University Times

The Association of American Publishers (AAP) Professional and Scholarly Publishing (PSP) Division has recognized Pitt anthropology professor Jeffrey Schwartz and colleague Ian Tattersall’s “The Human Fossil Record,” Vol. 1 (Wiley-Liss, 2002) with the 2002 Professional Scholarly Publishing Award in the category of single reference sciences.

“The Human Fossil Record,” Vol. 1, was among 33 professional and scholarly titles in a host of academic disciplines honored at AAP’s annual February conference.

Schwartz, Pitt professor of physical anthropology and history and philosophy of science, and Tattersall, curator of anthropology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, embarked on a major undertaking almost a decade ago, when they began the first systematic study of the human fossil record following a uniform protocol. Vol. 1 is the first of a planned set. Vol. 2 will be published this month.

When their work is completed, the researchers will produce a three-volume compendium that will include descriptions, photographic images, diagrams and drawings as well as an evolutionary analysis of virtually the entire human fossil record.

The AAP PSP division awards are given annually to acknowledge excellence in book, journal and electronic publishing in all the disciplines represented by professional, scholarly and reference publishing.

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Akin Euba, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of music at Pitt, served from Feb. 21 to March 2 as composer-in-residence with the Ensemble Noir, a group of Toronto professional musicians who perform concerts of contemporary music that reflect cultural diversity.

Euba is one of several international artists participating in the Ensemble Noir’s Diversity Project, which celebrates African Heritage Month and its theme of diversity with an emphasis on the music of Africa and the Diaspora.

Euba, a native of Lagos, Nigeria, learned both Western classical music and Yoruba music as a child and went on to study composition and ethnomusicology at the University of California at Los Angeles, where he earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in music. Later, he earned a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the University of Ghana.

His music, a blend of the African and European cultures, uses modern techniques of Western classical composition as well as the static harmony of Yoruba drumming.

In 1970, Euba gained international recognition for introducing the term “African Pianism,” a form of music that, according to Euba, “derives its characteristics from African percussion music such as bell patterns, drumming, xylophone and Mbira music.”

Euba has written four books, has worked as a research scholar at the University of Bayreuth in Germany and was the founder and director of the Centre for Intercultural Music Arts in London.

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Freddie H. Fu, the David Silver Professor and chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Pitt’s School of Medicine and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), has received an honorary professorship at Peking University in Beijing.

The honorary professorship is in recognition of Fu’s vast contributions to the research, clinical and educational realms of sports medicine and orthopaedic surgery at Peking University as well as throughout the world.

“Receiving this honor means a great deal to me,” said Fu, a native of Hong Kong. “I am very proud of the educational collaboration we have built between UPMC, Peking University and the Chinese Olympics sports medicine community in Beijing.”

Fu and UPMC colleagues are frequent presenters of clinical, scientific educational lectures and surgical demonstrations to Peking University students and staff.

In September 2002, the president of the Chinese Olympic Committee invited Fu to the Beijing Olympic training center to discuss sports medicine, particularly sports injury rehabilitation, with several world-class Chinese athletes.

Fu is known worldwide for his pioneering surgical techniques to treat sports-related injuries to the knee and shoulder and for his extensive scientific and clinical research in the treatment of such injuries.

He also is the head team physician for Pitt’s Department of Athletics and was instrumental in the establishment of the UPMC Center for Sports Medicine, which is housed in the UPMC Sports Performance Complex on the South Side.

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Shailendra Gajanan, associate professor of economics at the Bradford campus, has been named chair of the Social Sciences Division there.

Gajanan, who has been teaching at Pitt-Bradford since 1991, replaces Richard Frederick, professor of history, who has stepped down as chair of the division, which includes academic disciplines such as administration of justice, anthropology and sociology.

“I am very pleased that Dr. Gajanan has been elected chairman,” said Michael Stuckart, interim vice president and dean of academic affairs. “The division considered several excellent candidates.”

As chairman, Gajanan hopes to implement several initiatives, including a grant-writing program that should benefit faculty and student collaboration, especially on interdisciplinary projects.

Stuckart praised Frederick and his 11 years as chairman. With Frederick’s support and leadership, Stuckart said, the campus added new majors in administration of justice, elementary education and secondary education.

“Perhaps his greatest legacy as chairman is the five-year accreditation of our education program by Pennsylvania’s Department of Education. We will miss his leadership.”

Gajanan came to Pitt-Bradford as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 1997.

All of Gajanan’s academic degrees are in economics. He earned a doctorate in 1993 from Pitt, a master’s degree in 1985 from the University of Akron in Ohio and another in 1983 from the University of Madras in India, where he earned his bachelor’s in 1981.

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Brandi S. Darr has been named director of Admissions and Financial Aid at the Greensburg campus.

A 2001 Pitt-Greensburg management program graduate, she and her staff are responsible for consulting with parents and students in all matters regarding admissions and financial aid and awarding and packaging financial aid packages for more than 1,800 students.

Serving as assistant director at UPG (2000-2003), Darr was student specialist in admissions and financial aid (1998-2000). She worked for Triangle Tech, Inc. of Greensburg for 17 years as financial aid officer and later as director.

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Roberta Ness has been named associate dean for research at the Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH). A professor of epidemiology at the school, Ness also has been the director of the Epidemiology of Women’s Health Program since its inception in 1995.

“One of my primary goals as associate dean for research is to provide the GSPH faculty with a support structure for finding out about and applying for grants for interdisciplinary research,” Ness said. “I am particularly interested in helping the school’s junior faculty, in giving them the support they need to succeed in their research careers.”

As associate dean for research, Ness fills the role vacated by Meryl Karol, who has been named associate dean for academic affairs at GSPH.

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A radon pioneer and a leader in fracture mechanics and technology transfer between industry and academia are the two Pitt faculty members newly elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), which last week selected 77 new members and nine foreign associates.

Honorees are emeritus professors Bernard L. Cohen and Max L. Williams.

Election to NAE is among the highest professional distinctions accorded an engineer. It honors individuals who have pioneered new fields or advanced traditional fields of engineering, implemented innovative approaches to engineering education or contributed to engineering theory and practice, including significant contributions to the literature of engineering theory and practice.

The two Pitt professors bring Pitt’s total NAE membership to six.

A distinguished service professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Cohen also held adjunct positions in the School of Engineering and the Graduate School of Public Health before retiring in 1994.

Cohen, who developed one of the first radon detectors, was recognized for “fundamental contributions to our understanding of low-level radiation,” according to NAE. Cohen also was the recipient of the 1981 Thomas W. Bonner Prize from the American Physical Society. He was recognized for outstanding experimental research in nuclear physics.

He earned a B.S. at Case Western Reserve University, an M.A. in physics at Pitt and a D.Sc. at Carnegie Mellon University.

Williams, distinguished service professor and former dean of the School of Engineering, retired in 1990.

He was recognized for “fundamental developments in fracture mechanics and for providing guidance to industry and government that has facilitated technology transfer,” according to NAE.

Williams earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering at Carnegie Institute of Technology, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in aeronautics at the California Institute of Technology. Williams served as dean of Pitt’s School of Engineering from 1973 to 1985.

Other Pitt members of NAE are: Marwan A. Simaan, Bell of PA/Bell Atlantic Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering; Jerome Schultz, Distinguished University Professor of Bioengineering and Medicine, professor of chemical engineering, and director of Pitt’s Center for Biotechnology and Bioengineering; Savio L-Y. Woo, A.B. Ferguson Professor and vice chair for research at the Musculoskeletal Research Center in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, a professor in the departments of bioengineering and mechanical engineering in Pitt’s School of Engineering, and professor of rehabilitation science and technology in Pitt’s School of Medicine, and Frederick G. Pohland, professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Edward R. Weidlein chair of environmental engineering and director of Pitt’s Dominion Center for Energy and the Environment.