Carnegie Mellon University

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December 11, 2014

Personal Mention

Beth Kotarski has been named director of University Health Services, effective March 16. She succeeds Anita Barkin, who after 28 years at CMU will be leaving the university this Friday to be closer to her family in Georgia. Kotarski comes to CMU from Swarthmore College, where since 2007 she served as director of Student Health and Wellness Services. Previously, she was associate director of Health Services and Women’s/Reproductive Health Coordinator at Haverford College. "Beth was the unanimous choice of the students, faculty and staff who served on the search committee," said Vice President for Campus Affairs Michael Murphy. "Beyond her demonstrated leadership and clinical skills, Beth’s articulation of her vision for the health and welfare of all members of the campus community is quite compelling. Having served two of the nation’s finest liberal arts colleges, she has a clear understanding of and commitment to an intense and energizing university environment." Kotarski holds a bachelor's degree in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania, and a post-master’s degree certification in Family Health Systems. She is a board certified nurse practitioner. Effective next week, Diane Dawson will serve as interim director of University Health Services until Kotarski arrives in March.

Kemal Oflazer, teaching professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon in Qatar, has been named associate dean for research at the Qatar campus. Since 2008, Oflazer has been leading the natural language processing research effort at CMU-Q with a team of postdocs and research associates. He has been the lead or co-lead of six Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) NPRP projects, and in prior positions he led many projects on Turkish natural language processing, funded by NATO, EU and TUBITAK, The Turkish National Science Foundation, and jointly by US-NSF/TUBITAK. Prior to joining CMU-Q, he served on the faculties of Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey, and Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. He also held visiting positions at New Mexico State University and at the Language Technologies Institute at CMU's Pittsburgh campus. Oflazer has a Ph.D. in computer science from Carnegie Mellon, and a master's degree in computer science and a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. He has been working in the area of natural language processing for almost 25 years, has been an active member of the research community and has published widely in the journals and conferences in this area. “Kemal is an established researcher with an excellent track record of funding and publications. His knowledge of the Qatar National Research Fund will be an asset to Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar as we continue to grow our research programs,” said Ilker Baybars, dean of CMU-Q.

Dudley Reynolds, teaching professor of English at Carnegie Mellon in Qatar, has been named President-elect of the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) International Association (www.tesol.org), the largest professional association of its kind. Reynolds will be sworn in as President-elect at the annual conference in Toronto in March. In March 2016, he will become the 51st president of the association that aims to advance professional expertise in English language teaching and learning for speakers of other languages worldwide. He will serve as past president from March 2017 - March 2018.

Ignacio Grossmann was honored for his 65th birthday with two sessions at the Annual Meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers in Atlanta on Nov. 17. In addition, Grossmann was presented with an online academic tree that involves a total of 495 names, one of the largest academic trees in process systems engineering. A special issue of the journal of Computers & Chemical Engineering also was published in his honor.

Associate Head Track and Field Coach Gary Aldrich will serve as the Tartans’ acting head coach for the 2014-15 indoor season. Aldrich takes over for Dario Donatelli (TPR’81), who has announced his retirement. “Coach Aldrich has been an integral part of our program for a long time and I am grateful for his willingness to accept these additional responsibilities during our transition,” said Director of Athletics Josh Centor. In Aldrich's eight seasons as the associate head coach for the men’s and women’s track and field programs, the men's program has won three University Athletic Association Championships and he has mentored five All-Americans. Aldrich is primarily in charge of the field events, hurdlers and fall conditioning program. Learn more.

Daniel Pillis, a Pittsburgh-based artist pursuing a master's degree in fine arts at CMU, is featuring his work in the first installment of the Andy Warhol Museum's "Exposures" exhibition series, quarterly store window displays in The Warhol Store. Taking his inspiration from Warhol's 1948 painting, "Living Room," Pillis has created a 3-D display of the Warhola family living room from their home on Dawson Street in Pittsburgh. The window installation, which will run through January, features museum merchandise reminiscent of the 1940s and '50s, such as vintage inspired tin toys, home goods and ceramic milk bottles. Warhol Museum hours are 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday, and 10 a.m. - 10 p.m. on Fridays. For more information, visit www.warhol.org.