September 25, 2008
Etc.: Campus News & Notes
LOCAL HERO: Russell Ellis, a UW Police Department officer, received a Lifesaving Award at this year’s Governor’s Industrial Safety & Health Conference after going out of his way to help a stranger. On June 16, Ellis was driving to a school to pick up his children when he saw an elderly woman lying face down on the sidewalk. Ellis immediately stopped his car in the middle of the street and went to the woman, and upon finding she was unresponsive and not breathing, he dialed 911 on his cell phone and immediately began CPR.
Several minutes later, units from the Bellevue Fire Department arrived and took over care of the victim. A resident nearby who came to the scene recognized the woman and phoned her daughter, who arrived a short time later. The victim was breathing when she was transported to a nearby hospital. A phone message later left on Officer Ellis’ phone by the woman’s daughter said that her mother was in critical condition and that it wasn’t clear if she would live. Needless to say, the daughter was very thankful for Ellis’ willingness to get involved. And the story has a happy ending, because the woman did survive.
BENCHMARK: Usually, when you use the term bench warmer, it isn’t a compliment, but when the Capital Projects Office held a bench warming recently, it was to honor an old friend. A bench in the Medicinal Herb Garden now has a plaque on it that bears this inscription: “Bill Talley, campus landscape architect 1987-2007, whose dedication and vision has preserved our past and inspires our future.”
“Professors receive ‘Chairs’ in recognition of distinguished service, so this garden bench is an appropriate tribute to our remarkable campus landscape architect emeritus,” Capital Projects staffers said. Talley and his wife attended the party, which was, of course, held in the garden where his bench sits.
SHINING LIGHT: Larry Dalton, George B. Kauffman Professor of Chemistry and Electrical Engineering, was honored at the SPIE Optics+Photonics symposium in San Diego last month with a special session in recognition of his influential work in nonlinear optic polymer electro-optic modulator materials and devices. He was given a Lifetime Achievement Award and Life Membership in SPIE, which is an international optics and photonics society founded in 1955 with the mission of advancing light-based technologies.
PARTNERSHIP POWER: The UW School of Social Work and its new innovative center, Partners for Our Children (POC) has been selected by the American Public Human Services Association as the recipient of the 2008 Academic Excellence Award.
The partnership is a unique public-private collaboration among the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, the School of Social Work and the private sector. Its work involves research directed toward improving understanding of the needs of children and families, development and evaluation of promising approaches to improving outcomes for foster children, workforce development activities intended to improve the child welfare workforce, and public education and communication. A variety of institutions have taken on one or more of these objectives, but this is the first time they have all been integrated into one independent organization.
The Academic Excellence Award was established to recognize academic programs or institutions for outstanding contributions to the field of human services.
MAKING MUSIC: Huck Hodge, assistant professor of music, was awarded the Gaudeamus Prize for composition in the Netherlands this month. He receives 4,550 Euros, intended as a commission for a new work to be performed at the next edition of the International Gaudeamus Music Week. Hodge received the prize for Parallaxes, a composition for ensemble. The competition was open to composers under 31, and the Gaudeamus Foundation received more than 400 scores from all over the world. The jury subsequently selected 13 works to compete for the Gaudeamus Prize.
WORTHY WOMEN: Two UW women are among eight to be honored by Northwest Asian Weekly at its annual Women of Color Empowered event Friday, Sept. 26. Uma Malhotra and Polly Olsen were singled out as women “who are accomplished in their fields, who have contributed to local communities of color in both traditional and nontraditional jobs.” Malhotra is a physician whose specialty is infectious diseases, and she has a committed interest in infections in immunocompromised patients, travel medicine and caring for patients with HIV. Olsen is the director of community relations and development for the UW’s Wellness Research Institute and has been responsible for the oversight of the Indian Health Pathway, recruitment and retention of Native American students and the establishment of linkages with the region’s tribal communities.
Do you know someone who deserves kudos for an outstanding achievement, award, appointment or book publication? If so, send that person’s name, title and achievement to uweek@u.washington.edu.
