April 17, 2008
Vol. 18, No. 37
In this issue:
Al Gore To Give Keynote Address at Commencement, May 18
Former U.S. Vice President and 2007 Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore will speak at Carnegie Mellon's 111th commencement ceremony at 11 a.m., Sunday, May 18 in Gesling Stadium.
"We are very pleased that Al Gore, the nation's leading advocate for the environment, will speak to our graduates at commencement," said Carnegie Mellon President Jared L. Cohon. "He is an inspiring and committed leader, whose beliefs fit well with our university, an institution committed to sustainable, green practices. His impassioned campaigns have led him to some of the world's greatest honors. And we are greatly honored to have him at Carnegie Mellon."
Gore is the author of the bestsellers "Earth in the Balance" and "An Inconvenient Truth," which was the subject of an Oscar-winning documentary that detailed the devastating effects of global warming. He is the co-winner, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for "informing the world of the dangers posed by climate change." Carnegie Mellon Engineering and Public Policy Professor Ed Rubin was a member of that panel.
For more on commencement, visit http://www.cmu.edu/commencement.
Spring Carnival is Here; New Mascot Costume, Name To Be Revealed
Carnegie Mellon will hold its annual Spring Carnival Thursday, April 17, through Saturday, April 19. This year's opening ceremony, scheduled for 3 p.m. today, Thursday, April 17 on the "Midway" (Morewood Gardens parking lot), will mark the first appearance of Carnegie Mellon's new costumed mascot performer, and Mascot Identity Task Force members will announce the results of the university's mascot-naming survey.
The Sweepstakes buggy races, a tradition since 1920, will be held from 8 a.m. to noon Friday and Saturday, April 18-19. CmuTV will broadcast full-scale event coverage of the buggy races on channel 17 and will stream coverage online at www.cmuTV.org/buggy/. WRCT 88.3 FM, will also provide coverage of the live action.
A fireworks display will mark the close of carnival at 9:30 p.m., Saturday, April 19 in Gesling Stadium. For more on carnival, including a schedule of events and traffic advisories, visit
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/org/carnival/
Three Sophomores Earn Prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarships
Three Carnegie Mellon sophomores have received Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships to encourage their pursuit of careers in the natural sciences. Chemistry major
Andrew David DeYoung, computer science major
Lawrence D. Jesper and biological sciences major
Samuel M. Kim are three of 321 sophomores and juniors nationwide chosen from more than 1,000 nominations. Sophomore chemical engineering major
Carmeline Joan Dsilva received an honorable mention citation.
"The fact that all four nominees were sophomores is a testament to how well our students, even within two years of their matriculation, can acquire phenomenal research and leadership experiences that allow them to compete with the brightest students in the country," said
Paul Fowler, associate dean of Student Affairs.
Each scholarship recipient will receive a two-year scholarship of up to $7,500 per year.
For more:
http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/April/april16_goldwaterscholars.shtml
Eberly Center Names Wimmer Faculty Fellows
Five junior faculty members have received 2008 Wimmer Fellowships from The Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence. The program, supported by the Wimmer Family Foundation, is designed for junior faculty members interested in enhancing their teaching through concentrated work designing or re-designing a course, innovating new materials, or exploring a new pedagogical approach.
This year's fellows are
Kelly Hutzell, the Caste Chair Assistant Professor in the School of Architecture;
Jeria Quesenberry, lecturer in the H&SS Information Systems program;
Osman Khan, assistant professor in the School of Art;
John Kitchin, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering; and
Francesca Torello, adjunct professor in the School of Architecture. The fellows will be recognized at the "Celebration of Teaching" at 4:30 p.m., April 23 in Rangos 1 & 2.
News Briefs
- The Children's School Kindergarten is planning a Trike-a-thon from 9:30 to 11 a.m. on May 5 to support a sister of a kindergarten student who has had a multiple organ transplant. If you would like to make a donation, send a check to the Children's School Office made payable to "Transplant Foundation." You can also support Ally's Angels at http://dash2008.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=266472&team=2718410
- The Carnegie Mellon Bookstore presents the Modern Language Book Sale. Hundreds of foreign language books, including textbooks, novels and reference books are on sale at bargain prices. 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Monday, April 21 and Wednesday, April 23 in the Baker Hall lobby. For more information, call 412-268-2967 or email ahaimson@andrew.cmu.edu
- In honor of Earth Day, Tuesday, April 22, Student Health Services and Facilities Management are seeking volunteers to help make the campus greener by cleaning up cigarette butts, the top littered item in the world. Volunteers are needed to donate as little as one hour of their time to assist in cleaning up cigarette butts on campus. To volunteer, contact Kristine M Cecchetti at 412-268-7888 or krisc@andrew.cmu.edu
- Take Your Daughters and Sons to Work Day is April 24. For details and to register, visit: http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/org/todtw/forms.htm
Personal Mention
- Markus Klausner is the recipient of this year's Civil and Environmental Engineering Recent Alumnus Achievement Award. Klausner, who graduated in 1999, is part of the corporate research and development team at Bosch, where he has worked primarily on automobile control systems. He has quickly risen through the ranks at Bosch and is now in charge of next-generation software.
- The following student employees were recently honored as Student Employees of the Year: Sarah Amador, Alonzo Benavides, Sara Brooks, Nathan Diorio-Toth, Brian Freeman, Douglas Hilling, Linda Min, Eileen Morrison, Maite Rios, Bethany Rutter, Jonathan Samuels, Melissa Tashiro, Adam Young, and Frank Zhang. Amador, a student in the Heinz School, will represent Carnegie Mellon at the Northeast Regional level.
- Linda Babcock, the James M. Walton Professor of Economics at the Heinz School, has been selected to receive the Jeffrey Z. Rubin Theory-To-Practice Award by the International Association for Conflict Management (IACM). The award is given every two years to a person who has made a significant impact on the practice of negotiation and will be presented at the IACM conference in July. Babcock is the co-author of "Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide," and the author of "Ask For It: How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What They Want."
- Jeria Quesenberry, lecturer in the H&SS Information Systems program, and co-authors Eileen M. Trauth, Haiyan Huang and Stephen McKnight won the 2008 Best Paper Award for the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Management Information Systems and Computer Personal Research. The paper was titled "Linking Economic Development and Workforce Diversity through Action Research."
- Computer Science Professor Randy Pausch has received the 2008 Dr. John E. Murray Jr. Award for Academic Leadership and Excellence from Amen Corner Charities.
Calendar Highlights
- Monday, April 21: Strategic Plan Town Hall meeting focusing on international efforts. 4 - 5:30 p.m., McConomy Auditorium. Questions? Contact Michael Murphy at mm1v@andrew.cmu.edu.
- Tuesday, April 22: Buhl Lecture. Joel Primack, professor of physics at the University of California at Santa Cruz, will give "A Brief History of Dark Matter." 4:30 p.m., Mellon Institute Auditorium. For more: http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/April/april11_buhllecture.shtml
- Tuesday, April 22: University Lecture Series presents Peggy Hamburg, VP for biological programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative and distinguished senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. She'll speak on "Health and Security in a Changing World." 4:30 p.m., Rangos 1.
- Tuesday, April 22: The Center for the Arts in Society Research Forum presents Frédérique Desbuissons, associate professor of art history at the Université de Reims Champagne-Ardenne in France. His talk is titled "Portrait of the Artist as Beer Drinker: Gustave Courbet." 4:30 p.m., Baker Hall 154R.
- Wednesday, April 23: A Celebration of Teaching. Carnegie Mellon will honor its teaching award winners for the 2007-08 academic year. 4:30 p.m., Rangos 1 & 2. For more: http://www.cmu.edu/celebration-of-teaching/
- Friday, April 25: Mechanical Engineering seminar. "Droplets and Defects: Microscale Flows of Microstructured Materials," by Carnegie Mellon Assistant Professor Shelley Anna. 10:30 a.m., Scaife Hall 125.
- For more news and events, visit http://my.cmu.edu/site/events/
