University Times

ANSYS Inc. will honor its founder, John A. Swanson, by funding a doctoral fellowship in the University's School of Engineering beginning this fall term.

Swanson, who earned his Ph.D. in applied mechanics from Pitt in 1966, is internationally recognized as an authority and innovator in the application of finite-element methods to engineering. Finite-element methods are computer modeling techniques used to analyze building structures and design systems.

The John Swanson Doctoral Fellowship will provide a full scholarship, a stipend and an allowance for supplies and travel for a student performing research on projects directly related to the finite-element industry. The fellow also will have the opportunity to work as an intern at ANSYS during the summer months. The School of Engineering will create a second Swanson Fellowship in fall 2001.

Swanson received the 1998 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the School of Engineering, and is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). In 1994, he was one of Industry Week's Top 5 R&D Stars in the U.S., and in 1986-1987, Swanson was named Pittsburgh Engineer of the Year by ASME.

He won the Computers in Engineering award for outstanding contributions to the engineering and computing industries, and in 1988 was named Pittsburgh Entrepreneur of the Year in High Technology by the Entrepreneurial Services Group of Arthur Young and Venture Magazine.

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Herb Kitson, professor of English and French at Pitt's Titusville campus, was awarded a poetry commendation from the Chester H. Jones Foundation's 1999 National Poetry Competition. Each year the foundation awards 48 commendations nationwide.

Kitson also was a semifinalist in the Atlanta Review 1999 International Poetry Competition.

During his tenure at Titusville, Kitson has published more than a hundred poems in such literary magazines as The New York Quarterly, Poetry East, Yankee, Negative Capability, Witness, Poet, The Humanist, Pearl and Heart.

Kitson also has published two full-length books — "Soliloquies of the Poor" and "Letters to Annie" — and two chapbooks — "Slow Watch for Children/Fast Watch for Adults" and "On the Way to Where: Satori Poems."

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Lynn Emanuel, professor of English and director of the writing program at Pitt, was profiled in People magazine.

Emanuel's third book of poetry, "Then, Suddenly–," published by the University of Pittsburgh Press last fall, was reviewed in People's April 24 issue.

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Bernard Fisher, Pitt Distinguished Service Professor, recently was awarded the American Surgical Association Medallion for Scientific Achievement. The medallion is the highest honor the association bestows. Fisher is only the 15th recipient of the medallion in the past 120 years.

A founding member and chair of the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP), Fisher headed pioneering studies that have dramatically changed the way breast cancer is managed. His investigations led to the use of breast preservation and systemic therapy following surgery and have demonstrated that breast cancer can be prevented in women who are at increased risk for the disease.

Fisher is scientific director of NSABP.

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Deane L. Root, professor of music and director of the Center for American Music at the University, has received the Distinguished Service Citation from the Society for American Music — the highest honor the society bestows on a member.

Root, who also holds the Fletcher Hodges Jr. Curatorship of the Pitt-based Stephen Foster Memorial and Collection, was recognized for his leadership in the American music society, for laying the groundwork for a respected journal in American music and for incorporating the nation's music into middle and high school curricula, both in Pittsburgh and nationwide. Root is the 11th recipient of the award in the society's 26-year history.

"Under Root's tutelage," said a society spokesperson, "the University of Pittsburgh has come to be at the epicenter of activity in American music," and has prompted the society to relocate its offices to Pitt.

In 1996, Root helped establish Pitt's Center for American Music, which is dedicated to documenting 19th-century American music and sponsors an annual concert series, publications, educational programs, exhibits and broadcasts.

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Three prominent dental associations have named researcher Paul A. Moore their Harald Lse Scholar for 2000.

Moore, a professor of dental public health at Pitt's dental school, will use the scholarship to explore ways to promote collaborative clinical and epidemiological studies in medicine and oral health.

In addition to assessing common biomedical mechanisms between medical and oral diseases, Moore said he hopes greater collaboration will help determine risk factors for oral health promotion strategies and outline the role of oral health care in the management of medical diseases.

Moore will spend three months at the professional associations that sponsor the Lse Program: the American Association of Dental Schools, the International/American Association of Dental Research (IADR) and the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research in Washington, D.C.

The program, sponsored by Proctor & Gamble, is designed to immerse the scholar in national policy and administrative issues on dental education, research and industry.

Moore earned his Ph.D. in pharmacology and his master's of public health degree from Pitt's Graduate School of Public Health. His research has been in the area of clinical drug trials of analgesics and anesthetics, as well as the safety of pediatric and adult sedation in dentistry. Most recently, Moore has been investigating oral health complications commonly seen in patients with Type 1 diabetes.