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May 29, 2008

PEOPLE OF THE TIMES

Toi Derricotte, professor of English, has won the 2008 Elizabeth Kray award, given biennially to individuals whose service to the field of poetry embodies the spirit of Kray, co-founder of Poets House.

Derricotte and Cornelius Eady will be honored June 9 as co-founders of Cave Canem, an organization founded to remedy the under-representation of African-American poets in MFA programs and writing workshops.

Derricotte’s literary memoir, “The Black Notebooks,” won the 1998 Anisfield-WolfBook Award for Non-Fiction.

Her books of poetry include “Tender,” “Natural Birth” and “The Empress of the Death House.”

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Jerry W. Samples, professor of mechanical engineering technology at Pitt-Johnstown, has been chosen to receive the 2008 American Society for Engineering Education National Outstanding Teaching Award.

Samples joined the UPJ faculty in 1996 and has served in a number of administrative roles including director of the Engineering Technology Division and vice president for academic and student affairs.

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Andrea Robbins, instructor of chemistry at Pitt-Bradford, has received this year’s Chairs’ Faculty Teaching Award for excellence in teaching.

Robbins was chosen by the chairs of Pitt-Bradford’s five academic divisions who reviewed letters of recommendation, student evaluations of teaching, syllabi and grade distribution. They also considered the teachers’ knowledge of a subject matter, their advising and their dedication in working with students beyond the classroom in such activities as internships and research projects.

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At their recent graduation ceremonies, Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration (CBA) students honored their professors for teaching excellence.

The MBA Outstanding Teacher Award went to Prakash Mirchandani.

This year’s CBA awards were based on three kinds of student opinion compiled from teaching surveys from the past three terms: intellectual challenge of the course, increase in knowledge and overall teaching effectiveness.

The following awards were presented at the April 26 CBA graduation recognition ceremony:

Best Teaching in a Core Course Award was earned by Leonce Bargeron, who teaches Introduction to Finance.

Best Teaching in the Accounting Major Award went to Jocelyn Kauffunger, who teaches Intermediate Financial Reporting, Financial Statement Analysis and Tax Accounting.

The Best Teaching in the Finance Major Award went to Shawn Thomas, who teaches Corporate Finance.

Best Teaching in the Marketing Major Award went to Robert Gilbert, who teaches Introduction to Marketing, Advertising and Promotion and Projects in Marketing.

Best Teaching in the General Management Major Award (including courses in the concentrations of organizational behavior, human resources management and management information systems) was earned by Marick Masters, who teaches Negotiation in Business.

In addition, two Teacher of the Year awards in CBA were given to faculty who had the highest weighted score in the areas of intellectual challenge, increased knowledge and overall teaching effectiveness for all courses taught in CBA.

Thomas won CBA Teacher of the Year in the 50-120 students-taught category.

Kauffunger won the CBA Teacher of the Year in the 121-600 students-taught category.

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A paper written by Sara B. Moeller and Frederik P. Schlingemann, associate professors of business administration in the Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration, and René M. Stulz of Ohio State University is the second most cited article in the Journal of Finance over the past three years.

The ranking is based on Institute for Scientific Information citation data collected from the Journal of Finance over the past three years.

The paper, “Wealth Destruction on a Massive Scale? A Study of Acquiring-Firm Returns in the Recent Merger Wave,” explores the cost of acquisitions to acquiring-firm shareholders.

The Journal of Finance is the official publication of the American Finance Association, which is devoted to the study and promotion of knowledge about financial economics. The journal publishes leading research across all the major fields of financial research.

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James Baldwin, Pitt-Bradford’s assistant dean of academic affairs, director of enrollment services and registrar, has been chosen by the Pitt-Bradford Staff Association for its 2008 Staff Recognition Award.

The annual staff recognition award honors an employee whose performance consistently exceeds the standards and expectations set for his or her position or whose work in the community surpasses the expectations of the organizations he or she serves.

Baldwin oversees functions related to student records and accounts, institutional research and the science in motion and college in high school programs. His academic focus is data mining in higher education.

He was instrumental in bringing the college in high school program to Pitt-Bradford in 2005. Through the program, colleges partner with high schools to offer college courses during the normal high school day.

Baldwin also was appointed as a campus study member for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities graduate rate outcomes study project. He recently was named to the Science: It’s Elementary grant team at Kane Elementary School.

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Pitt-Bradford has named Leslie E. Kallenborn to the newly created position of assistant director for annual giving.

Kallenborn will develop and manage annual giving programs for alumni, faculty, staff and friends and corporate donors of UPB. She will oversee direct marketing campaigns such as the annual phonathon and mailings.

Before coming to Pitt-Bradford, Kallenborn was the director of fund development and community outreach at Charles Cole Memorial Hospital.

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Peter L. DeNardis, senior management analyst in the Department of Management Information and Analysis in the Office of Budget and Controller, recently was elected to a three-year term on the board of trustees of the International Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia Foundation.

IWMF is a non-profit, volunteer organization that provides information and resources on how to live with WM, plus encouragement to those affected by this rare and incurable blood cancer. The organization is financed by patients and their friends and families, with funds being utilized for patient support and for research into finding a cure for the disease.

Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia is a slow-growing form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma. About 1,500 new cases occur annually in the United States. Incidence increases sharply with age, with 63 the median age at diagnosis. Medical advances have extended the median survival time to 11 years.

DeNardis has been a member of IWMF since 2003, when he was diagnosed with WM at age 43. He has been involved in a variety of roles including discussion list manager and online WM patient database project co-manager. He also will be serving as the group’s web site committee chairperson.

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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.

For submission guidelines, visit www.umc.pitt.edu/utimes/deadlines.html online.


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