” with more than 500,000 card-carrying patrons. In November 2007, Kahle and the Internet Archive were issued a national security letter seeking information about a specific patron.
In response, Kahle, along with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union, filed a lawsuit against the federal government claiming the national security letter was unconstitutional. After four months of negotiation, the FBI withdrew its request and lifted the gag order on Kahle.
A reception to honor Kahle will take place during the midwinter meeting of the American Library Association at the Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center on Jan. 24. The Greenwood Publishing Group provides the honorarium to the recipient of the Downs Intellectual Freedom Award and also co-sponsors the reception.
The award is given annually to acknowledge individuals or groups who have furthered the cause of intellectual freedom.
Urbana campus
The UI has been awarded a 2008 Sen. Paul Simon Award for Campus Internationalization by NAFSA: Association of International Educators. Criteria for the award include broad international efforts across colleges, departments and disciplines; evidence of support by top administrators; demonstrable results for students and faculty member; and demonstrable internationalization in curricula, research and outreach.
For each of the past six years, NAFSA’s announcement of the recipients of the Simon Award has been followed by the publication of “Internationalizing the Campus: Profiles of Success at Colleges and Universities.” The publication, released annually, features institutions that showcase model approaches, exemplary practices, and innovative trends in internationalization. Illinois was recognized for its “overall excellence in internationalization efforts.”