University Times

Gary R. Matzke, vice chairman and professor of pharmacy and therapeutics, professor of medicine, renal division and a member of the Center for Clinical Pharmacology in pharmacy and medicine, was elected to a three-year term as research institute trustee for the American College of Clinical Pharmacists. Matzke's practice, teaching and research have focused on clinical nephrology with an emphasis on the pharmacokinetics and dynamics of drugs in chronic kidney disease and dialysis.

Tanya Fabian, a Ph.D. candidate in pharmacy and post-doctoral fellow in psychiatry at the School of Medicine, was awarded the Thomas Detre Research Award for her work in geriatric psychopharmacology.

Thomas Detre, UPMC Health System's executive vice president of international and academic programs and director of international medical affairs, presented the award and a check for $500 to Fabian at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic's Research Day June 18.

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The Pitt Alumni Association has named three distinguished alumni fellows for 2002: Freddie H. K. Fu, a 1977 graduate of the School of Medicine; F. James McCarl III, who earned a B.A. in economics from the College of General Studies (CGS) in 1973, and Betty Hord Robinson, who graduated from the School of Education with a B.S. in elementary education in 1951, an M.A. in education in 1970 and a Ph.D. in curriculum and supervision in 1974. The three fellows were honored at the Alumni Association awards dinner June 22.

Fu is the David Silver Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in Pitt's School of Medicine and team physician for the Department of Athletics. He also serves as the company physician for the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and team physician for Mt. Lebanon High School.

The awards committee called Fu "an inspiration to countless students, athletes, colleagues and the broader community." Fu has served as chair and executive medical director of the Pittsburgh Marathon and as a member of the Western Pennsylvania Olympic Committee. He also is a volunteer with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the WQED Children's Chorus.

McCarl, president and CEO of McCarl's Inc., served on the Business Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland from 1997 to 2000, is on the board of directors of the Mechanical Contractors Association of America, and has served as chair of the Tony Dorsett Golf Outing since 1993.

McCarl established the McCarl Center for Nontraditional Student Success in CGS. And, to honor Pitt athletes, he established the F. James and Carol McCarl Hall of Champions in the Petersen Events Center.

Robinson, an educator for 50 years, was a teacher and supervisor in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. She also served as a supervisor of the Primary Education Project, a cooperative program of the Pittsburgh Public Schools and Pitt's Learning Research and Development Center.

With her husband, James J. Robinson, pastor of Bidwell Presbyterian Church in Manchester on the North Side, she created the Bidwell Education, Music and Recreation Center. Now known as the Manchester Youth Development Center, it serves more than 300 children in a preschool, grade school and after-school program. In 1998, Robinson started the Manchester Academic Charter School, one of Pittsburgh's first charter schools. She is the school's chief administrative officer.

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Eric J. Beckman, Bayer Professor of Chemical Engineering and chair of chemical and petroleum engineering, received the Green Chemistry Challenge Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Beckman was honored in the academic category for his research in development of nonfluorous, highly CO2-soluble materials.

Beckman's work with carbon dioxide explores its use as an environmentally benign solvent, as a medium for creating microcellular materials and as a catalyst. His pioneering work in creating a gel form of carbon dioxide is being employed in enhanced oil recovery, maximizing the output of older wells efficiently and in an environmentally friendly manner.

The Green Chemistry Challenge Awards were created in 1995 to promote chemical products and manufacturing processes that prevent pollution and are economically competitive.

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Eva T. Blum, senior vice president and director of comprehensive risk management and compliance at the PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., has been named president of the Pitt Alumni Association.

Keith Edward Schaefer, chairman of The Liquid Group, a professional services firm specializing in supporting venture-backed start-ups and entrepreneurs in high-tech and life-sciences companies, has been named president-elect.

A 1970 College of Arts and Sciences graduate, Blum graduated from Pitt's School of Law in 1973. She has served as an alumni recruitment team volunteer, a law school volunteer, and a member of the Alumni Leadership Council, the Pitt Corporate Council and the School of Law Board of Visitors.

Schaefer earned a B.A. in economics and political science from Pitt in 1971. He recently served as director-at-large and chair of the Alumni Association's Communications Committee. Schaefer, a 2000 Distinguished Alumni Fellow awardee, is active in the Pitt Club of San Francisco.

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W. P. Andrew Lee has been named chief of the division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and professor of surgery at the medical school.

Lee, who will begin his duties Aug. 1, comes from Boston where he has been associate professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. At Massachusetts General Hospital, he has been director of the Plastic Surgery Research Laboratory since 1991 and chief of hand surgery service in the department of surgery since 1996.

A noted hand surgeon and basic science researcher, he is board certified in general and plastic surgery with research interests in transplantation of composite tissue allografts and tissue engineering for joint cartilage reconstruction.

Lee's current research is focused on induction of tolerance to composite tissue allografts such as a hand transplant, so that transplant recipients would not require long-term medications to suppress their immune systems.

Lee has received 27 awards and honors, including the 1991 Kappa Delta Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 1995 Sumner Koch Award from the American Society for Surgery of the Hand and 1998 Bernard G. Sarnat Senior Award in basic science from the Plastic Surgery Educational Foundation. In 2001, he was named one of Boston's top doctors in plastic surgery by Boston Magazine.

A 1979 cum laude graduate in physics from Harvard College, Lee received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he also completed his surgical residency and microvascular research fellowship. He completed his plastic surgery fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital and his orthopaedic hand fellowship at the Indiana Hand Center.

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The Pitt Alumni Association honored its 2002 "Volunteers of the Year" at a luncheon last month.

Four people received the award, which was created "to recognize and honor individuals who have enriched the life of the University through their volunteer efforts."

This year's winners are: Daniel K. Boyd, 1957 bachelor of business administration, who participates in the Alumni Legislative Network and is a life member of the Pitt Alumni Association; Bernard J. Fedak, 1968 B.S. in mechanical engineering degree recipient and 1973 M.B.A., who serves on the Mechanical Engineering Visiting Committee and the School of Engineering Campaign Committee and chairs the Formula SAE Car annual fund-raising event; Ruth A. Forsyth, 1976 B.A. in communication, who serves as chair of the Alumnae Council's Spring Event and as the Pitt Alumni Association treasurer, and Christopher J. Shinkman, 1969 Ph.D. in education, who helps to organize events for the Chesapeake and Potomac Pitt Club in Washington, D.C., and is a regional director for the Pitt Alumni Association.

Two Pitt Alumni Recruitment Team (PART) volunteers also were recognized at the luncheon: Chuck Glover, who earned a B.A. in economics in 1977, and his wife, Peggy Glover, who earned a B.S. in health related professions in 1979; they live in Twinsburg, Ohio. PART volunteers recruit new students to the University by attending college fairs, visiting high schools, conducting freshman send-off "Pitt-nics," and serving as contacts for prospective students and their parents. There are 1,250 PART volunteers in 38 of the 50 states.

Also honored were Alumni Legislative Network volunteer James Ayre, from Camp Hill, Pa., who earned an M.A.S. in business in 1957 and is an advocate for Pitt in Harrisburg, lobbying decision makers about the University's priorities and the needs of higher education in general; and AlumNet volunteer Anita Pytlarz, who earned a B.A. in communication rhetoric and communication and business in 1997. Pytlarz is credited with jump-starting the New York Pitt Club, and now, as a Washington, D.C.-area resident, she has become an active member in the Chesapeake and Potomac Pitt Club.