University News
$33 Million Lokey Donation Will Help Fund Stem Cell Building
Lorry I. Lokey, the founder of Business Wire, will give a minimum of $33 million to help build a home for Stanford's Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.
Lokey, who has given away much of his fortune to educational institutions, said he turned his attention to stem cells in 2001, after the Bush administration limited federal funding for stem cell research, discouraging the study of these potentially powerful cells.
Lokey's contribution to the School of Medicine—its largest single gift to date from an individual—will launch construction of new stem cell laboratories on campus where scientists will probe the power of these elusive cells in treating conditions as diverse as cancer, stroke and diabetes.
Lokey hopes the gift will be more than $33 million; the funds are in an account that is expected to grow in value before construction begins.
The anticipated schedule for the building calls for groundbreaking in 2009, with completion in 2011. The building, to be located between Campus Drive and the Center for Clinical Sciences Research, will be the first in a series of structures that will house the Stanford Institutes of Medicine.
Lokey, a native of Portland, Ore., graduated from Stanford in 1949 with a degree in journalism and credits the university with jumpstarting his career. He became editor of the Stanford Daily and after graduation went to work at United Press (which later became United Press International), one of the country's major wire services. After a series of jobs in newspapers and public relations, he got the idea for starting a new kind of wire service where, instead of going out and getting the news, the news would come to him.
He launched Business Wire in San Francisco in 1961 with $2,000 of his own money. It quickly grew to become a news industry powerhouse, now distributing an average of 17,000 corporate and academic press releases a month. When Lokey sold the business last year to Berkshire Hathaway, the company controlled by investor Warren Buffett, it was valued at roughly $500 million, he said.
Lokey said he's been enjoying giving away his fortune. In recent years, he's donated about $300 million to various educational institutions, including Stanford, the University of Oregon, Mills College in Oakland, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Israel and his elementary school in Oregon. He oversees his foundation grants under the administration of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund in San Francisco.
Lokey previously has made significant gifts to multiple projects at Stanford, including $20 million to help build the new Lorry I. Lokey Laboratory Building, which opened in 2004 and houses research labs for the departments of Chemistry and Biological Sciences.
Lokey still works as the "elder statesman" at Business Wire, commuting to work three days a week from his home in Atherton. But in March he's planning to cut back his time at the company to devote more time to the business of philanthropy, which he said helps keep him young.
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Prestigious Wacker Prize Awarded to Technion President
The Wacker Prize, one of two prestigious prizes in the world in silicon chemistry, will be awarded this summer to the president of the Technion, Prof. Yitzhak Apeloig. The prize is awarded every two years by the giant German company, Wacker, to a leading scientist in silicon chemistry.
The prize was awarded to the Technion President for "his outstanding achievements in the chemistry of organosilicon compounds, which significantly broadened world knowledge in this important scientific field in general and in industry specifically."
Dr. Apeloig's main contribution is in bringing computational chemistry into this important field. He and his group explained that materials with double or triple connections between two silicon atoms are unknown, even though this is something that is very widespread in carbon chemistry. This contradicts expectations that the behavior of carbon and silicon compounds will be similar. Moreover – the computations of Apeloig and his group indicated ways and conditions that will enable producing compounds with double connections between two silicon atoms. The group took an important additional step and produced such compounds in the laboratory, thus opening the door for producing new silicon compounds that did not previously exist.
These compounds can serve as a basis for producing new polymer compounds with unique properties.
Apeloig is one of the pioneers in the use of computations based on the Theory of Quantum Mechanics for predicting physical and chemical properties of materials. For many years, he "swam against the current" in this field. The computations are very complicated and few believed they could accurately predict the complex properties of materials. Application of these computations to silicon chemistry was especially successful and led to achievements that convinced the scientific community of the possibilities of applying them. Today, chemists use these computational tools regularly in their research.
The first organosilicon compounds and the silicon family were initially produced in the laboratory some 60 years ago for purely academic reasons. But almost from the start, as soon as their interesting properties were discovered, they aroused great interest in industry. Silicon has important and unique properties. It is extremely waterproof and used in preserving structures and as insulation. It does not evoke reactions when in contact with the human body and therefore is commonly used in all kinds of implantations and in materials such as catheters and infusions. It also holds up exceptionally well under severe weather conditions and drastic temperature changes. The boots worn by Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, were made of silicon rubber, which is the only material known to man that can stand up under the extreme conditions on the moon's surface.
Wacker is one of the world's leading silicon manufacturers. The prestigious prize is for basic and not necessarily applied research, and thus is unique. The company also supports a series of scientific conferences in Europe focusing on basic academic research in silicon. The aim is to encourage research in this field bearing in mind that quality basic research ultimately leads to discoveries important to industry and mankind.
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University of Chicago President Zimmer Names New Vice President for Communications
President Robert J. Zimmer has named Julie A. Peterson Vice President for Communications at the University of Chicago.
Peterson is currently Interim Vice President for Communications at the University of Michigan and one of the nation's leading academic communications professionals.
Peterson, named to the position after an extensive nationwide search, will be the university's chief communications officer, reporting directly to President Zimmer as a member of his executive staff. She begins her duties July 1.
Peterson will be responsible for developing a strategic communications plan for the university and overseeing its implementation in order to strengthen media relations and communicate the University's distinctive achievements locally, nationally, and internationally.
Additionally, she will build a sophisticated communications capability within the university's central administration and advise President Zimmer and other senior officers on a broad range of internal and external communications. She will work closely with academic deans and officers to coordinate communications across the University and better integrate communications efforts with University planning, development activities, and alumni relations outreach.
She will have direct responsibility for the University News Office and University Publications, including internal news publications and the design and content of the University's homepage.
At Michigan, Peterson provided critical leadership for a number of important challenges. She managed, for instance, all communication efforts related to the university's defense of its use of affirmative action policies in admissions, leading up to and immediately following the Supreme Court rulings in June 2003. She has coordinated an extensive public information and awareness campaign over a period of 10 years about the importance of diversity in higher education.
She also played a key role in a national communication effort regarding the university's partnership with Google to digitize Michigan's entire library collection of seven million volumes, working closely with Google staff, librarians, attorneys and government relations officers from the five university partners.
Peterson has held a variety of communications positions in higher education, beginning as Assistant to the Director of Communications for the Indiana University School of Business, Bloomington, in 1985.
In 1994, she was named Director of News and Information Services at the University of Michigan, managing a large public information and media relations operation.
In 2000, Peterson was named the university's Associate Vice President for Media Relations and Public Affairs. In that role she managed emerging public issues, guided communications for university strategic priorities and initiatives, and became a senior adviser to the president and executive leadership team. She served as a liaison for communications with the Athletic Department, Alumni Association, Hospitals and Medical School, Division of Student Affairs and Department of Public Safety.
She also worked closely with the University of Michigan's development, government relations and community relations offices.
She was named Michigan's Interim Vice President for Communications earlier this month. She currently oversees all aspects of both internal and external communications for the university, including communication policy, media relations, special events, advertising/marketing, and creative editorial and design services.
Peterson received a B.A. in journalism and psychology with high distinction from Indiana University in 1984 and an M.B.A. in marketing from the Indiana University School of Business in 1989. She grew up in the Chicago suburbs and is a graduate of William Fremd High School, Palatine.
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Donella Rapier To Step Down as Harvard Vice President for Alumni Affairs and Development
Donella M. Rapier, Harvard's vice president for alumni affairs and development, announced this week that she will step down from her position effective June 30, 2007.
Ms. Rapier was named vice president for alumni affairs and development in October 2003 by President Lawrence H. Summers. In this capacity, Rapier has had overall responsibility to support and engage a vibrant worldwide community of Harvard University's alumni and friends. She has capably led the University's fundraising efforts in support of its mission.
Over the past three fiscal years, Harvard has raised more than $1.7 billion from alumni and friends. Harvard announced last September that cash receipts from gifts totaled $596 million for fiscal year 2006, the second highest total in Harvard's history. Rapier also was instrumental in establishing the $50 million Professorship Challenge, which encourages alumni to provide much needed incremental resources for faculty support on a University-wide basis.
In addition to fundraising, Rapier has led a major advance in the coordination of alumni and development activities across the University. As a part of this effort, she helped create a single University-wide database for alumni affairs and development, consolidating eight separate stand-alone systems into one. In addition, she facilitated a new University-wide gift crediting policy designed to encourage alumni to consider giving gifts to parts of the University with which they have no prior affiliation. This reform has already helped support areas of the University most in need of additional resources.
As vice president, Rapier also helped to create several University-wide committees to examine issues of University finances, planned development for Harvard's Allston presence, enhanced science and engineering at the University, and improved and expanded financial aid. Each of these committees has tapped the expertise of many alumni and friends with expertise in these critical areas.
Prior to becoming vice president, Rapier served as associate dean for external relations and chief financial officer at Harvard Business School (HBS), where she played a leading role in planning and executing the first School-wide capital campaign in HBS history, which ultimately raised nearly $600 million.
Rapier became the Business School's CFO in August 1996 under Dean Kim Clark, and in March 2001 assumed responsibility for the School's external relations functions as well. In this capacity, Rapier oversaw all HBS alumni outreach activities and development. As senior financial adviser to the dean, she oversaw all aspects of the School's finances, including long-range financial planning, budgeting, and reporting. She also taught accounting courses at both Harvard Business School and at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Rapier received a B.S. degree, summa cum laude, from California State University, Northridge, and her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
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University of Pennsylvania Names Andrew C. Porter Dean of the Graduate School of Education
Andrew C. Porter, the Patricia and Rodes Hart Professor of Leadership Policy and Organization and Director of the Learning Sciences Institute at Vanderbilt University, has been named Dean of the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. He will begin Aug. 1.
A nationally known scholar and educator, Porter is an expert in quantitative methods. He also has a deep understanding and appreciation for the important role that historical and qualitative approaches play in understanding the processes of education and human development.
Porter received his B.S. in 1963 from Indiana State University and his M.S. in 1965 and Ph.D. in 1967 in educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin. In 1988, he returned to the University of Wisconsin as Professor of Educational Psychology and Director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research. Porter has been at Vanderbilt since 2003.
A former President, in 2001, of the American Education Research Association, Porter was elected a member of the National Academy of Education in 1994, has been Vice President of the Academy since 2005 and is a Lifetime National Associate of the National Academies.
A native of Huntington, Pa., Porter is a present or past member of a dozen scholarly editorial and advisory boards, including the Journal of Teacher Education, the American Educational Researcher, Educational Researcher, the Teachers College Record, the American Journal of Education, the Review of Educational Research, Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis, the Journal of Education Statistics, the Review of Research in Education, the Journal of Education Research, Evaluation Quarterly and the American Education Research Journal. He has also served as Chair of the Publications and Editorial Advisory Board of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education. A prolific scholar, he is the author or co-author of 38 book chapters, more than 50 scholarly articles and dozens of technical reports.
Penn's Graduate School of Education is consistently ranked in the U.S. News & World Report's top 10 nationally. The school plays a central role in educational-reform efforts in Philadelphia and an increasingly significant role in national policy discussions on the reform of American elementary, secondary and higher education, as well as international education.
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UT Dallas' Dr. Ross Roeser Named as First Recipient of Lois and Howard Wolf Professorship
Dr. Ross Roeser, a professor of communication sciences in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at The University of Texas at Dallas, recently was appointed to the university's newly created Lois and Howard Wolf Professorship.
Roeser received the honor for his outstanding contributions to, and international reputation in, the field of audiology. The professorship includes an endowment and research stipend.
Roeser recently stepped down as executive director of the university's Callier Center for Communication Disorders, which is renowned for its clinical, educational and research programs in communication disorders. Now director emeritus, he has been at the center for more than 35 years.
The author of numerous books and articles in his field, Roeser also is editor of the International Journal of Audiology, a leading professional publication in the science of hearing and hearing defects and their treatment that boasts a worldwide circulation. In 2005, he received the Larry Mauldin Award for Excellence in Education.
Howard B. Wolf, whose family was in the apparel business in St. Louis, founded Howard B. Wolf, Inc., a purveyor of women's separates and sportswear, in Dallas in 1952. Wolf serves on the board of trustees of the foundation for the Callier Center, and he and his wife, Lois, are supporters of the Dallas Museum of Art and the Jewish Family Service Dallas, among other organizations.
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UCSF Names New Chief of Gynecologic Oncology
John K. Chan, MD, has been named the new chief of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine.
He will assume his new post on March 1.
As chief of gynecologic oncology, Dr. Chan will oversee all of the division's clinical, research and educational activities.
Chan is currently on faculty at Stanford University. Also a clinical and translational scientist, Chan recently has focused his research on ovarian cancer.
After graduating from University of California, Berkeley with a degree in molecular and cell biology and business administration in 1991, Chan attended UCLA medical school, where he earned a medical degree in 1995. He did his residency in gynecology and obstetrics at the University of California, Irvine and completed a fellowship in gynecologic oncology at UC Irvine. He joined the faculty at Stanford in 2003.
Chan's research focuses on novel therapeutics in the treatment of ovarian cancer and, in particular, immunotherapy for ovarian cancer. He is also interested in outcomes-based research in gynecologic malignancies.
In addition to his academic accomplishments, Chan has served on professional committees and has received numerous honors and awards. In the community, Chan is currently on the board of directors of the American Cancer Society Northern California Chinese Unit. He is fluent in Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) and medical Spanish.
Among Chan's many accomplishments, he has won numerous awards, including a New Investigator Award from the Gynecologic Oncology Group/Ovarian Cancer Research Fund and an Outstanding Faculty Award from the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Stanford University School of Medicine. He joins UCSF as a recipient of the National Institutes of Health Reproductive Scientist Development Award.
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Cornell Joins 80 Other Schools In Clean-Energy Policy Aimed at Reducing Greenhouse Gases
In its most high-profile move yet toward sustainability goals, Cornell has joined close to 80 other colleges and universities in pledging bold efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases associated with global warming, chief among them carbon dioxide (CO2).
After reviewing a committee's recommendations on how to proceed, President David Skorton said on Feb. 22 that he signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment.
The climate-neutral, or carbon-neutral, commitment holds signatories to developing a comprehensive plan for eliminating emissions of greenhouse gases -- mainly CO2 -- first by quantifying harmful emissions, and then taking a layered approach to reducing them. The climate commitment document also outlines aggressive strategies for such reductions, from adopting energy-efficient appliances to encouraging public transportation.
Making a public commitment to greenhouse gas reduction is the first step in weaving a formal plan together, explained Carolyn Ainslie, vice president for planning and budget, who co-chaired the advisory committee with Stephen Golding, executive vice president for finance and administration. The committee also included two members of the student group KyotoNOW!, faculty members, Sustainability Coordinator Dean Koyanagi and representatives from Cornell's Department of Utilities and Energy Management.
Golding stressed that Cornell must next work to identify exactly what it means to be climate-neutral, and how to measure it.
