April 5, 2007
Etc. Campus news and notes
MAGICAL SABBATICAL: Most faculty do research while on sabbatical, but Dorothy Van Soest, professor of social work, wrote a novel. It’s called Sheila’s Trifecta, and the storyline is as follows: “After her latest Earth death from a massive heart attack, Sheila returns home to a magical, non-physical place that has no name. There she is reunited with her family, a tightly knit group of three spiritual beings intimately united for eternity through shared human experiences. The nicknames they gave each other many lives ago celebrate their individual personalities — Sheila is known as Spring and the other two as Sky and Gritty. Together they review their most recent lives with the help of their guide, Suma, before making decisions about their next lives.” Not exactly academic prose. Van Soest says the book can be ordered online through Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and iUniverse.
TECH VISION: Ed Lazowska, who holds the Bill and Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science and Engineering, has been appointed the first chair of the Computing Community Consortium (CCC) Council. As chair, Lazowska will lead a group of experts drawn from and chosen by the computing research community as it seeks to stimulate scientific leadership and vision on issues related to computing research projects. The charge of the CCC, established by the Computing Research Association in partnership with the National Science Foundation, is to “encourage the computing research community to debate long-range research challenges, to build consensus around research visions, to articulate those visions, and to develop the most promising visions into clearly defined initiatives.”
FREEDOM AWARD: Psychology Professor Alan Marlatt recently received The Harriet Tubman Freedom Award for Outstanding Community Activism and Lifetime Achievement to Improve Health at the second annual Health Disparities Conference at Columbia University in New York. He was also a keynote speaker at the conference. Marlatt is known for his research on addictive behavior.
BEST OF BRAHMS: On Brahms and His Circle: Essays and Documentary Studies by Karl Geiringer, revised and enlarged by UW Music Professor George Bozarth, has just been published by Harmonie Park Press in association with the American Brahms Society. The book brings together principal essays, articles, and program notes on Brahms written by the eminent Brahms scholar Karl Geiringer (1899–1989). Bozarth updated the research and amplified its context through footnotes and postscripts, and added 28 photographs and drawings of Brahms and his correspondents, as well as a number of musical examples. The book has also been translated from its original German into English.
KUDOS: Music Librarian Judy Tsou has been appointed to the Editorial Board as contributing editor of the New Grove Dictionary of American Music (second edition).
GOOD COMMUNICATORS: The UW Tacoma Office of Advancement recently earned four awards for public relations and marketing work from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). The team received two gold awards for its “33 Reasons to Teach” campaign, conceptualized by Sandra Sarr working with Brian Anderson, Paul Lovelady, Brian DalBalcon and Kris Smyer — one for the campaign and the other for photography by DalBalcon. The publication Terrain won a silver award under the Periodicals, Tabloids or Newspapers category, that team being Sarr, Tyler Wilson and Jill Carnell Danseco. And finally, the Tacoma Freshman Viewbook won a bronze award under the Student and Alumni Publications, Viewbooks category, that team being Sarr, Anderson and Mike Wark.
THEATER LEADER: Sarah Nash Gates, executive director of the UW School of Drama, has been named president of the University/Resident Theatre Association, the country’s oldest and largest consortium of professional theatre training graduate programs and associated professional theatre companies. She will serve in this role until 2010.
TOPS IN TREES: Two College of Forest Resources professors have been honored recently. Professor Emeritus Linda Brubaker is the recipient of the Northwest Scientific Association Outstanding Scientist Award. The award is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to science in the Pacific Northwest throughout their careers. And Darryll Johnson, affiliate professor with the college and co-leader of the Pacific Northwest Cooperative Ecosystems Study Unit, is the winner of the National Park Service Research Award for his outstanding contributions to social science research in the national parks.
DISTINGUISHED ALUMS: The College of Arts and Sciences has announced its 2007 Distinguished Alumni, who will be celebrated at the 16th Annual Celebration of Distinction dinner on Thursday, May 17. They are: Bryan Monroe, former UW Daily editor and now editor of Ebony/Jet and president of the National Association of Black Journalists; Marcus Tsutakawa, director of the Garfield High School Orchestra; Sharon Ramey, director of the Georgetown Center on Health and Education; and Tiina Nunnally, Nordic translator and novelist.
