July 19, 2004

Activities and Achievements

Articles & Chapters
Ken Best, University Communications, published six reviews in the May edition of Performing Songwriter as part of the magazine's "With a Bullet" column devoted to new compact discs that local radio stations are playing. He hosts a Saturday afternoon show on listener-supported WPKN-FM in Bridgeport.

Karen Bullock, Social Work, "The Changing Role of Grandparents in Rural Families: The Results of Exploratory Study in Southeastern North Carolina" in Families in Society, 85.1 (January-March 2004).

Feenie Ziner, English, emerita, "Mary Poppins as a Zen Monk," first published in the New York Times Book Review in 1972, reprinted in Children's Literature Review, 93, 2004.

Awards & Honors
Craig Douglas Albert, Political Science, Ph.D. student, won USG's Educator of the Year award for 2004.

Elena Albini, Health Information Management, John Dempsey Hospital, received the Star Award at the Annual New England States Health Information Convention on May 3. The award recognizes her achievements in the work of the Connecticut Health Information Association.

Robert Pietrzak, Health Center, MPH graduate, received the National Council on Problem Gambling Master's Thesis Award for his MPH thesis, "Health and Psychosocial Correlates of Problem Gambling in Older Adults." The award, offered annually, recognizes the most outstanding and timely master's thesis on a topic related to problem gambling. He presented his thesis at the Council's 18th Annual Meeting June 17-19 in Phoenix. The thesis also won the Durand Jacobs Award sponsored by the International Centre for Youth Gambling Problems and High-Risk Behaviors at McGill University. And Pietrzak was selected as recipient of the Mulvihill Medal, the highest honor awarded by UConn's Graduate Program in Public Health.

Montgomery Shaw, A.T. DiBenedetto Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and Institute of Materials Science, is the inaugural winner of the Founders' Award given by the Polymer Analysis Division of the Society of Plastics Engineers. Shaw was recognized for his "pioneering work in the thermodynamics of polymer blends, the development of novel optical and rheological instrumentation, and fundamental characterization of liquid crystal polymers, electrical fluids' and polymer dielectrics." The award was presented at the society's 2004 Annual Technical Conference on May 17 in Chicago.

The UConn Co-op has been named winner of the 2004 Lucile Micheels Pannell Award for a general bookstore by the Women's National Book Association. The award was presented on June 4 at BookExpo America in Chicago at the Children's Book and Author Breakfast sponsored by the American Booksellers Association-Children's Book Council Joint Committee, the Association of Booksellers for Children, and BookExpo America. The Pannell Award recognizes retail bookstores that excel at creatively bringing books and children together and inspiring children's interest in books and reading.

Books
Olu Oguibe, Art & Art History and Institute for African American Studies, The Culture Game, University of Minnesota Press, (February 2004), 204 pp.

Presentations
Leanne Harty, Museum of Natural History and Connecticut Archaeology Center, presented "Give Peace a Chance!" for the New England Museum Association's College and University Museum's professional affinity group workshops on June 28 at the Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University.

Thomas Paterson, History, emeritus, gave the Schneider Lecture at Southern Oregon University on "Contesting Castro's Cuba: History, Politics, and War;" he also taught a workshop on "Teaching History" for Oregon teachers.

Jeremy Pressman, Political Science, presented, "Bush's Mideast Policy: The Regional and Global Impact," at a conference sponsored by L'Université du Québec à Montréal in Montreal, Canada, on April 29.

Professional Societies
Douglas Cooper, Chemical Engineering, John DeWolf, Civil & Environmental Engineering, Joseph Helble, Environmental Research Institute, Bahram Javidi, Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Fotios Papadimitrakopoulos, Chemistry, have been inducted into the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering.

Kurt Schwenk, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, has been elected chair-elect of the Division of Vertebrate Morphology in the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, the leading organization for vertebrate morphology in North America.

Other Activities
Thomas Blank, Family Studies, participated in a scientific review panel related to prostate cancer as a consumer reviewer - someone who has had the disease for that program. Between April 18 and April 23, he participated in the evaluation of research proposals submitted to the Prostate Cancer Research Program sponsored by the Department of Defense. He was a full voting member, along with prominent scientists, at meetings to determine how Congress' appropriation of $85 million will be spent on future prostate cancer research.

Marcel Dufresne, Journalism, was one of 20 journalism professors from around the country selected as a 2004 fellow in the Institute for Journalism Excellence, an intensive American Society of Newspaper Editors program that strengthens ties between educators and editors. The fellows worked as reporters, photographers, copy editors, and online producers at daily newspapers from June 14 to July 23. Dufresne worked at The Hartford Courant.

Odvard Egil Dyrli, Curriculum & Instruction, emeritus, was elected to the Board of Trustees of Messiah College, Grantham, Pa.