IN THIS ISSUE: Applied Health Sciences | Education | Engineering | LAS | Student Affairs | University Library |
applied health sciences
Darla Castelli and Amelia Mays Woods, professors of kinesiology and community health, were among 16 candidates inducted as Research Consortium Fellows at the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance Convention and Exposition in Baltimore on March 16. They join approximately 375 Fellows in the consortium, a group of nearly 6,000 research scholars and other members of the alliance who have a strong interest in research.
Fellows are selected based on evidence of scholarship, including research presentations and publications.
The alliance is the largest organization of professionals supporting and assisting those involved in physical education, leisure, fitness, dance, health promotion and education and all specialties related to achieving a healthy lifestyle.
For more information on the consortium, visit www.aahperd.org/research.
education
Robert E. Nelson, a professor emeritus of education, has been selected for a Fulbright Senior Specialists project in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, at the Royal University of Law and Economics during April and May, according to the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Nelson will assist the university in Cambodia in developing and implementing entrepreneurship education programs at both the undergraduate and graduate level. He also will prepare university professors/lecturers in various methodologies of teaching entrepreneurship.
Nelson is one of more than 400 U.S. faculty members and professionals who will travel abroad this year through the Fulbright Senior Specialists Program. The program provides short-term academic opportunities to prominent U.S. faculty and professionals to support curricular and faculty development and institutional planning at post secondary, academic institutions around the world.
engineering
Michael Bragg, a professor of aerospace engineering and associate dean for research and administrative affairs in the College of Engineering, will receive the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Aerodynamics Award for 2007. The award is presented for meritorious achievement in the field of applied aerodynamics, recognizing notable contributions in the development, application, and evaluation of aerodynamic concepts and methods. Bragg’s two primary areas of research are aircraft icing and unsteady aerodynamics. Both areas involve the study of unsteady and highly separated fluid flows. Much of this research is conducted in the wind tunnels of the Aerodynamics Research Laboratory, which he co-directs.
Michael Strano, a professor of engineering, will receive the American Chemical Society Colloid and Surface Science Division Unilever Award for 2007. The award presentation and lecture will be presented during the 81st Colloid and Surface Science Division meeting at the University of Delaware in Newark on June 24-27. Strano will give an invited lecture, receive $3,000 and a plaque.
Keith D. Hjelmstad, associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Engineering, and a professor of civil and environmental engineering, received the 2007 George Winter Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
According the society, Hjelmstad was recognized “for his accomplishments in structural engineering research, his dedication to the education of future structural engineers, and for his exemplary community and artistic service in leading the Parkland Community Orchestra as Concertmaster for 15 years.”
“Keith is a natural selection for the Winter Award,” said Robert Dodds, head of the civil and environmental engineering department. “He is a creative scholar, a dedicated educator, and one who has given much in service to the university and the community. We are fortunate to have such a multitalented faculty member at Illinois.”
liberal arts and sciences
Jay Bass, a professor of geology, will be awarded an honorary doctorate, Docteur Honoris Causa, by the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 in France. The degree will be granted at a ceremony in Lyon on May 22.
Gregory S. Girolami, professor of chemistry, was elected chair of the Council for Chemical Research. He will serve for two years as a vice chair and then assume leadership of the organization in 2009.
Based in Washington, D.C., the council was formed in 1979 to promote cooperation in basic research and to encourage high-quality education in the chemical sciences and in chemical engineering.
The organization’s membership, which consists of leaders from industry, academia and government, represents much of the U.S. chemical research enterprise, currently comprising more than 200 companies, universities and government laboratories.
Girolami is known internationally for his research on the synthesis of new inorganic and organometallic compounds and materials, their mechanisms of formation, and the measurement and rationalization of their physical properties.
Yi Lu, professor of chemistry, is the first winner of the Society of Biological Inorganic Chemistry Early Career Award. Lu will deliver his award lecture and receive the award at a ceremony in Vienna at the 13th International Conference on Biological Inorganic Chemistry XIII this summer.
Lu has made major contributions to the understanding of long-range electron transfer processes, bioenergetics, mixed valency in coordination chemistry, and the distribution and speciation of metal ions and other chemicals in biological systems. Recently, he and his group have developed a series of DNA-based sensors for drugs and metal ions, the latter including lead and uranyl ions. This led Lu to found a company in Champaign called DzymeTech Inc.
Ken Suslick, professor of chemistry, was awarded the 2007 Sir George Stokes Medal from the Royal Society of Chemistry. He will receive a medal and present an award address in Dublin next year.
Suslick leads a large, multidisciplinary research program, advancing the understanding of the chemical effects of ultrasound. He has explored how ultrasound interacts with chemical systems and developed numerous applications in organometallic, inorganic, materials, and biological chemistry. His work has led to FDA approval of the first intravenously administered echo-contrast agent for echocardiography. In a separate area, Suslick studies the bioinorganic and materials chemistry of metalloporphyrins and recently, their applications as chemical sensors.
student affairs
The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs has announced the winners of the 2007 Student Affairs Outstanding Staff and Program Awards. The following will be recognized at a reception May 3.
Katie Kennealy, assistant director of the Career Center, was named Outstanding New Professional.
Andi Cailles, assistant director of residential life for hall supervision and staffing in University Housing, and Kim S. Rice, health educator at McKinley Health Center, were named Outstanding Staff Members.
The Illinois Leadership Certificate Program was selected to receive the 2007 Outstanding Program Award.
The recipients were recognized for their significant contributions to the lives of students and to the campus community.
university library
Katie Newman, biotechnology librarian and a professor of library administration, has been named president of the United States Agricultural Information Network. The network is an organization for information professionals that provides a forum for discussion of agricultural issues, takes a leadership role in the formation of a national information policy as related to agriculture, makes recommendations to the National Agricultural Library on agricultural information matters, and promotes cooperation and communication among its members. Newman’s term runs from 2007-2010.