December 1, 2005

Vol. 16, No. 21

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.

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2004 Editions are available online.

Previous editions are available online.

University Provost and Senior Vice President Mark Kamlet has signed an agreement with South Australian Premier Mike Rann to establish a branch of the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management in Adelaide, Australia, next year. Beginning in May 2006, Heinz School Australia will offer the Master of Science in Information Technology and Master of Science in Public Policy and Management degrees from its new home in the historic Torrens Building, Victoria Square, Adelaide. "Our objective is to have a significant impact on societies and economies in the Asia-Pacific region by training the next generation of leaders in public policy and information technology," Kamlet said. "South Australia is an exceptional platform for us to pursue that objective because of the vision of the state's premier and the leadership role Australia is playing in the region."

—"Our relationship with South Australia is unique and provides the Heinz School with an opportunity to become a global leader in offering U.S. education in the Asia Pacific and East Asian Hemisphere. The Heinz School aspires to have impact on the evolution of governance, policy making and growth of the global economy in this important region of the world," added Heinz School Dean Mark Wessel.

—Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/051128_australia.html.

FLU VACCINATION CLINICS SET FOR DEC. 2 AND DEC. 6

Student Health will hold a flu vaccination clinic from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2 in the University Center's Dowd Room and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 6 in the Student Health Service at Morewood Gardens. The cost is $15. There is no charge for staff and faculty who signed up at the Benefits and Health Fair and for students on the Highmark student insurance plan.

CARNEGIE MELLON AND PITT WIN MILLION DOLLAR EDUCATIONAL GRANT

Carnegie Mellon, in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh, has received a prestigious grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to support the development of an interdisciplinary joint doctoral program in computational biology. The $1 million grant, one of only 10 awarded from a competition of 132 applicants nationwide, will support the new Ph.D. program in Computational Biology that was established jointly by the two universities (see http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases05/050902_doctorate.html). The primary focus will be on curriculum development, emphasizing the development of a new laboratory course for computational biologists and the creation of expanded course offerings in bioimage informatics and computational structural biology.

—Further information: http://www.cmu.edu/PR/releases05/051122_grant.html.

NOMINATIONS REQUESTED FOR BARBARA LAZARUS AWARD

All members of the Carnegie Mellon community are invited to nominate an individual or group for the Barbara Lazarus Award for Culture and Climate. Lazarus, who died July 15, 2003, was associate provost for academic affairs. The nominee should have demonstrated extraordinary leadership and made a demonstrable impact on improving the culture and climate in the Carnegie Mellon community. Nominations must include a cover page, including the name, email address and campus phone number of the nominee, and a nomination letter of no more than two pages citing specific examples of the nominee's impact. Nomination materials should be sent by Dec. 11 to Everett Tademy, Human Resources, Whitfield Hall 200 or et19@andrew.cmu.edu. The award will be presented at President Cohon's Martin Luther King State of Diversity address at noon on Jan. 16, 2006.

SUPPORT CARNEGIE MELLON'S UNITED WAY CAMPAIGN

There's still time to contribute to Carnegie Mellon's United Way Campaign. By making a gift before Dec. 16 you can support programs and services that help people in our community, such as the Jewish Community Center, Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, the Center for Hearing and Deaf Services, Mercy Behavioral Health and Three Rivers Youth Inc. Contribute online at http://www.unitedwaypittsburgh.org/uwac/carnegiemellon or contact Courtney Bryant at cbryant@andrew for a paper form.

NEWS BRIEF

—Online Faculty Course Evaluations are open now, and will be available until 8 a.m., Monday, Dec. 12. Students should go to http://www.cmu.edu/fce/ to begin their evaluations.

PERSONAL MENTION

—The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has elected ECE faculty members José M.F. Moura, Daniel P. Siewiorek and Elias Towe to the rank of fellow. AAAS fellows are chosen "for meritorious efforts to advance science or its applications."

—Donna Badger, long-time proofreader and copy editor in the university's Communication Design Group, is leaving Carnegie Mellon to become an Income Maintenance Case Worker for the Department of Public Welfare. In her new role, she will work with clients to determine their welfare status and help them regain financial independence. Donna (or "Badger" as she's affectionately called) joined Carnegie Mellon in 1991. Her knowledge of grammatical and stylistic rules has made her an invaluable resource for the entire campus community.

—Professor Barbara Freed's film, "A Model for Matisse: The Story of the Vence Chapel," received the Pierre Salinger Award for the Best Documentary at the Avignon/New York Film Festival Nov. 13 in New York City. Freed is a professor of French Studies and Applied Linguistics. Previously, her film was honored as the best film for television at the 2004 International Festival of Film on Art in Montreal.

—Jeff Sheehan, a graduate student in Chemical Engineering, won the Best Graduate Poster Award at the annual meeting of the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society for his poster "Effects of End Group Chemistry on Mechanical Properties of PEG-co-PGA Hydrogels."

—School of Art Professor Elaine A. King presented a paper, "Social Responsibility--Ethics, Arts, Technology," at the International Philosophy Congress of the Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum at the Ringling School of Art and Design, Nov. 17 - 20. She also organized the panel that explored ethics in the visual arts.

—Adnan Akay, Lord Professor and head of Mechanical Engineering, received the Per Bruel Gold Medal for Noise Control and Acoustics at the 2005 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition. He was honored for his scientific contributions to acoustics and vibration in the areas of friction-generated noise, impact noise and fluid-layer damping. He was also recognized for outstanding mentoring for his leadership within the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

—According to a study of the Indian Institute of Science, Professor of Computer Science Christos Faloutsos has been ranked among the top 50 nurturers in Computer Science Research. The study considered publications in the Data Base and Logic Programming collection of articles, and also considered several metrics like number of publications and their impact.

—Peter Madsen, an associate teaching professor of philosophy, is participating today (Dec. 1) in an AAAS lecture on "The Assembly of Protocells" in Washington, D.C. Madsen is serving as a respondent to the lecture given by Steen Rasmussen of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Rasmussen's talk is about how nonliving matter can self-organize into living matter, and Madsen will be commenting upon the social and ethical ramifications of this work. Madsen is the director of Carnegie Mellon's Center for the Advancement of Applied Ethics.

—A.J. Perlis Professor of Computer Science Mary Shaw was recently named a 2005 recipient of the international Stevens Award. The Stevens Award was created to recognize outstanding contributions to the literature or practice of methods for software and systems development. She presented a lecture, "Sparking Research Ideas from the Friction Between Doctrine and Reality," at the Carnegie Library Lecture Hall as part of the Stevens Lecture on Software Development Methods. Computer Science Professor David Garlan received a Stevens Award Citation "in honor of his fundamental contributions to the development and understanding of software architecture as a discipline in software engineering."

CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS

—Thursday, Dec. 1: Carnegie Mellon Kiltie Band Holiday Concert. 5:30 - 6:30 p.m., Kirr Commons, UC.

—Tuesday, Dec. 6: Digital Libraries Colloquium Series. "Copyright in a Networked Society: Creative Commons and Machine-Readable Law." Michael Carroll, associate professor of law, Villanova University. 3 - 5 p.m., Rangos 3, UC.

—Friday, Dec. 9: College of Fine Arts (CFA) and School of Music Holiday Concert, directed by Robert Page. Noon,CFA Great Hall. The Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic, Concert Choir and Repertory Chorus will perform. This special event is free and open to the public and will be broadcast live on WQED-FM 89.3.

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