IN THIS ISSUE: ACES | FAA | LIBRARY | MISC.
agricultural, consumer and environmental sciences
The Secretariat named Kraig Wagenecht 2007 Boss of the Year. Wagenecht, executive director for the Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research, was nominated by Rhonda Barkley, administrative assistant. Wagenecht received a certificate and his name was inscribed on a traveling plaque for display until next year.
fine and applied arts
Kathleen F. Conlin, professor of theater, has been elected to the board of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre – an organization to which she was appointed a fellow in 2005. Recently, she has directed two critically acclaimed productions at the Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespearean Festival: George Bernard Shaw’s “Candida” and Shakespeare’s “The Tempest.” She also served as a member of a three-person international team consulting on The Iceland Academy of the Arts in Rejkavik.
Lew Hopkins, professor of urban and regional planning, was named a Distinguished Educator at the American Collegiate Schools of Planning Conference in October. Distinguished educators are faculty members who demonstrate extraordinary achievement in scholarship, teaching and service. Hopkins is the first UI Distinguished Scholar in the field of urban and regional planning.
library
Wendy Shelburne, electronic resources librarian and professor of library and information science, spoke at a two-day forum on electronic resource management hosted by the National Information Standards Organization on Sept. 24-25. The organization co-hosted with the Bibliographical Center for Research and presentations were designed to answer questions about the impact of electronic resource management on internal management and workflow.
misc.
The National Collegiate Scouting Association announced that the UI was ranked 22nd among NCAA Division I universities in the fifth Annual NCSA Collegiate Power Rankings. The UI moved up from its 33rd place finish in the 2006 Division I rankings to 22nd in 2007. The associations rates colleges and universities comprehensively based on student-athlete graduation rates, academic strength and athletic prowess of the university. “With so many great colleges/universities to choose from, NCAA’s power rankings objectively help student-athletes compare collegiate opportunities so they know how institutions stack up pound for pound,” said association CEO and founder Chris Krause. “With this ranking, it shows us that the University of Illinois not only places importance on winning games, but on academics and graduating players as well.” For more information, visit www.ncsasports.org.
Illinois’ “Elementhouse,” placed ninth overall (out of 20 entries) in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon competition. The eight-day event culminated with an awards ceremony on Oct. 19 on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Illinois entry won top honors in two of the 10 individual contests – Market Viability and Comfort Zone. “Since we were the only team who won two of the 10 individual contests, I thought we might place higher overall,” said Ty Newell, one of the faculty advisers for the Illinois team. “We were very pleased to win the Market Viability contest, which reflects the practical aspects of our design. Winning the Comfort Zone contest really demonstrated that all of the individual comfort-related principles we chose for our system were the ones that were the best.” For more information, visit www.solardecathlon.org.