University Times

Women's studies research assistant professor Janet Montelaro is trying to keep young girls on the career track, beginning with April's "Take Your Daughter to Work Day." Throughout May, Montelaro sponsored weekly after-school workshops at Wexford's Marshall Elementary School to motivate girls for careers in math and science. The 4th and 5th graders heard from women veterinarians, speech therapists, chemists and pediatricians. Montelaro says the program will help the girls become more aware of their career options, while giving them the opportunity to recognize women who have used science in their careers.

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Robert Martinazzi, an associate professor of mechanical engineering technology at the Johnstown campus, was named instructor of the year by the school's Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society.

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Johnstown campus mathematics professor Thomas Sigmund was awarded one of top teaching honors in the state last semester when he received the Outstanding Contribution to Mathematics Education Award, given by the Pennsylvania Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Sigmund has co-authored a textbook on problem solving with a programmable calculator. In addition to his 34 years of teaching at UPJ, he has conducted teaching workshops in over 30 school districts.

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German-born Kurt Riechenberg will represent the Pitt law school in the 1996-97 academic year as a European Union Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence. Pitt is one of three law schools in the country selected to have a Fulbright scholar. Riechenberg will teach courses in European Union law through the law school's Center for International Legal Education. He previously taught at the University of Paris II School of Law and at the University of Luxembourg.

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Chuck Salem, director of conference services at the Johnstown campus, was elected to the board of directors at the Association of Conference and Events Directors – International. Salem, who has worked at Johnstown for four years, will serve on the board until 1999.

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Dennis McNair, an associate professor of biology at the Johnstown campus, has been named the 1996 Vizzini Teacher of the Year. The award, named after former UPJ natural sciences division chair Edward A. Vizzini, recognizes promotion of academic excellence in the classroom. McNair, who is the head of the biology department at UPJ, received his A.B. from Whitman College and his master's and Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

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Television journalist Barbara Walters was the keynote speaker at a recent University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute benefit honoring four of its researchers: Victor Vogel, Sally Tarbell, Bo Liu and Brad Shuster. Vogel is the head of the joint breast cancer program of the UPCI and Magee-Womens Hospital. Before coming to Pitt last fall, he was responsible for implementing one the most successful breast cancer prevention programs in the nation at the University of Texas Anderson Cancer Center. Tarbell has been responsible for psychosocial treatments for young women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. She is currently heading studies that will assess the impact of breast cancer on families. At Johns Hopkins University, Liu assisted with research that led to understanding the genetic defects underlying a type of colorectal cancer. Since coming to Pitt last year, Liu has continued that genetic research. Shuster came to Pitt last semester after receiving his doctorate from Tufts University in Boston. His cancer studies include research on how cells divide.

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George Bandik, undergraduate program coordinator in chemistry and a member of the Secondary Science Academy, is this year's recipient of the Helen S. Faison Award. He was honored at the recent Secondary Science Academy awards reception in the Frick Fine Arts Building.

The Secondary Science Academy, an outreach program that targets minority high school students in the Pittsburgh area, recognized Bandik for his dedication and contributions to the organization.

The award is given each year to an individual in honor of Pitt emeritus trustee Helen S. Faison, the first woman and the first African-American principal of a Pittsburgh high school.

Bandik has served on the Board of Directors of the Secondary Science Academy for many years . Since the academy's founding in 1988, he has educated students with his chemistry experiments. In addition to his work with the academy, Bandik also organizes the Chemistry Olympics and runs the Honors Organic Program through the Society of Analytical Chemistry of Pittsburgh.

After receiving his B.S. in biochemistry from Penn State, Bandik earned his Ph.D. in chemistry at Pitt. For eight years he has been undergraduate program coordinator and a lecturer the chemistry department. In 1993, Bandik was presented the Chancellor's Distinguished Teaching Award. The Bradford campus has named Michael G. Heater dean of admissions and enrollment management. His responsibilities will include admissions and recruitment, financial aid, student retention and the Office of Public Relations. Heater held a similar position at the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Ark. He has an A.B. in English and a juris doctorate from St. Louis University.

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Theodore O. Windt, chair of the communication department, was named the Eastern Communication Association's Distinguished Teaching Fellow. He was given the newly created honor at the group's recent meeting in New York City. Windt's presidential rhetoric class at Pitt, which he started when he came to Pitt in the early 1970s, was one of the first of its kind in the country. Daniel Audette has been named athletic director at the Bradford campus, starting July 1. He was assistant athletic director at Kutztown University for 10 years and before that was the director of intramural sports at Blackburn College in Iowa. Audette will be responsible for completing the transition of UPB from the NAIA to the NCAA Division III. He also will lead the development of the Tom L. McDowell Sports Center. Associate professor of psychiatry Sanjay Dube was awarded the Nancy C.A. Roeske, M.D. Certificate of Recognition for Excellence in Medical Student Education. The annual award was given to Dube by the American Psychiatric Association for his service as director of medical student education at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. Pitt associate professor of communication John Poulakos has received the Everett Lee Hunt award for his book "Sophistical Rhetoric in Classical Greece." The award was named after Hunt, one of the founders of the prestigious Cornell School of Rhetoric.

The book focuses on the early developments of rhetoric in the 5th century B.C., early conceptions on the practices of public disclosure and the influence of language on human thought. The book also won the Winans-Wichelns Memorial Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Rhetoric.

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The name of Nathan Davis, director of the jazz studies program and international jazz performer, is about to become a permanent part of the new Senator John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center.

Davis's name is engraved on one of 10 new floor tiles in the Great Hall on the center's first floor. The tiles, saluting honorees of the Mellon Jazz Festival, will be dedicated June 12 at 5 p.m. at the center on Smallman Street in the Strip District.

Each year, the festival is dedicated to a jazz musician with strong connections to Pittsburgh. The 10 tiles, bearing the honorees' names, will be known as "The Mellon Jazz Festival Honoree Walkway." Davis is the founder of the annual Pitt Jazz Seminar and Concert, which recently marked its 25th anniversary.