University Times

The University’s 2017 Nicholas Rescher Prize for Systematic Philosophy will be awarded Oct. 13 to Ruth Millikan, Board of Trustees distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Connecticut.

The prize was established in 2010 in honor of Nicholas Rescher, distinguished University professor of philosophy, who has been on Pitt’s philosophy faculty since 1961.

Millikan’s body of work spans the philosophy of language, the philosophy of mind, epistemology, ontology and their interconnections with the philosophical foundations of the biological and psychological sciences.

Central to her project is the systematic development of a deeply influential treatment of thought and meaning as biologically and historically situated categories.

The Rescher prize is awarded biennially. Its aim is to reward and showcase the work of scholars who have addressed some of the traditional “big questions” of philosophical interest in a way that commands the respect of specialists in the field. Winners receive a gold medal and $25,000.

John C. Weidman, a faculty member in higher and international development education in the School of Education’s Department of Administrative and Policy Studies, has received an Exemplary Educator Award from the government of Mongolia.

Weidman was nominated by colleagues at the National University of Mongolia in recognition of his contributions to the development of higher education in Mongolia through research, technical assistance and advising of Mongolian graduate students dating from 1992.  Two of Weidman’s Mongolian PhD students have received “Best Dissertation Awards” from the Comparative and International Education Society Higher Education special interest group.

Business administration faculty member Jay Sukits of the Katz Graduate School of Business is the inaugural recipient of the CFA Society Pittsburgh’s Excellence in Financial Literacy Education Award. The award recognizes educators who best demonstrate a commitment to financial literacy education in the spirit and tenets of the CFA designation.

Sukits was honored for his efforts to expand financial literacy among college students. Three years ago, he created a one-credit Personal Financial Planning course for undergraduates, in which students create a personal financial plan to outline their financial goals.

In addition, his work was instrumental in developing the organization’s annual Collegiate Personal Financial Planning Competition, launched in 2015. Sukits’ original format for a financial plan was adopted as the submission criteria for participating students.

The CFA Society Pittsburgh, a member of the CFA Institute global network of societies, is an association of local investment professionals that promotes ethical standards, professional development and exchange of information within the local investment community and works to further public understanding of the CFA designation and investment industry.

The School of Law named senior federal appeals judge D. Michael Fisher to its newly created position of distinguished jurist in residence, effective Feb. 1.

Fisher, who serves in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, also is an adjunct professor at Pitt Law. He is to teach two courses every fall term and be on site during the spring term to meet with students and participate in other activities.

Fisher was nominated to the Third Circuit by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2003. Prior to becoming a judge, he served as the attorney general of Pennsylvania, elected in 1996 and re-elected in 2000. Fisher has argued major cases in state and federal appellate courts, including the 1998 precedent-setting case before the U.S. Supreme Court that ensured paroled criminals meet the conditions of their release.

Prior to being attorney general, Fisher was a member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, serving six years in the House and 16 years in the Senate.

Fisher, an emeritus trustee since 2004, served as a commonwealth trustee 1984-97.

Nancy Tannery has resigned as the Health Sciences Library System’s senior associate director to become assistant provost in the Office of the Provost.

Tannery came to HSLS as a reference librarian in 1996, having earned her MSLS degree after working as a research specialist for several years. She rose to assistant director in 1998, then associate director in 2004, and senior associate director in 2011. Tannery oversaw the growth of HSLS’s instruction and research support services, including library liaison programs in the Schools of the Health Sciences and the molecular biology information services.

She received the Medical Library Association’s Brodman Award for the Academic Medical Librarian of the Year in 2011. In 2015, she was the first librarian in 25 years to chair the literature selection and technical review committee of the National Library of Medicine.

Following Tannery’s departure, Renae Barger has been appointed HSLS associate director for research, instruction and clinical information services. Barger has been at HSLS since 2002. Since 2011, she has served as the executive director of the Middle Atlantic Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NNLM MAR). A national search for a new executive director of the NNLM MAR is in process.

Pitt-Bradford has received two awards in the 2016 collegiate advertising awards program, which recognizes U.S. colleges and universities for excellence in communications, marketing advertising and promotions.

Pitt-Bradford received a Gold Award in the Newspaper Advertising-Series category for a series of print ads featuring current students and alumni and a Silver Award in the Direct Mail-Series category for a series of postcards inviting prospective students to open houses.

Mark Zampogna, a 1988 Pitt-Bradford alumnus who owns Laser Layouts in Bradford, designed the award-winning print ads, which were published in newspapers in the region, including The Bradford Era, Kane Republican, Warren Times Observer and Daily News in St. Marys, as well as papers in the Pittsburgh area.

Diane Fitzgerald-Harris of Rochester, New York, who has designed most of Pitt-Bradford’s recruiting materials, designed the award-winning postcards. The series included four personalized postcards, each featuring scenes from campus and the dates of open houses for the 2016-17 academic year.

The 2016 awards program received more than 900 entries from college and universities throughout the United States.

A panel of design and education marketing professionals judged the entries on creativity, layout/design, typography, production, quality and overall effectiveness.

Pitt-Bradford has received a total of 11 awards from the collegiate advertising awards program.

Winners are posted at www.collegiateadawards.com.

—Compiled by K. Barlow