University Times

Men’s head basketball coach Jamie Dixon has been named the 2009 USA Basketball National Coach of the Year.

USA Basketball, based in Colorado Springs, is the national governing body for men’s and women’s basketball in the United States. Among its members are the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. The organization oversees U.S. teams in a number of arenas, including the Olympic Games and the Pan American Games. It also fields men’s and women’s national teams for players 19 years old and younger (U19), as well as a U17 team for players 17 and younger.

Dixon’s coached the USA Basketball team that won a gold medal at the 2009 FIBA (International Basketball Federation) U19 world championship in July.

USA Basketball also nominated Dixon for the U.S. Olympic Committee’s 2009 National Coach of the Year award, which is expected to be announced in January.

In his sixth season at Pitt in 2008-09, Dixon guided the Panthers to their first-ever NCAA regional final and “Elite Eight” appearance, the school’s first No. 1 national ranking and the program’s first No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. He was named the 2009 Naismith National Coach of the Year, college basketball’s most prestigious national award.

Carolyn Weisberger Mendelson of the Katz Graduate School of Business has been honored with the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) Distinguished Service Award of 2009. The award recognizes outstanding work in the area of securities law and investor protection.

Mendelson began work with the Pennsylvania Securities Commission in 2004. On behalf of Pennsylvania, she has been a member of NASAA’s 12-state auction rate securities task force which has returned more than $60 billion to investors and $600 million in penalties and fines against Wall Street firms for their marketing and sales practices involving auction rate securities.

Mendelson also chairs NASAA’s broker dealer market regulatory committee.

Previously, Mendelson was a lawyer in the corporate sector for two Fortune 100 companies; she also has served as an appellate judicial clerk on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. She has been a licensed lawyer since 1994 and has taught at Pitt since 1996.

Mendelson has chaired Pennsylvania continuing legal education forums on financial services-related law.

She is the recipient of the Dr. Howard Mermelstein Leadership Award.

Edward Krenzelok, Gordon J. Vanscoy Chair of Pharmacy; director of the Pittsburgh Poison Center and Drug Information Center at UPMC, and a faculty member in pharmacy and pediatrics, received the American Academy of Clinical Toxicology Career Achievement Award. The award is presented to an academy member in recognition of a lifetime of exceptional dedication to and distinction in the field of clinical toxicology.

Siobhan Vivian of English was recognized by Kirkus Reviews for her second novel, “Same Difference.” Kirkus named the book one of the best young adult novels of 2009.

Inspired by her own high school experiences, Vivian’s novel concerns a 16-year-old girl struggling to define herself during a summer away from home.

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The People of the Times column features recent news on faculty and staff, including awards and other honors, accomplishments and administrative appointments.

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