University News
McDowell Named Vice Chancellor for Research and Technology Transfer
Keith McDowell, vice president of research and vice provost at The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, was appointed vice chancellor for research and technology transfer of The University of Texas System. The appointment, announced Tuesday by Chancellor Mark Yudof effective June 1.
McDowell, a chemist, will return to Texas and the UT System after four successful years as the first senior research and technology transfer executive at the University of Alabama. He joined the Alabama administration in 2003 after serving as vice president for research and information technology at UT Arlington, where he joined the faculty in 1991 as chair of the chemistry and biochemistry department and later became associate dean of science and then dean of the graduate school.
In his four years at Alabama, McDowell focused resources on building the institution's research and technology transfer infrastructure, recruiting top-talent researchers, and increasing federally sponsored programs. As a result of these efforts, the university experienced almost 59 percent growth in sponsored programs. He also serves as the executive director of the Alabama EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) program, where he oversees initiatives in support of the state's research competitiveness, collaborations and integrated education and research programs.
While at UT Arlington, McDowell was credited with greatly improving the institution's research profile. Among the accomplishments under his leadership include the formation of the Arlington Technology Incubator and UT Arlington's inclusion in the SPRING consortium, a nanotechnology initiative involving UT Austin, UT Dallas and Rice University.
The UT System Office of Research and Technology Transfer was established by Chancellor Yudof in 2005. As vice chancellor for research and technology transfer, McDowell will be responsible for developing and implementing strategies to expand and enhance research funding at UT System institutions. He will facilitate collaboration among the academic and health campuses to develop joint proposals to increase grants and contracts from external sources. McDowell will also assist UT institutions with research, technology development, technology transfer and commercialization.
Additionally, he will also be responsible for fostering effective relationships among the university community, governmental entities, national laboratories, foundations, industry leaders, and the private sector. McDowell will also work closely with state economic development programs, specifically the Texas Enterprise Fund and Emerging Technology Fund.
In fiscal year (FY) 2007, the State of Texas invested $1.7 billion in the 15 UT institutions through general revenue, enabling exploration, innovation and ingenuity while educating an advanced workforce. These funds leveraged $1.8 billion for research endeavors, 14 start-up companies (66 in the last five years), 117 U.S. patents (553 in the last five years), and 655 invention disclosures (2,770 in the last five years), ultimately creating new jobs, products and services.
McDowell succeeds Robert E. Barnhill, who resigned last December. Arjuna Sanga has served as interim vice chancellor for research and technology transfer and will return to his previous position as associate vice chancellor for technology transfer.
McDowell earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry at Wake Forest University and a doctoral degree in chemical physics from Harvard University. He began his teaching career on the chemistry faculty at Clemson University, was a research associate at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and was honored twice with the Harvard Teaching Fellow Award for excellence in teaching. An Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, McDowell is also a member of The American Chemical Society, The American Physical Society and the National Council of University Research Administrators.
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University of Chicago Receives $35 Million Gift to Support Arts Center
The University of Chicago announced May 3 that it has received a $35 million cash gift from David and Reva Logan, and their sons and grandchildren, to support the University's Center for the Creative and Performing Arts.
Logan is a graduate of the University's College and its law school and a longtime supporter of the arts. This is one of the largest single donor gifts to the University in its history. It also is believed to be both the single largest cash gift to the arts in the city of Chicago and one of the largest gifts to support a university building dedicated to the arts in the United States.
Slated for completion in 2011, at an estimated cost of $100 million, the Reva and David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts will be located on the southern end of the University of Chicago campus, at 60th Street and Ingleside Avenue; it will become a center for all areas of artistic expression — visual arts, theater and performance, music and film — at the University.
David Logan is a 1939 graduate of the College and a 1941 graduate of Chicago's law school. Reva Logan also attended the College and is a former teacher. The Logans have a wide range of philanthropic interests — they've given generously to support education, health, social change, and poverty reduction — but the lifelong Chicago residents have had a particular passion for the arts.
Logan served on the Illinois Arts Council for 29 years and chaired the Council's Arts in Education panel for its first several years.
An internationally renowned collector of photography and artist-illustrated books, David Logan has received the Governor's (Illinois) Special Recognition Award for Distinguished Service in the Arts and Education. In previous years, the Logans have provided generous grants in support of numerous arts projects, including New Writing in Photography, the Chicago Arts Partnership for Education, Ken Burns' "Jazz," and Duke University's Jazz Loft Project.
The couple also has funded the Reva and David Logan Collection of Illustrated Books at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco and endowed a faculty position in investigative journalism at the University of California Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. Mr. Logan also has been a leader in the University of Chicago alumni community.
John Boyer, Dean of the College, said that the Logan gift will, at last, provide the University with an Arts Center truly worthy of our students and our faculty.
An architect for the Reva and David Logan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts will be selected later this month.
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Dr Stanley Ho Donates £2.5m (US$4.98 million) to Oxford University Towards the Study of Chinese History
Hong Kong entrepreneur Dr Stanley Ho is endowing a new University Lecturership in Chinese History, associated with a Tutorial Fellowship at Pembroke College. The holder of these posts will be responsible for research and teaching the history of modern and ancient China.
Dr Ho was formally thanked for the benefaction by the Vice-Chancellor of the University, Dr John Hood and Mr Giles Henderson, Master of Pembroke, at a reception and dinner in Hong Kong on Monday.
The creation of this new post forms part of a broader strategy to develop Chinese Studies at Oxford. The University is one of the leading institutions in Europe for Chinese Studies, which is based on a strong knowledge of Chinese languages but also covers a range of academic disciplines including Chinese literature, history, politics, geography and art. Oxford is also playing a leading role in the development of Chinese Studies throughout the UK and is one of the three founding institutions of the British Inter-University China Centre.
The holder of the Lecturership and Fellowship will take up post in October 2007 and will be amongst several new China specialists being recruited by Oxford. The University is also keen to build on its tradition of working with universities in China, and is currently involved in several joint projects across China including language training, the sciences, the social sciences and political philosophy.
As well as a University Lecturership holding an associated Tutorial Fellowship at Pembroke College the benefaction will fund associated academic initiatives in Chinese Studies at Pembroke.
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Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC Set to Launch Transition at Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC (LLNS), announced Tuesday the mobilization of its senior leadership team to prepare for the transition to manage and operate Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) selected LLNS to manage and operate Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). The contract begins Oct. 1, 2007.
The new management team includes Bechtel National, University of California, BWX Technologies (BWXT), Washington Group International and Battelle. The team also includes Texas A&M University.
As one of his first actions as president of LLNS, Miller announced Dr. Steve Liedle, a Bechtel principal vice president, would serve as deputy director at LLNL. Liedle has more than 24 years experience with DOE/NNSA, most recently as deputy general manager of the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
The LLNS team was formed to manage and operate Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory by entities renowned for their expertise and accomplishments throughout the DOE nuclear weapons complex and beyond. Bechtel is the largest project management contractor in the United States. The University of California is the world's largest academic research institution. BWX Technologies and Washington Group International are the top two DOE nuclear facilities contractors and between them manage and operate four of DOE's five safest sites. Battelle is a global leader in science and technology and commercializes technology, performs contract research and manages laboratories for government and industry. The team also includes Texas A&M University, which provides an important academic alliance.
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Welch Foundation Grants Fund Three UT Dallas Chemistry Researchers' Work
Three researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas have received grants totaling $480,000 from the Houston-based Welch Foundation, which annually funds chemistry research in Texas.
The scientists, all from the university's School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, received awards ranging from $150,000 to $180,000. The funding cycle for the grants begins on June 1 and continues for three years. The recipients are:
- Dr. Kenneth Balkus, professor of chemistry, $150,000, "Zeolite Encapsulated Metal Complexes"
- Dr. Donald Gray, professor and head of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, $150,000, "Preferential DNA Binding of Human Replication Protein A"
- Dr. John Sibert, associate professor of chemistry, $180,000, "Functional Redox-Active Macrocyclic and Acyclic ‘Wurster-Type' Hosts for Cations and Anions"
The Welch Foundation is one of the United States' largest and oldest private funding sources for basic chemical research. Since its founding in 1954, the organization has contributed to the advancement of chemistry through grants, departmental programs, endowed chairs, visiting lectureships and other special projects at educational institutions throughout Texas. The foundation underwrites numerous endowed chairs in chemistry and related sciences, including one at UT Dallas filled by Dr. Ray Baughman, director of the university's NanoTech Institute.
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Dentistry Dean to Take Post at NYU
Charles Bertolami, DDS, DMedSc, and professor and dean of the UCSF School of Dentistry, has accepted an appointment as dean of the New York University College of Dentistry, effective September 1, 2007.
Bertolami is a nationally recognized expert in the field of connective tissue repair and disorders of the temporomandibular joint. During his 12-year tenure at UCSF, the UCSF School of Dentistry has led the nation's dental schools in total National Institutes of Health funding. In addition to strengthening the school's basic science research presence, Bertolami has become known for his advocacy of academic careers in dental research and education.
Clinical and teaching programs have been expanded, as well, including a new curriculum that integrated clinical and basic sciences, a DDS-MBA degree program, the International Dentist Program and a postbaccalaureate program for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
