TRANSITIONS
Law School Dean W.H. (Joe) Knight announced in January that, after five years as dean, he will be leaving that position June 15. “When I joined the law school in 2001, the university administration exhorted me to become an agent for change in the law school,” Knight said in his announcement. “The law school has gone through a period of transition, and it is now time for new leadership to take it to the next phase.” Among his accomplishments, Knight cited higher rankings for the law school, increased funding for scholarships to low-income students and the opening of the new William H. Gates Hall.
HONORS
Eight UW professors were named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on Nov. 30. The organization is the world’s largest general scientific society. Founded in 1848, it includes some 262 affiliated societies and academies of science serving 10 million individuals. The newest UW fellows are Pharmacology Professor Charles Chavkin, Computer Science and Engineering Professor Susan Eggers, Genome Sciences Professor Evan Eichler, Medicine and Immunology Professor Philip Greenberg, Oceanography Professor and APL Oceanographer Michael Gregg, Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering Professor Buddy Ratner, Biology Professor Elizabeth Van Volkenburgh and Biology Professor Barbara Wakimoto.
The staff of Columns magazine won three honors in the 2007 Council for Advancement and Support of Education, District VIII, Communications Awards program, the council announced Feb. 23. Editor Tom Griffin won a Gold Award in Feature Writing for “The Stolen Years,” a two-part article on the internment of Japanese American students during World War II (December 2005 and March 2006). Griffin, Associate Editor Eric McHenry and Art Director Ken Shafer shared a Bronze Award for Periodicals. Griffin, McHenry and free-lance science writer Sarah DeWeerdt shared a Bronze Award for Periodical Staff Writing. The competition included university magazines from five states and seven Canadian provinces.
Communication Professor David Domke was named the state of Washington Professor of the Year Nov. 16 by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Candidates were judged by three panels of experts who considered their involvement with students, teaching methods and contributions to the community, among other criteria. The last time a UW faculty member was picked as the state’s top professor was in 1998, when the honor went to David Salesin in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. The program is the only national initiative specifically designed to recognize excellence in undergraduate teaching and mentoring. Domke’s book on religious fundamentalism and politics, God Willing?, was listed as one of the top 100 books by UW authors in the December 2006 issue of Columns.
Medicine Professor Mary “Nora” Disis, director of the UW Center for Translational Medicine in Women's Health, was named a “Superhero” by the Cancer Treatment Research Foundation Nov. 30. Disis, an expert on cancer immunology, received a $300,000 research grant from the Chicago-based nonprofit to continue her work in earlier detection, more effective treatments and the elimination of cancer recurrence. The foundation cited her passion for bringing “the latest research breakthroughs from the laboratory bench to the patient bedside.”
Medicine and Genome Sciences Professor Mary-Claire King received the American Cancer Society’s highest honor, the Medal of Honor, Nov. 30. The society gives the award annually to five Americans who have made outstanding contributions to fighting cancer. King was recognized with the Medal of Honor for Clinical Research for her visionary work in delineating breast cancer genetics. She is credited with proving the existence of the first gene for hereditary breast cancer, know as BRCA1 (see “Putting the Puzzle Together,” Sept. 1996).
Poet and English Professor Heather McHugh has been awarded $50,000 in the inaugural round of the new United States Artists Fellowships. These grants are meant to be “research and development funding or venture capital for the imagination,” say award officials. McHugh’s books of poetry include Eyeshot, which was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, and The Father of the Predicaments. Another book, Hinge & Sign: Poems 1968-1993, was a finalist for the 1994 National Book Award and listed as one of the top 100 books by UW authors in the December 2006 issue of Columns. |
