University Times

Gerald Douglas, a faculty member in bioinformatics in the School of Medicine, was one of 11 University of Victoria (British Columbia) alumni to be honored for professional achievement and community leadership.

Douglas is a co-founder of Baobab Health Trust, a nonprofit organization based in Malawi that is streamlining health care in lower-income countries.

Baobab’s touch screen clinical workstation gives clinicians a robust, low-power, inexpensive clinical tool to reduce documentation errors and improve patient care, particularly those with HIV/AIDS.

Several members of the Pitt community have won 2011 Carnegie Science Awards.

The Advanced Materials Award was shared by Alan Russell, Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, Richard R. Koepsel, Sang Beom Lee and Jinyu Huang of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Vineet Agrawal, also of the McGowan Institute, won a University/Post-Secondary Student Award.

Marc Malandro, associate vice chancellor for Technology Management and Commercialization and director of the Office of Technology Management, won a Catalyst Award.

Thad Zaleskiewicz, an emeritus professor of physics at Pitt-Greensburg, won a University/Post-Secondary Educator Award.

Massimo Trucco, Hillman Professor of Pediatric Immunology at the School of Medicine, won a Life Sciences Award.

Melissa Bilec and Amy Landis, both faculty members in civil and environmental engineering, received a University/Post-Secondary Educator Award honorable mention.

The Carnegie Science Center established the awards program in 1997 to recognize and promote innovation in science and technology across western Pennsylvania.

Susan M. Meyer, associate dean for education in the School of Pharmacy, was recognized by the school’s American Pharmacists Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists chapter as Faculty Member of the Year.

The group’s executive board selected Meyer for the award, recognizing her contributions to pharmacy students as well as her enthusiasm for promoting interprofessional engagement across the health sciences.

Newly hired head football coach Todd Graham has hired four additional assistant coaches for the Panthers staff.

The new coaches are: former North Texas coach Todd Dodge, who will serve as quarterbacks coach; Tony Doews (tight ends), who comes to Pitt from Michigan; as well as Spencer Leftwich (offensive line) and Shawn Griswold (strength and conditioning), who both come to Pitt from Graham’s staff at Tulsa.

Graham previously had announced five other assistants who will be on Pitt’s staff. (See Jan. 20 University Times.)

Robert Stein, assistant director of the Small Business Development Center in the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence (IEE), part of the Katz Graduate School of Business, was named a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for the eighth consecutive year. The MVP award is given to technical community leaders who share their expertise and provide feedback to help people enhance their use of technology.

Stein also is manager of the information technology program at IEE.

Margaret Smith, a faculty member in the Department of Instruction and Learning at the School of Education, recently was appointed editor of Mathematics Teacher Educator. The publication is a joint venture of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.

Smith, whose expertise is in mathematics education, also is a senior scientist at the Learning Research and Development Center and a member of Pitt’s Learning Policy Center.

Paula Riess Sherwood, a faculty member in acute and tertiary care at the School of Nursing, was one of six registered nurses from across the state who received 2010 Nightingale Awards, which honor exceptional nurses practicing in Pennsylvania.

Sherwood, whose research examines behavioral and biological markers of distress in caregivers and patients with neurologic disorders, was honored in the Nursing Research category.

Susan Gillis-Kruman, faculty member in the School of Education’s Department of Health and Physical Activity, has been appointed by the Arts Education Collaborative to serve on its advisory council.

The advisory council comprises community leaders and art educators. Members serve three-year terms.

Gillis-Kruman has been a dance educator at Pitt for 33 years and is the adviser for the Dance Ensemble, a Pitt dance-performance group. She is the coordinator for the dance minor program, where she teaches dance, dance-related courses and yoga.

Previously, Gillis-Kruman served as the first director of the Pittsburgh Dance Alloy and was on the dance panel of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She has served as vice president of dance for the Pennsylvania State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

Pitt-Bradford has named Shawn W.T. Murray the new manager of advancement operations.

A Pitt-Bradford alumnus, Murray comes to UPB from Futures Rehabilitation Center in Bradford, where he had been the information systems coordinator, directing and supervising technology projects.

Working in the Office of Institutional Advancement, Murray will maintain the campus’s fundraising database of more than 15,000 records.

Pitt-Bradford alumnus Bobby Wyant has been named an admissions counselor at Pitt-Titusville.

His primary responsibility will include the recruitment of full-time, traditional-age students. In addition, he will represent the campus at high schools as well as college fairs. He will assist in the organization of campus recruiting events, serve as a co-adviser to student ambassadors and student telecounselors and counsel students and their families on academic options within the Pitt system.

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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.

We welcome submissions from all areas of the University. Send information via email to: utimes@pitt.edu, by fax at 412/624-4579 or by campus mail to 308 Bellefield Hall.

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