University Times

Jeannette E. South-Paul, professor and chair of family medicine at Pitt’s medical school, has been named a 2004 McCann Scholar, the only national award by a private foundation designed to recognize outstanding mentors in medicine, nursing and science. The Joy McCann Foundation awards of $150,000 recognize the recipients’ success as educators and mentors in teaching, research or patient care.
South-Paul is a leader in academic medicine and military family medicine, with a reputation as a leader in developing and assessing cultural competence in education and healthcare. She is nationally recognized for her expertise in culturally competent medical education and clinical practice and in minority and women’s issues in medicine.
In addition to her faculty position, South-Paul is the medical director of UPMC’s Division of Community Health Services.
The McCann Scholars are chosen from among candidates nominated by a prestigious panel of professionals in medicine, nursing and science; the process is anonymous and confidential. Candidates for the McCann Scholars award must have demonstrated success as an educator and mentor in teaching, research or patient care; be a leader in their academic institution and/or their professional field; and have been recognized as a role model for excellence and professionalism.
The Joy McCann Foundation, a private family foundation, currently supports: excellence in medical, nursing and science education, research and patient care; the role of the visual and performing arts in enhancing community life; academic achievement of student athletes; and educational programs that nurture individual achievement.

Savio L-Y. Woo, W.K. Whiteford Professor in the Department of Bioengineering has been elected an Honorary Member of the Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA). According to the AANA bylaws, the honorary membership, almost unprecedented for a Ph.D. scientist, recognizes: “An individual who, through a past demonstration of dedication and interest is, in the opinion of the Board of Directors, worthy of special recognition, shall be granted an honorary membership in the Association.”
Woo also is professor of mechanical engineering, and of rehabilitation science and technology, and serves as vice chairman for research, mentorship/internship program, bioengineering.

This summer, Bernard Goldstein, dean of the Graduate School of Public Health, will head a committee for the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences documenting research opportunities for the director of NIEHS. The committee is called the fifth task force for research planning in environmental health sciences.
In addition, last month, Goldstein spoke at the United Nations Delegate Headquarters on the “Precautionary Principle and Environmental Health: U.S.-European Differences.” The talk was part of the World Information Transfer’s 13th international conference. Goldstein co-chaired the first conference, held after the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Pitt head men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon will be honored June 2 as the Person of the Year by the YMCA of Pittsburgh. Dixon was recognized for his community work, including fund-raising for the Caring Place, and participating in the 2003 HOPE Network Hoops Classic, a charitable event that supports recreation and sports programs for disabled children and adults.
In his first year as Pitt’s head coach, Dixon led the Panthers to the “Sweet Sixteen” in the 2004 NCAA tournament.

Michael Meit, director of the Center for Rural Health Practice (CRHP) – a collaborative research center among Pitt-Bradford, the Graduate School of Public Health and UPMC – has been appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services (NACRHHS), a group charged with advising the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services on rural health and human services issues.
The NACRHHS is a 21-member citizens’ panel of nationally recognized rural health experts chaired by former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley. Advisory committee members reflect wide-ranging, first-hand experience with rural issues, including medicine, nursing, administration, finance, law, research, business, public health, aging, welfare and human services.
Meit will serve as the committee’s expert on issues related to rural public health, and his nomination was supported by national public health organizations such as the American Public Health Association and the National Association of County and City Health Officials.
Meit was nominated for the post by Congressman John Peterson of Titusville, who represents Pennsylvania’s Fifth Congressional District and is a co-chair of the Congressional Rural Caucus, a bipartisan coalition of more than 130 members of Congress committed to strengthening and revitalizing rural communities across America.
The CRHP is based at Pitt-Bradford, in McKean County. The center provides leadership at the state and national levels to advance the emerging field of rural public health.

Dennis Lowery, a member of the first class at Pitt’s Bradford campus in 1963, was presented the Presidential Medal of Distinction, Pitt-Bradford’s highest honor, at the April 25 commencement exercises.
Each year Pitt-Bradford presents the Presidential Medal of Distinction to someone who has either volunteered his or her time for several years; supported the campus either financially or with expertise or advice; served the region through community, government or business affiliation, or has made distinctive achievements in his or her field that has affected Pitt-Bradford.
Lowery, director and vice president of property and facilities at Northwest Savings Bank in Warren, Pa., became involved with Pitt-Bradford in 1963 as a member of its first class.From 1963-65, he was the first Student Government Association president.
Lowery was a member of the steering committee that organized the Pitt-Bradford Alumni Association (PBAA) in 1993. He was named interim president of the PBAA, and also was the first alumni representative to serve as a PBAA member. In addition, he was a member of the association’s board of directors from 1994-2001, and he served as the PBAA’s treasurer and as a member of its nominating committee.
Lowery also has been an active member of the advisory board since 1994, serving as the alumni liaison on the board’s development council and campaign cabinet.
Lowery is serving as the alumni co-chairman of the Complete the Campus Campaign and has taken the lead in creating several endowed scholarship funds.
“It is most appropriate that Denny should receive the university’s highest honor during its 40th anniversary since Pitt-Bradford has been a part of his life for all of those 40 years,” said UPB President Livingston Alexander. “Denny continues to serve the university in numerous capacities, and all of us at Pitt-Bradford are grateful to him for his unwavering support.”

William R. Brice, professor of geology at the Johnstown campus, has been named the recipient of the 2003-2004 President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching by campus President Albert Etheridge. Brice was presented the award during UPJ’s commencement exercises May 1.
The award was established to recognize teaching excellence and to promote the regional’s primary mission of high-quality undergraduate education. The recipient must demonstrate a high level of competence in professional aspects of teaching, such as construction of courses, classroom presentation, assignments and grading; innovation in the classroom; commitment to undergraduate teaching; evidence of sustained attention to the teaching/learning process; instilling in students the desire to be life-long learners, and availability to students.
The award carries a $2,000 stipend and $1,000 will be added to the division’s budget for the coming academic year, to be used by Brice for professional or curriculum development.
“I am thrilled to be honored in this way,” Brice said. “But really it is an award that must be shared with my students, because they are the inspiration for what I do in my teaching. They give me the opportunity to touch the future.”
Brice joined the Natural Sciences Division at UPJ in 1971 as assistant professor of geology and planetary sciences. He currently serves as president of the History of Earth Science Society, as secretary-treasurer of the history of Geology Division of the Geological Society of America, and as editor of “Oil-Industry History,” a publication of the Petroleum History Institute.
According to President Etheridge, “His devotion to the field of geology has won the admiration of colleagues from across the nation and beyond. As a teacher, researcher, colleague and role model, Dr. Brice is regarded as intellectually spirited, challenging, enthusiastic and loyal. His evaluations over the years have always underscored his dedication to the process of learning and to the importance of the academic experience.”

Pitt alumnus John Swanson, founder of ANSYS, was awarded the John Fritz Medal May 3 by the American Association of Engineering Societies. Established in 1902, the award is considered to be the highest award in the engineering profession and has been presented to, among others, Orville Wright, Alexander Graham Bell, Alfred Nobel, Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse.
Swanson, of Elizabeth, Pa., earned a Ph.D. in applied mechanics at Pitt’s School of Engineering in 1966, after earning Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in mechanical engineering at Cornell University. He is internationally recognized as an authority and innovator in the application of finite-element methods to engineering.
In 1970, Swanson founded ANSYS, which develops and globally markets engineering simulation software used by designers and engineers across a broad spectrum of industries, including aerospace, automotive, manufacturing, nuclear, electronics and biomedical. In 2000, ANSYS endowed a Ph.D. fellowship in Swanson’s name for a Pitt engineering student.
Supported by gifts of nearly $5 million from Swanson, The John A. Swanson Institute for Technical Excellence was established by Pitt’s School of Engineering in 2003. SITE houses two centers – the John A. Swanson Center for Micro and Nano Systems and the John A. Swanson Center for Product Innovation, the only complete product development center in the Pittsburgh region.
In 1998, Pitt’s School of Engineering honored Swanson with its Distinguished Alumnus Award. Swanson is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). In 1994, he was one of Industry Week’s Top 5 R&D Stars in the United States, and in 1986-1987, the ASME named Swanson Pittsburgh Engineer of the Year. In 1988, he was named Pittsburgh Entrepreneur of the Year in High Technology by the Entrepreneurial Services Group of Arthur Young and Venture Magazine.

Keith E. Schaefer (CAS ’71), executive partner of Constellation Partners in San Francisco, was named president of the Pitt Alumni Association, and Brian Generalovich (CAS ’66, DEN ’68), a dentist in Hermitage, Pa., was named president-elect at the association’s April 23 board meeting, along with several other newly elected officers.
Other Alumni Association appointees are vice president F. James McCarl (CGS ’73), chair of Gateway Bank in Pittsburgh; vice president Bernard Mack (CAS ’88), Pittsburgh State Farm Insurance owner and agent; secretary Arnold B. Silverman (LAW ’62), a lawyer with Eckert, Seamans, Cherin and Mellott in Pittsburgh, and treasurer Mary Ellen Callahan (CAS ’90), a lawyer who is an associate with Hogan and Hartson in Washington, D.C.
In addition to the executive positions, several people were named directors-at-large. They are Chester Babst III (LAW ’73), a partner with Babst, Calland, Clements and Zomnir PC in Pittsburgh; Karen Fisher (PHARM ’86, LAW ’89), associate vice president for Health Care Affairs at the Association of American Medical Colleges in Washington, D.C.; S. Jeffrey Kondis (ENG ’77, KGSB ’82), director of corporate development at Watson Standard in Pittsburgh; Andrew J. Kuzneski Jr. (BBA ’62), president of A.J. Kuzneski Jr., Inc., in Indiana, Pa.; Jason Matthews (CAS ’91), president of eSGS Group in Pittsburgh; Jack Smith (CAS ’69, MED ’73), an orthopedic surgeon in Greensburg; Joan K. Snyder (BUS ’01), a sales representative with Eli Lilly and Company in Pittsburgh, and Erin Confer-Staggers (CAS ’94), associate director of alumni relations at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind.
Michael A. Bryson (CAS ’68), executive vice president of finance and CFO of Mellon Financial Corporation in Pittsburgh, was named director emeritus.