April 8, 2004

Vol. 14, No. 37

The "8 1/2 x 11 News" is published each week by the University Advancement Division. News of campus interest should be sent to one of the following editors:   Ed Delaney, 412-268-1609 (ed47@andrew.cmu.edu)
  Bruce Gerson, 412-268-1613 (bg02@andrew.cmu.edu)
  Susan Cribbs, 412-268-7521 (cribbs@andrew.cmu.edu)

The newsletter is available on the official.cmu-news and cmu.misc.news bulletin boards.

2001 Editions are available online.

2002 Editions are available online.

2003 Editions are available online.

Previous editions are available online.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has appointed Tepper School of Business Professor Chester Spatt as chief economist and director of its Office of Economic Analysis for a two-year term beginning July 1. Spatt, the Mellon Bank Professor of Finance and director of the Center for Financial Markets at the Tepper School, will advise the commission and its staff on critical economic issues and oversee staff analysis of the economic impact of SEC regulatory actions, policies and proposals. Spatt's research on market structure, pricing and valuation, and the impact of information in the marketplace has been published extensively.

—Tepper School of Business Dean Kenneth B. Dunn said Spatt's appointment is well deserved. "Chester has been an international leader in finance-related research for decades. His work has been widely published in the top finance and economics journals and he has been a constant source of innovation within our faculty," Dunn said.

FALCONI LEAVES UNIVERSITY; DEBORAH MOON IS ACTING CFO

After discussion with the President and significant reflection, Stefano Falconi and the university agreed upon his resignation from his position as Vice President for Administration and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the university, effective April 5, 2004. The university will initiate a national search for his successor.

—While at Carnegie Mellon, Falconi focused on improving the university's financial reporting and accounting systems, strengthening the balance sheet and changing the budget management system to conform with the institution's expanded scope of business. He also played a key role in the preparation and negotiation of the financial projections of the recent agreement that led to the opening of the Carnegie Mellon Qatar campus. The entire campus community thanks Falconi for his efforts and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.

—While a search is conducted, Deborah Moon will serve as acting chief financial officer, and will report to the President. Moon, who was recently appointed assistant vice president for finance and controller, has served in various capacities at the university since 2001.

—While a search is conducted, Human Resources and Risk & Compliance will report to Vice President and General Counsel Mary Jo Dively; Treasury to President Cohon; and FMS and all other administrative operations to Vice President for Enrollment Bill Elliott.

COMMISSION TO BE FORMED TO REVIEW STUDENT NEWSPAPER

A commission, including students, faculty, staff and alumni, is being established to review the matter regarding the student newspaper's offensive April Fools' edition. The commission, which will report to Dean of Student Affairs Michael Murphy, will recommend appropriate university action. The Tartan has suspended operations for the remainder of the school year with the exception of possible issues for Spring Carnvial and commencement.

NEWS BRIEFS

—Because of the work to remove asbestos from Warner Hall, Corporate Relations and Foundation Relations have moved to the first floor of the Alumni House. For other temporary office locations, see the April 1 issue of this newsletter at www.cmu.edu/PR/weekly/index.html

PERSONAL MENTIONS

—Bryan R. Routledge, associate professor of finance, and Stanley E. Zin, The Richard M. Cyert and Morris H. DeGroot Professor of Economics and Statistics, and professor of economics and finance, have won the 2004 Western Finance Association Award for the best paper on investments.

—Ronald L. Goettler, assistant professor of economics, Christine Parlour, associate professor of finance, and Uday Rajan, associate professor of economics and finance, have won the New York Stock Exchange Award for the best paper on equity trading at the 2004 Western Finance Association meeting.

—Tridas Mukhoyadhyay, Deloitte Consulting Professor of e-Business and director of the Master of Science in Electronic Commerce Program, will receive the Distinguished Ph.D. Alumni Award from the University of Michigan Business School on April 8.

—Shuchi Chawla, a fourth-year Ph.D. student interested in approximation algorithms, game theory, machine learning theory and database privacy, has won an IBM Fellowship. Her advisor is Avrim Blum.

— Computer Science Professor Gary Miller is a co-winner of the Association for Computing Machinery's 2003 Kanellakis Award for Theory and Practice for his work in developing algorithms for testing whether a number is prime. The award honors accomplishments that have had significant and demonstrable effects on the practice of computing. This is the third time a Carnegie Mellon faculty member has received the award.

—The College of Humanities and Social Sciences recently held its annual Staff Recognition and Awards Ceremony. Barbara Dorney, administrative coordinator for the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, received the Outstanding Service Award. The Newcomer Award went to Sue Connelly, undergraduate coordinator for Modern Languages. Assistant Dean Susan Kinchelow was honored with an Exceptional Service Award.

—Anthony Butts, assistant professor of English, won the Poetry Society of America's 2004 William Carlos Williams Award. His poetry collection, "Little Low Heaven," was selected as the best book of poetry published by a non-profit, university or small press during the 2003 calendar year.

—Robert Kass, head, Department of Statistics, has been awarded a Visiting Miller Research Professorship at the University of California at Berkeley for the 2004-05 academic year, when he will be on sabbatical.

—Stephen Fienberg, the Maurice Falk University Professor of Statistics, has been named a Fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. The academy designates Fellows each year to recognize and honor individual social scientists for their scholarship, efforts and activities to promote the progress of social science.

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Tuesday, April 13: Education Awards. 4:30 p.m., Rangos Hall 2 and 3, University Center (UC). Winners include School of Computer Science Professor Steven Rudich, the William H. and Frances S. Ryan Award for Meritorious Teaching; Associate Head of Mathematical Sciences Russell Walker, the Undergraduate Advising Award; and Biological Sciences; Professor William Brown, the Robert E. Doherty Award for Sustained Contributions to Excellence in Education. Graduate students; Ashish Venugopal and Elisa Echeverria will receive the Graduate Student Teaching and Service Awards, respectively.

—Tuesday, April 13: Town Meeting on institutional repositories. 4:30 - 6 p.m., Peter McKenna Room, UC. Building on the practice among faculty of posting their research online where it is likely to be cited five times as often as traditional print journal literature, institutional repositories are touted as a strategic response to opportunities afforded by a digital networked environment and to systemic problems in the scholarly journal system. Explore what an institutional repository might mean for Carnegie Mellon and discuss how to determine whether benefits would exceed costs. Hosted by Faculty Senate and University Libraries.

—April 14 - 17: School of Drama's "Assassins," directed by Geoffrey Hitch. Wednesday and Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday, 3:30 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Helen Wayne Rauh Studio Theater, Purnell Center for the Arts. Call 412-268-2407 for tickets.

—April 15 - 17: Spring Carnival, Morewood Gardens Parking Lot. Opening ceremonies will be held at 3 p.m., Thursday, April 15. Buggy races will run from 8 a.m. to noon on Friday, April 16, and Saturday, April 17. For schedule information, visit http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/org/carnival/events.html

—Thursday, April 22: "Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day." For information and to register, go to www.andrew.cmu.edu/org/todtw/ or pick up a packet from the UC Information Desk. Registration, on a first-come, first-served basis, runs through April 16. Lunch tickets, at one dollar per person, may be purchased from the Information Desk during registration.

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