A report of honors, awards, offices and other outstanding achievements
of faculty and staff members
Peter Beak, professor of chemistry, has received the Henry Gilman Award
from Iowa State University. The award, which recognizes outstanding accomplishments
in chemical sciences by ISU graduates, honors his contributions to chemistry
through his work in organic synthesis and his elucidation of mechanisms
of organic reactions. In addition, Beak will succeed the chair of the chemistry
section of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Ira Carmen, professor of political science, was elected to membership
in the Human Genome Organization. The group is the international cluster
of scientists at the forefront of the Human Genome Project, which studies
the structure and function of the human genetic constitution and the ethical,
legal, social and political implications of the genomic sciences. Carmen
is the first political scientist to be honored with membership.
John C. Chato, professor emeritus of mechanical and industrial engineering,
received a travel fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of
Science. The award will allow him to visit several Japanese universities
in July. During his stay, he also will give two keynote addresses to the
75th anniversary conference of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers
in Tokyo.
Carolyn Carson Dahl, head of Conferences and Institutes in the Office
of Continuing Education and Public Service, will receive the Stanley C.
Robinson 1996 Distinguished Service Award. She was recognized for her leadership
in the field of continuing education in local, state and national arenas.
Darrell A. Miller, professor emeritus of crop sciences, received
the 1997 Service to Agriculture Award from the Illinois Chapter of Farm
Managers and Rural Appraisers. The award is the chapter's highest recognition
for outstanding contributions as a leader and spokesman for the agricultural
industry in state and national affairs. Miller recently retired after 30
years of service to the UI and the Illinois forage industry.
Kim Rotzoll, dean of the College of Communications, chaired an evaluation
team at Arkansas State University in February. The three-day program to
assess the university's communication program is part of the ongoing effort
of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications.
This is Rotzoll's third chairmanship.
Janice Seitz, professor of vocational and technical education, received
the Distinguished Service Award from the American Vocational Education Personnel
Development Association. The award recognizes people who make a significant
contribution to the advancement of professional personnel development. She
was honored for her work as director of the Leadership Development Program
in Transition for Students from Special Populations. Seitz received her
award in December at the American Vocational Association annual conference
in Cincinnati. While at the conference, she delivered the keynote address
at the Special Needs Division luncheon.
Erwin Small, professor emeritus of veterinary medicine and associate
dean for Alumni and Public Affairs, received the Lifetime Achievement Award
from the Chicago Veterinary Medical Association.
William Trent, professor of education and of sociology and associate
chancellor, was appointed to a panel to study school desegregation in Prince
Georges County near Washington, D.C. He is one of four researchers appointed
by a federal judge to study the merits of race-based busing in the Virginia
school district. Trent previously has testified as an expert witness in
desegregation cases.
Charles L. Tucker III, professor of mechanical engineering, has been
named a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers International.
This award is conferred upon a member with at least 10 years' active engineering
practice who has made significant contributions to the field.
Ben Yen, professor of civil engineering, gave the V.T. Chow Memorial
Lecture, the opening keynote address at Rivertech '96, held in Chicago on
the 25th anniversary of the International Water Resources Association. The
lecture is the group's primary lifetime achievement award given in memory
of the first president of IWRA, who was a professor of civil and hydrosystems
engineering at UI from 1948 until his death in 1981. Yen was the fourth
recipient and second American honored. Yen came to the UI in 1966 and had
collaborated frequently with Chow.
Several members in the department of crop sciences were honored recently.
Andrew Bent, Steve Farrand, Lila Vodkin and Jack Widholm, all professors
of crop sciences and part of a five-institution Soybean Transformation and
Regeneration Team, received the 1996 Illinois Soybean Association Research
Award.
Charles L. Hulin, professor of psychology, and Steven Seitz,
professor of political science, were honored with the 1996 Edwin E. Ghiselli
Award for Research Design conferred by the Society for Industrial and Organizational
Psychology. They were honored for their paper, "Computational Modeling
Applied to Organizational Withdrawal: Modeling Processes of Withdrawal Behavior
Choices," which discusses a computational modeling program, developed
by the authors, and employees' withdrawal processes in organizations.
Several teachers of Japanese at University High School were honored recently.
Hiroko Ito and Chris Thompson gave a presentation at the American
Council on the Teaching of Foreign Language meeting in Philadelphia called
"Talking About America in Japanese." Thompson also heads
the Center for the Improvement of the Teaching of the Japanese Language
and Culture in High School, headquartered at the school.
University Galleries at Illinois State University is featuring an art exhibition
by Barbara Kendrick and Rosalyn Schwartz, both UI professors
of art and design. "Buried Treasures" runs through April 13 at
the gallery in Normal, Ill. In conjunction with the exhibition, a color
catalog is being published that includes an essay by critic Donald Kuspit
and an interview with the artists.
A third edition of "Advertising in Contemporary Society," co-written
by Kim Rotzoll, dean of the College of Communications, and
James E. Haefner, professor and head of advertising, will be published
this year. The book examines advertising as a social and economic institution.
A fifth edition of "Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning" also
will be published this year with contributions by Rotzoll. He was responsible
for the publication's extensive section on ethical problems in advertising.
The Office of Affirmative Action honored two departments with its Affirmative
Action/Equal Opportunity Award. The Division of Public Safety was
the 1995 recipient. Cited were Oliver J. Clark, director, and Cheryl L.
Johnson, affirmative action officer. Central Stores and Receiving
was honored for 1996. Robert L. Kelly Jr. is the director and affirmative
action officer. Criteria for the annual award includes historical achievement
of diversity of the work force, success in achieving affirmative action
goals and the implementation of a plan of fair and equal treatment in hiring,
promotions, upgrades, salary and discipline actions.
The Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations received a certificate
for five continuous years of meeting the Campus Charitable Fund Drive goal.
Last fall, ILIR faculty and staff members raised $5,374, benefiting 40 charities.
The amount exceeded the unit's goal by 19 percent.
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