IN THIS ISSUE: ACES | business | engineering | veterinary medicine
agricultural, consumer and environmental sciences
Five members of the department of animal sciences have been honored by the American Dairy Science Association and the American Society of Animal Science. The awards were presented at a joint meeting of the groups earlier this summer.
George Fahey, professor, and Neal Merchen, professor and head of animal sciences, were awarded the 2003 Jim Corbin Award in Companion Animal Biology. The citation noted their work in companion animal nutrition saying "their research has particular relevance to pet populations that are young, aged, stressed or otherwise health-compromised."
The Corbin award, sponsored by the Iams Co., is named in honor of retired UI professor James Corbin, considered the father of the modern companion animal food industry. Corbin also was honored at the joint meeting. He was named a Fellow for Industry by the American Society of Animal Science.
Another retired UI professor, Stanley Curtis, was named a Fellow At-Large by the American Society of Animal Science in recognition of his contributions to the field. He was a member of the department of animal sciences faculty from 1970 until 1990, when he began serving as head of the department of dairy and animal science at Penn State University, before returning to Illinois in 1998.
Jimmy Clark, a professor emeritus of animal sciences, was honored as a Fellow by the American Dairy Science Association. The award was in recognition of Clark's "distinguished service" to the dairy industry for more than 20 years. Clark joined the UI faculty in 1968 and earned an international reputation for his dairy cattle nutrition research.
business
Paul J. Magelli, director of the Office for the Study of Business Issues, a unit of the UI College of Business, received an honorary doctor of law degree from Bristol University in the United Kingdom. Magelli was honored for his help in establishing the Bristol Enterprise Centre in 1999. The LLD degree was conferred on July 8 by the engineering and science faculty members of Bristol University, which is noted for having the most selective admissions of all UK universities.
OSBI is a business consulting operation managed and staffed by MBA students that undertakes 40-50 projects annually.
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engineering
Software developed by researchers in the department of mechanical and industrial engineering was included in R&D magazine’s R&D 100 Awards, which honors the 100 most technologically significant new products of the year. The EnergyPlus building energy analysis software was developed by Rich Liesen, senior research engineer; Curt Pedersen, professor emeritus; and other researchers in collaboration with the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
EnergyPlus models heating, cooling and lighting systems to design buildings that are more energy efficient and comfortable, and is used by architects, engineers and researchers. More than 12,000 users have downloaded the software since its release.
Paul R. Selvin, professor of physics, will receive the Michael and Kate Bárány Award for Young Investigators from the Biophysical Society. The award recognizes an outstanding contribution to biophysics by a person who has not yet achieved the rank of full professor at the time of nomination. Selvin was cited for his development of novel biophysical techniques, especially fluorescence methods, and his important contributions in the fields of DNA dynamics, motor proteins and ion channels.
The Biophysical Society is a professional, scientific society established to encourage development and dissemination of knowledge in biophysics.
veterinary medicine
Larry Firkins, professor of veterinary pathobiology and of veterinary programs in agriculture, and Gavin Meerdink, clinical professor of toxicology, were among 120 U.S. veterinarians selected to participate in the first national training on zoonotic bioterrorism preparedness for veterinarians, held in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 17.
A majority of the biological agents designated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as potential instruments of bioterrorism – including anthrax, botulism, plague and brucellosis – are zoonotic. Attendees were given in-depth material for presentations geared to various audiences. The training session was conducted by Iowa State University’s Center for Food Security and Public Health, a federally funded organization established to increase national preparedness for accidental or intentional introduction of disease agents that threaten food production or public health.
Jonathan Foreman, professor of veterinary clinical medicine, has been invited to act as an adviser to the International Mounted Games Association on typical FEI requirements on importation, quarantine, housing, safety, veterinary care, medication, drug testing and emergency procedures for horses/ponies competing at the international level. IMGA will be holding an international World Cup Mounted Games Competition in Lexington, Ky., in July.
Foreman, who directs the college’s Large Animal Internal Medicine Residency Training program, also has been invited to serve on the Task Force on Training the Future Specialist of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine’s Specialty of Large Animal Internal Medicine. The task force will look for ways to maximize the marketability and competence of graduates from national residency training programs.
Ann L. Johnson, professor of veterinary clinical medicine and chief of small animal surgery, was elected to a three-year term on the board of directors for the Western States Veterinary Conference.
Uriel Kitron, professor of veterinary pathobiology and of community health and associate director of the Center for Zoonoses Research, will spend three months teaching a graduate seminar, conducting a GIS workshop and collaborating with Ricardo Gurtler and others on the eco-epidemiology of Chagas disease through a Fulbright Lecturing/Research award at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, during academic year 2003-2004.
He also was recently elected vice president of the Society for Vector Ecology. His term as president will run 2004-2005.
Tomas Martín-Jiménez, professor of veterinary biosciences, gave two invited talks this month at the Congress of the European Association for Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology in Lisbon, Portugal. The talks were given during a Training Workshop in Pharmacokinetics and will cover species differences in PK and interspecific scaling of PK parameters, sources of variability in population pharmacokinetics and applications of population kinetic in veterinary medicine.
Milton McAllister, professor of veterinary pathobiology, received the 2002-2003 Raymond B. Allen Golden Apple Teaching Award from the second-year medical class at the UI College of Medicine on the Urbana campus. “The class was appreciative of his marvelous, well-crafted lectures and the obvious amount of time and effort he spent on preparing for class,” said Dipesh Navsaria, one of the students in the class.
Kimberly Meenen, director for development, was chosen as a 2003 Chamberlain Scholar by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Foundation for Philanthropy. The scholarships are awarded to fundraising professionals serving nonprofit organizations who are interested in developing their knowledge and skill in fundraising.
She also received the President’s Award from the Illinois State Veterinary Medical Association Auxiliary for her work in coordinating the auxiliary’s scholarship auctions during the past several years.
Allan Paul, associate dean for public engagement and professor of veterinary programs in agriculture, recently was named to serve on the board of the American Heartworm Society as editor.
On June 2-4, he spoke at the Prairie States Conference of the Illinois Animal Welfare Federation.
Marc Raffe, professor of veterinary clinical medicine, co-wrote, with Wayne Wingfield, “The Veterinary ICU Book,” a textbook published by Teton New Media in 2002. It is a 1,300-page volume of short topics germane to emergency and critical care medicine aimed at students, interns, residents, general practitioners and specialists.
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