University News
72 New Members Chosen by National Academy of Sciences
Representatives of The National Academy of Sciences announced the election of 72 new members and 18 foreign associates from 12 countries in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
The election was held this morning during the business session of the 144th annual meeting of the Academy. Those elected today bring the total number of active members to 2,025. Foreign associates are nonvoting members of the Academy, with citizenship outside the United States. Today's election brings the total number of foreign associates to 387.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization of scientists and engineers dedicated to the furtherance of science and its use for the general welfare. It was established in 1863 by a congressional act of incorporation signed by Abraham Lincoln that calls on the Academy to act as an official adviser to the federal government, upon request, in any matter of science or technology.
Additional information about the Academy and its members is available online at http://www.nasonline.org.
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Charles Vest Elected NAE president
MIT President Emeritus Charles M. Vest has been elected to a six-year term as president of the National Academy of Engineering, effective July 1.
"Engineering is at the core of addressing fundamental challenges to the U.S. economy, environment, health, security, and way of life in the 21st century," Vest said in an April 26 statement on the future of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).
Vest will deliver the 2007 Commencement address at MIT before assuming his new NAE leadership role.
The NAE is part of the National Academies, which also include the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine and National Research Council. These independent, nonprofit institutions serve as advisers to government and the public on issues related to science, engineering and medicine. NAE's membership consists of the nation's premier engineers, who are elected by their peers for their distinguished achievements.
The NAE president is a full-time employee of the organization at its headquarters in Washington, D.C., and also serves as the vice chair of the National Research Council, the principal research arm of the National Academies.
Vest served as MIT's president from 1990 through 2004.
Selected as a member of the bipartisan Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, which completed its report in 2005, Vest brought a strong science and engineering background to the analysis. He led a U.S. Department of Energy task force on the future of science programs in 2002-2003 and chaired a presidential advisory commission on the redesign of the International Space Station in 1992-1994. Vest was vice chair of the Council on Competitiveness for eight years, is a former chair of the Association of American Universities, and serves on the U.S. Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education.
Vest was elected to the NAE in 1993 "for technical and educational contributions to holographic interferometry and leadership as an educator," and he currently serves on the NAE Council.
Vest earned a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University in 1963. He received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in 1964 and 1967, respectively, from the University of Michigan, where he later held the positions of dean of engineering, provost and vice president for academic affairs. He is the recipient of 10 honorary doctoral degrees.
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South Korean Group Plans Research Facility at UT Dallas
The University of Texas at Dallas has signed a memorandum of understanding that calls for a South Korean consortium to invest up to $8 million in the next four years to establish and fund a semiconductor research center at the university's Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science.
Once fully operational, the research facility is expected to explore nano-electronics, nano-bio-info-fusion technology (a synthesis of the biological, physical and information sciences) and other next-generation advances intended to enable semiconductors to continue their decades-old march toward ever smaller, faster and more energy-efficient designs.
The memorandum of understanding is the largest of three that Seoul's Consortium of Semiconductor Advanced Research (COSAR) signed with United States universities this month. Similar agreements were announced with Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley.
Each institution will be responsible for exploring one facet of future semiconductor technology: Stanford will examine manufacturing processes, Berkeley will look at chip design and UT Dallas will delve into new materials and equipment for future-generation chips.
"We're confident this project could lead to developments that revolutionize the semiconductor industry," said Dr. Bob Helms, dean of the Jonsson School. "We're looking forward to working closely with our collaborators at Stanford and Berkeley."
The semiconductor materials expertise and facilities that enabled the Jonsson School to land the award "have only coalesced at the school in the past three years," added Moon Kim, a professor of electrical engineering and director of the Nano-Characterization Facility at UT Dallas. He and Jiyoung Kim, an associate professor of electrical engineering in the Jonsson School, played the central role of working with their South Korean counterparts to bring about the overall project. Moon Kim will serve as coordinator of the semiconductor research center.
In addition to research, the initial agreement calls for UT Dallas to form a strategic alliance of organizations focused on commercializing advances that develop as a result of the research. As UT Dallas scientists and COSAR begin working closely in the months ahead, the Metroplex Technology Business Council also is expected to play a part in encouraging South Korean semiconductor companies to open offices in North Texas.
Moon Kim expects to see a final agreement in place soon, and he intends for the project to get underway July 1.
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Zimmerman Appointed President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of The University of Texas Investment Management Company
A veteran financial investment strategist and manager, and the current chief investment officer and global head of pension investments for New York-based Citigroup has been named president, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of The University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO).
Bruce E. Zimmerman was named to the top executive leadership position Wednesday by the UTIMCO Board of Directors during a special called telephonic meeting. As head of UTIMCO, Zimmerman will be in charge of the daily operations of the organization, which is the investment arm of the University of Texas System. UTIMCO also manages some investments of The Texas A&M University System. The current value of the endowment and operating funds managed by UTIMCO – including the Permanent University Fund, the General Endowment Fund, the Long Term Fund, the Permanent Health Fund and the Intermediate Term Fund – exceeds $21 billion.
Zimmerman succeeds Bob Boldt who resigned last September. Cathy Iberg has served as interim president, chief executive officer and chief investment officer since Boldt's resignation and will return to her previous position as deputy chief investment officer and managing director of marketable alternative investments. Zimmerman's appointment is effective July 1.
Zimmerman joined Citigroup in 2001 as the chief financial officer and chief administrative officer and group managing director of Citigroup Alternative Investments (CAI). Under his leadership, Citigroup established the new business unit as the focal point for all alternative investments offered to Citigroup clients. In that position, he successfully oversaw the management of more than $80 billion of assets and the redesigning and upgrading of all financial, operational and technology platforms.
In 2004, he was promoted to his current position as Citigroup's chief investment officer and global head of pension investments where he is responsible for oversight of Citigroup's $12 billion U.S. Defined Benefit Plan, $6 billion non-U.S. Defined Benefit Plan assets and $12 billion U.S. Defined Contribution Plan. During his tenure, his unit realized a 14.75 percent investment return in 2006 and 12 percent annual returns for the previous three years, exceeding benchmarks and expectations. He also created comprehensive risk management systems, including liquidity, correlation, stress testing, scenario analysis, concentration reporting and analysis. Zimmerman is also credited with recruiting, training and retaining reputable and talented investment professionals.
Previously, Zimmerman held executive positions with JPMorgan Chase & Company, Chase Texas Retail Marketing, Chase Mergers & Acquisitions Group – Texas and Texas Commerce Bank Financial Planning Group. Beginning in 1983, he worked as a consultant and held positions of increasing responsibility with Boston-based Bain & Company. He currently is a member of the Duke University Endowment Board.
Zimmerman earned a bachelor's degree in public policy with high honors from Duke University and an MBA with distinction from Harvard University.
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Former Gov. Tom Kean Join Robertson Board
Princeton University President Shirley M. Tilghman has informed members of the Robertson Foundation board of trustees that longtime trustee John J.F. Sherrerd has decided to retire as a University-designated member of the board, and that he is being succeeded by Thomas Kean, the former New Jersey governor, president of Drew University and chair of the 9/11 Commission.
The Robertson Foundation was formed in 1961 to expand and support the graduate program of Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. It was created following a gift of $35 million from Marie Robertson, whose husband, Charles, was a member of the Princeton class of 1926.
A 1957 Princeton graduate who then earned a master's degree in history from Columbia University Teachers College and taught history and government, Kean served for 10 years in the New Jersey Assembly, rising to the positions of majority leader, minority leader and speaker, before being elected governor of New Jersey in 1982. An exceptionally popular governor, Kean also became a national leader, chairing both the Education Commission of the States and the National Governors Association Task Force on Teaching. In 1990 he was elected president of Drew University , a position he held until 2005. A member of the board of trustees of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation since 1990, he was elected chair of that board in 2005. He is also a former chair of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the National Environmental Education Foundation and a former member of the National Endowment for Democracy.
In 2002, Kean was appointed by President George W. Bush to chair the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission), an independent bipartisan commission that issued a final report in 2004 with the unanimous endorsement of its members. The commission is widely regarded as one of the most influential in American history and its report was nominated for a National Book Award.
The Robertson Foundation is organized under the U.S. tax code as a supporting organization of Princeton University. Its seven trustees include the president of the University, three other members designated by the University and three members designated by the Robertson family. The foundation's governance structure was created in 1961 following the Robertson donation in 1961, and Charles Robertson served as president of the foundation board for its first 20 years. Since 1981 the board has been chaired by the president of the University.
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Martha Roth Appointed as Dean of University of Chicago's Humanities Division
Martha Roth, one of the world's leading experts on the ancient languages of Mesopotamia and Editor-in-Charge of the Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, has been named Dean of the Division of the Humanities at The University of Chicago, effective Sunday, July 1, 2007.
Roth, Deputy Provost for Research and Education and the Chauncey S. Boucher Distinguished Service Professor of Assyriology in the Oriental Institute, Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and the College, will succeed Danielle Allen, Professor in Classics and the College, as Dean of the division.
"Martha has brought incredible energy, confident leadership and sound judgment to her role as Deputy Provost, characteristics that will serve the Humanities Division and the University well in her new position as Dean," wrote President Zimmer and Provost Thomas Rosenbaum in an announcement they sent to University deans and officers.
In announcing the appointment, Zimmer and Rosenbaum praised Roth's recent contributions as Deputy Provost. Since that appointment in July 2004, Roth has coordinated the President's initiative to increase graduate student aid in the Social Sciences and Humanities divisions, and she has served as the officer responsible for compiling and submitting the University's response to the National Research Council's latest project to assess U.S. research doctorate programs.
Roth also has represented the Provost's office on the Library, the Graham School of General Studies and the University Press boards, and has served as the primary liaison to the Office of the Vice President and Dean of Students in the University.
A world-renowned expert on Mesopotamian languages, Roth serves as Editor-in-Charge of the 26-volume Chicago Assyrian Dictionary. She conducts research on the legal and social history of the ancient Near East, and her chief scholarly interests have been family law, women's legal and social issues, and the compilation and transmission of laws.
She is the author of Law Collections from Mesopotamia and Asia Minor, which is the most up-to-date and comprehensive collection and translation of Mesopotamian laws, including those of the famous King Hammurabi of Babylon; The Series An-ta-gal shaqu, Materials for the Sumerian Lexicon 17 (1985); and Babylonian Marriage Agreements, 7th-3rd Centuries B.C. (1989).
Roth, who has received fellowships and grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the American Council of Learned Societies, is currently working on a project on Mesopotamian legal cases.
Prior to her Chicago faculty appointment in 1980, Roth completed her Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania in Oriental Studies in 1979.
Roth succeeds Allen, who has served as Dean of the Division of the Humanities since 2004.
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Faculty from Three UT System Campuses Receive Inaugural Innovations in Education Awards
Faculty at three University of Texas System institutions will be recognized as the inaugural recipients of the System's Innovations in Education Awards, which laud individuals who produce cutting-edge approaches to teaching that have proven to be both creative and effective in classrooms and laboratories.
In all, seven faculty members were recognized for their work on three projects. In one case, five professors collaborated on the program; in the other two, a single professor was recognized for the program. Each prize comes with a $5,000 award.
The awards, funded by the UT System Chancellor's Council, will be presented at the group's annual meeting in Austin on May 4.
The faculty and their respective programs receiving recognition are:
- Alma Leal, Ed.D.; Olivia Rivas, Ed.D.; Selma Yznaga, Ph.D.; Manuel Zamarripa, Ph.D. and Ray Adomaitis, Ph.D., of UT Brownsville. These faculty members collaborated to create the Counseling and Guidance Program and its Community Counseling Clinic at UT Brownsville. Because many students in the program are fluent in Spanish and English, but have learned virtually all of the basic counseling and psychological constructs in English, the faculty developed a bilingual lab manual that provides translations to important terms regarding emotions and psychological disorders. It gives students the linguistic tools necessary to explain counseling ideas and concepts to future Spanish-speaking clients.
- Thomas E. Linehan, Ph.D., of UT Dallas. Linehan developed the Arts and Technology (ATEC) Program, the first comprehensive degree program in Texas that combines computer science and engineering with creative arts and the humanities. The program offers a unique approach in that it combines a variety of fields with modes of thinking and incorporates multiple forms of digital content. Students can mix interactive narration with game creation, visual elements and sound design and even animated and simulated worlds. The courses are intended to educate students to succeed in a media-rich, technologically sophisticated world. With more than 400 students, and in less than three years of existence, the program grew into the university's largest undergraduate major in the School of Arts and Humanities.
- Manuel Berriozábal, Ph.D., of UT San Antonio. Berriozábal founded the Texas Prefreshman Engineering Program (TexPREP) at UT San Antonio. Begun in 1979, the program conducts no-cost summer math-based academic enrichment programs for high-achieving middle school and high school students who come from the city's most underserved areas. More than 25,000 students have completed at least one summer session in the program, and by 2005, 97 percent of its attendees were either in college or had graduated from college.
