Passages

APPOINTED

University of Oregon Architecture Dean Jerry Finrow, '64, became dean of the UW College of Architecture and Urban Planning in April, succeeding Paul Schell. Finrow joined the Oregon faculty in 1968 and became dean of architecture in 1991. His specialty is industrialized wood construction technology; his recent work involves conserving the use of wood in new housing. In addition to his bachelor's in architecture from the UW, awarded in 1964, he earned a master's from the University of California in 1968.

UW Psychology Professor John Simpson was appointed dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Jan. 20, after serving as acting dean of the college since March 1994. Simpson, whose specialty is behavioral neuroscience, came to the UW in 1975 after receiving his B.A. from UC-Santa Barbara and his Ph.D. from Northwestern. He has been an associate dean in the college since 1991. As dean, Simpson had to make recommendations to close or trim seven departments or degree programs to absorb a $4.9 million cut. "Despite the controversial nature of his recent proposals," says President Gerberding, "support for his candidacy remained very strong in the college and on the search committee. He is quite clearly a leader."

CANCELED

The 1995 Tyee yearbook and all future issues were canceled by the student publications board last year due to financial problems and lack of student interest. The yearbook had ceased publication before. It was discontinued in 1971 and revived in 1987. That year the Tyee sold 1,500 copies. The 1994 edition only sold 800 copies and was barely a half-inch thick. "It started losing money the second year we came back, and it kept losing money," says Oren Campbell, publisher and editorial advisor for student publications.

HONORED

English Professor Richard Kenney, a poet who teaches in the creative writing program, was one of 10 recipients of the 1994 Lannan Literary Awards, given by the Lannan Foundation to writers who have made "significant contributions to English-language literature" and to "emerging writers of distinctive literary merit." Kenney is the author of three books of poetry, the most recent titled The Invention of Zero published by Alfred A. Knopf.

The Institute of Medicine elected two UW professors to its ranks, Biochemistry Professor Emeritus Hans Neurath and Head of General Internal Medicine Mickey Eisenberg. Neurath has received numerous honors for his work in enzyme action and protein structure. Eisenberg, also director of UW Medical Center's Emergency Medicine Service, is known for his work in emergency techniques to save heart attack victims.

Medicine Professor Richard Palmiter shared the highest honor given by the French Academy of the Sciences Nov. 28 for his efforts to manufacture a gene that was functional and inheritable. Palmiter and University of Pennsylvania Professor Ralph Brinster shared the Charles Leopold Mayer Prize from the academy and a $47,000 award. In the early 1980s, the two were leaders in creating "transgenetic mice." They implanted a foreign gene--rat growth hormone--into fertilized mouse eggs, transferred the eggs to surrogate mother mice, documented that these genes functioned in several offspring and showed that the characteristics were inherited by later generations. Transgenetic techniques are now used in the study of birth defects, cancer, gender development, blood disorders and other medical research.

Six UW faculty recently were given prestigious National Science Foundation awards for young professors. Computer Science and Engineering Professor Brian Bershad was one of 30 Presidential Faculty Fellows, winning $100,000 in foundation grants for up to five years. The foundation also gave National Young Investigators awards to five assistant professors: David Baker, biochemistry; Craig Chambers, computer science and engineering; Sossina Haile, materials science and engineering; Daniel Schwartz, chemical engineering; and LuAnne Thompson, oceanography. Since 1984, 61 UW faculty have won Presidential or National Young Investigator awards from the foundation.

RANKINGS

The March 20 issue of U.S. News and World Report ranked the UW School of Medicine first nationally in primary care physician training and the School of Nursing's masters program was tied for first. Several UW graduate programs also received high rankings: sociology was 10th, tied with Arizona and Indiana; pyschology was 19th; and history, English and engineering all were ranked 24th. Other School of Medicine rankings included 11th in overall research and the following scores in medical specialties: first in family medicine and rural medicine; third in women's health; fourth in AIDS research and pediatrics; and fifth in geriatric care.

Send a letter to the editor at columns@u.washington.edu.

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