February 28, 2008
Etc: Campus News & Notes
ASIA ELITE: Law Professor Anita Ramasastry has been named a member of the 2008 Class of Asia 21 Fellows, one of 23 new fellows identified by the Asia Society. Established by the society with support from founding international sponsor Merrill Lynch, the Asia 21 Young Leaders program brings together the most dynamic emerging leaders under the age of 40 from across the Asia-Pacific region to develop shared, innovative approaches to the region’s greatest challenges. Ramasastry is an international expert on the role of businesses in conflict zones and their accountability for human rights violations in conflict. She is currently advising John Ruggie, the United Nations special representative on business and human rights.
DOMINATING DUB: Members of the UW’s Design:Use:Build (DUB) Center for Human-Computer Interaction and Design swept the top conference in their field, which explores the interface between human and machine. UW researchers nabbed three out of seven Best Paper Awards selected from more than 700 submissions to this April’s CHI 2008 meeting. Not only that — they had 16 papers accepted, more than any other University. UW contributors included computer science & engineering professor Dan Weld; computer science & engineering doctoral students Susumu Harada, Eytan Adar and Krzysztof Gajos; and double winner Jacob Wobbrock, assistant professor at the Information School. The papers’ topics ranged from strategies to create computer software that accommodates people with disabilities to ways one could use Internet browsing histories to create more intuitive Web pages.
DRAWING RAVES: Luis Fraga, professor of political science, director of the Diversity Research Institute and associate vice provost for faculty advancement, was the keynote speaker at the American Political Science Association Teaching and Learning Conference. His talk, The Responsibilities of Leadership: Political Science Education in the 21st Century, drew a standing ovation.
