University Times

Jeff Gleim, associate executive director of the Pitt Alumni Association, has been named interim associate vice chancellor for Alumni Relations, effective Aug. 1.

As associate executive director, Gleim oversees the communications, marketing, membership, student involvement and outreach areas in the alumni association.

Prior to joining the University in 2007, Gleim was director of the Ohio State University Alumni Association’s advocates program. There Gleim was responsible for more than 200 alumni clubs and organizations worldwide. He was instrumental in developing a new strategic plan and generating new sources of revenue.

Gleim succeeds Leland D. Patouillet, who will become executive director of the University of Florida Alumni Association and associate vice president of Alumni Relations at the University of Florida.

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Kathleen Blee, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, has been named chair of the sociology department, effective Sept. 1.

Blee also holds appointments in history and the women’s studies program, which she directed from 1996 to 2001.

Her fields include gender; race and racism; social movements, and the sociology of space and place.

Blee, who joined the Pitt faculty in 1996, is a 2007 winner of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award and a 2004 winner of the Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award.

She is the author of several books, including “Women of the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s,” which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

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Also in the sociology department, Daniel Romesberg was appointed director of undergraduate studies.

Romesberg, senior lecturer, undergraduate adviser and internship coordinator, teaches Sociology of the Family and Deviance and Social Control.

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Stephen B. Thomas, director of the Center for Minority Health, part of the Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH), recently was named a Communicator of the Year by the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation’s Robert L. Vann awards program for coverage of African Americans in western Pennsylvania. PBMF is the local affiliate of the National Association of Black Journalists.

Thomas also is the Philip Hallen Professor of Community Health and Social Justice at GSPH.

Over the years Thomas has applied his expertise in behavioral science and health education in the African-American community. His work has addressed several critical public health issues including HIV/AIDS, youth violence, substance abuse and organ and tissue donations among African Americans.

Founded in 1973, the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation was developed to advocate for fair representation of the African-American community in the news and to seek an increased presence of minorities in the newsroom.

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Two Pitt administrators were among eight women given Tribute to Women Leadership Awards by the YWCA Greater Pittsburgh. The awards recognize outstanding contributions to the Pittsburgh community through professional and volunteer work and advancing the goals of the YWCA: the empowerment of women and girls and the elimination of racism.

The Education Award went to Kathy Humphrey, vice provost and dean of students, and the Science and Technology Award was given to Jacqueline Dunbar-Jacob, dean of the School of Nursing.

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William R. Wagner, professor of bioengineering, chemical and petroleum engineering and surgery, has been named a fellow of biomaterials science and engineering by the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering.

The fellowship is in recognition of Wagner’s work applying biomaterials science and engineering principles to address cardiovascular disease and for his leadership in the international biomaterials community. He is the first such fellow from Pitt.

Wagner, who also serves as deputy director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, teaches in the areas of biomaterials and tissue engineering.

Wagner is the founding editor of the biomaterials journal Acta Biomaterialia.

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Brian Potoski, assistant professor of pharmacy and therapeutics at the School of Pharmacy, has been awarded the designation of “added qualifications in infectious diseases” by the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties. This designation is awarded to board-certified pharmacotherapy specialists to denote an enhanced level of training and experience within a segment of a recognized specialty that targets specific diseases or patient populations.

Fewer than 60 board-certified pharmacists in the nation are recognized as having added qualifications in infectious diseases.

Potoski’s research interests focus on the use of Monte Carlo simulations to determine appropriate antibiotic dose selection using pharmacodynamic targets for specific patient populations, and the impact of formulary management on pathogen resistance trends.

Potoski and his antibiotic management team were awarded the 2004 President’s Performance Improvement Award Quality Cup for promoting the optimal use of antimicrobials through the implementation of an antibiotic management program.

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Andrew F. Stewart, professor and chief of the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism in the School of Medicine, was honored by the Endocrine Society with the 2008 Gerald D. Aurbach Award in recognition of his contributions to endocrinology research.

 Considered an international authority in disorders of bone and mineral metabolism, Stewart leads investigations that involve translational and basic science research of pancreatic beta islet cell function in individuals with diabetes. He was the first to characterize humoral hypercalemia of malignancy (HHM), a syndrome that is a common cause of death in patients with breast, lung and other cancers, in complete biochemical detail.

This accomplishment led to his work to sequence and purify parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP), a naturally occurring peptide hormone that regulates bone cell activity and is related to HHM.

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Louis M. Gomez, Aon Professor of Learning Sciences and professor of computer science at Northwestern University, was named the inaugural holder of the Dr. Helen S. Faison Chair in Urban Education and the first director of Pitt’s Center for Urban Education.

In addition, Gomez, who will join Pitt in January, will serve as a senior scientist in the Learning Research and Development Center.

Gomez, who also serves as learning sciences program coordinator at Northwestern, works with school communities to create social arrangements and curricula that support school improvement. He was a co-director of the National Science Foundation-sponsored Center for Learning Technologies in Urban Schools. He also was a founding member of the MacArthur Network on Teaching and Learning, which explores the relationship between research and practice in education. His ultimate goal is to transform instruction in urban schools while supporting the formation of communities within schools.

Gomez is a board member of the Center for Applied Special Technology, and he just completed two terms as a trustee of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. He also has served as a member of the advisory board of the National Research Council’s Center for Education and as chair of the Educational Testing Service’s visiting panel of research. He is a recipient of the Spencer Foundation Mentorship Award.

The Faison chair honors Pitt alumna and emerita trustee Faison, the Pittsburgh Public Schools’ first female and first African-American high school principal and its first African-American superintendent.

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Alan H. Teich, associate professor of psychology and natural sciences at Pitt-Johnstown, has been named interim vice president for Academic Affairs at UPJ, effective July 1.

Teich, who joined the Pitt-Johnstown faculty in 1987, has served as the chair of the Department of Psychology and Natural Sciences Division, and has been a member of the campus’s welfare committee, Faculty Senate Council, the Johnstown planning and budget committee, the human subjects ethics review committee and the natural sciences status committee.

He has served as the faculty adviser to the Psi Chi Honor Society and Psychology Club and currently is faculty adviser to the Pitt-Johnstown lacrosse team. He also has served as faculty representative to the Student Senate.

Teich co-developed and serves as lead presenter of the help, understanding, guidance and support program for UPJ and the Cambria County Court of Common Pleas.

He holds a PhD in behavioral medicine from the University of Miami.

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