University Times

Carolyn Ban, professor and former dean of the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA), has been selected as a Fulbright scholar grantee to the European Union affairs research program for 2009. Ban will spend the spring semester in Belgium, researching the impact of administrative reform on management, morale and motivation in the European Commission, working jointly with scholars at the Institute for European Studies at the Université libre de Bruxelles, and at the Public Management Institute at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

The Fulbright program is an international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government that offers participants the opportunity to study, teach and conduct research, exchange ideas and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns.

Ban served as GSPIA dean 1997-2006.

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Steven Little, assistant professor of chemical engineering, bioengineering and immunology and affiliated with the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, received the Beckman Foundation Young Investigator Award for his research on synthetic dendritic cells.

The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation annually makes grants to program-related, non-profit research institutions to promote research in chemistry and the life sciences, broadly interpreted, and particularly to foster the invention of methods, instruments and materials that will open new avenues of research in science.

Awards go to “the most promising young faculty members in the early stages of academic careers.”

Little’s laboratory focuses on biomaterial design and synthetic drug delivery systems. His research is concentrated in two areas: immuno-prophylactic and immuno-therapeutic formulations that exploit molecular understanding of immune cell interactions, and regenerative medicine strategies that use materials to manipulate cell function through surface interactions and controlled release.

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Dennis Hart has been named associate director of the Asian Studies Center, part of the University Center for International Studies, effective June 1.

Hart, currently an associate professor of political science and founder of an Asian studies initiative at Kent State University, specializes in the politics of Korea, including nationalism, culture and identity, politics of gender, comparative politics and East Asian studies.

At Kent State, Hart also is coordinator of the Asian studies minor, and director of the summer in Korea program. He is an editorial board member of the East Asian Review.

Hart earned his PhD in political science at the University of Washington.

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Winners of the third annual Elizabeth Baranger Excellence in Teaching Award have been announced. The award recognizes outstanding teaching by graduate students in Arts and Sciences.

The award is intended to make graduate student teaching more visible and valued on the campus, to raise the standards of teaching by graduate students and to help graduate students prepare professionally for teaching careers.

The 2008 winners are: Catherine Day, English; Kristen Flanagan, political science; Elisabeth Ploran, psychology; Ruta Sahasrabudhe, biological sciences; Lawrence Zigerell, political science, and Blaire Zeiders, English.

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The Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum (CINP) has named Anthony Grace as the 2008 winner of the CINP Lilly Neuroscience Basic Research Award for his outstanding contribution to neuropsychopharmacology.

Supported by an educational grant from Eli Lilly and Co., the award includes a monetary prize, a plaque and registration, travel to and accommodation in Munich for the CINP congress in July.

Grace is a professor of neuroscience, psychiatry and psychology whose research interests lie at the interface of neurobiology and psychiatry. Experiments conducted in his laboratory combine in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological recordings of identified neurons with behavioral and neuroanatomical techniques to study central dopaminergic systems, with the goal of determining the neurobiological correlates of mental disorders and the modes of action of psychotherapeutic drugs.

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James L. Baldwin, assistant dean of academic affairs, director of enrollment services and registrar and director of the science in motion program at Pitt-Bradford was inducted as an honorary member into the Upsilon Phi Beta chapter of Alpha Sigma Lambda, the national honor society for nontraditional students.

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Harry R. Halloran Jr., board chair and owner of American Refining Group, and Harvey L. Golubock, ARG’s president and chief operating officer, each were awarded the Presidential Medal of Distinction at the April 27 Bradford campus graduation ceremony. The award is UPB’s highest honor.

“As representatives for ARG and as individuals, Mr. Halloran and Mr. Golubock are among our strongest supporters,” said UPB President Livingston Alexander. “Their gifts of property and funding for scholarships and energy-related projects will enable us to make college more affordable for our students and position our institution to better serve the workforce and knowledge needs of the bustling oil and gas industries.”

Recently, ARG and Halloran Philanthropies gave the campus a gift of $500,000. The first half of the gift will be endowed, and funds generated from the endowment will support scholarships. The second half of the gift will be used to help Pitt-Bradford develop its Energy Institute, which will foster the study of traditional fossil-fuel applications and pilot renewable energy projects.

In 2006, ARG donated to UPB 130 acres of land on West Corydon Street, which had an appraised value of $140,000. The property nearly doubled the physical size of UPB. Profits from future sales of timber on the property will be used to establish a scholarship fund for the children of ARG employees.

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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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