Tepper Startup Receives $100,000 from Life Sciences Greenhouse... Tepper School graduate Daniel McChesney (TPR'05), left, and Ernest Braxton (TPR'07) think they have a pretty good idea for a startup and the Pittsburgh Life Sciences Greenhouse agrees. So much so that it recently invested $100,000 in these two medical entrepreneurs and their company NeuroLife Noninvasive Solutions. The concept for their startup is to produce a new hand-held, non-invasive medical device that measures brain pressure more quickly, safely and easily for the 500,000 patients who suffer from brain injuries each year. The proposed diagnostic tool, called iSCAN, will measure brain pressure through the patient's eye. For more, click here.

Hillel Jewish University Center Honors Cohon, Nordenberg... The Edward and Rose Berman Hillel Jewish University Center (JUC) honored President Jared L. Cohon and University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg at its annual event last month in Oakland. The Hillel JUC recognized the pair for fostering a mutually beneficial relationship between the Hillel JUC and the universities they serve — a relationship whose impact is felt far beyond any institutional boundaries.

The event, entitled "Kesher: Links that Enrich our Community," highlighted the Hillel JUC's dynamic role in relationship to the campuses, students, community and region. Event co-chairs included Milton and Sheila Fine, Ira and Anita Gumberg, William and Sissy Lieberman, Daniel and Barbara Shapira, David Shapira, and David and Marlene Tepper. For more, click here.

Olson Named Acting Co-Director of CNBC... Carl Olson, professor of cognitive neuroscience, has been named acting co-director of the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition (CNBC), a multidisciplinary research center operated jointly by Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh. Olson succeeds Jay McClelland, who will join the faculty at Stanford University. Olson, who has directed the CNBC Primate Physiology Laboratory since 1996, is renowned for studies of the brain that have revealed areas responsible for fundamental cognitive processes like attention, memory and spatial localization of objects in their settings. “Carl Olson is a perfect choice for this position, given his long-standing tenure at the CNBC and his stature in the scientific community,” said John Lehoczky, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. For more, click here.

Siegler Appointed to National Math Education Panel... The U.S. Department of Education has appointed Robert Siegler, the Teresa Heinz Professor of Cognitive Psychology, to the National Mathematics Advisory Panel. The panel's 17 members advise the president and secretary of education on how scientific research can advance the teaching and learning of mathematics. Siegler's research focuses on children's reasoning and problem-solving abilities, particularly in mathematics and science. He has written seven books, including “Emerging Minds,” which was named one of the “Best Psychology Books of 1996” by the Association of American Publishers. For more, click here.

Reddy Receives Award for Lifetime Contributions to Science... Raj Reddy, the Mozah Bint Nasser University Professor of Computer Science and Robotics in the School of Computer Science, received the 2006 Vannevar Bush Award from the National Science Board in recognition of his contributions to science and his statesmanship on behalf of science and the nation. The board cited Reddy for his pioneering research in robotics and intelligent systems, and his significant contributions in the formulation of national information and telecommunications policy. The National Science Board, which provides scientific advice to Congress and the president and oversees the National Science Foundation, established the Vannevar Bush Award in 1980 to recognize individuals who have made outstanding contributions to mankind and the nation through public service activities in science and technology. For more, click here.

Artificial Intelligence Expert Receives Simon Chair in Computer Science... Computer Science Professor Manuela Veloso has been named the Herbert A. Simon Professor of Computer Science. The chaired professorship is named after the late Herbert A. Simon, university professor and Nobel Laureate who helped to found the field of artificial intelligence and establish Carnegie Mellon as one of the foremost computer science institutions in the world. University Professor Raj Reddy held the Simon Chair in Computer Science from the time of its creation in 1992 until April 2005, when he was awarded the Mozah Bint Nasser Chair of Computer Science and Robotics. Veloso's research focuses on the effective construction of teams of intelligent agents that combine cognition, perception, and action to address planning, execution and learning tasks—particularly in uncertain, dynamic and adversarial environments. To illustrate these concepts, Veloso develops teams of robot soccer agents that participate in the International RoboCup competitions. For more, click here.

Heinz Student Receives Tisdale Fellowship First-year graduate student Erica Camese was awarded the Eben Tisdale Fellowship, which focuses on exploring public policy issues related to technology. The Tisdale Fellowship brings eligible students to Washington, D.C., for internships that explore current public policy issues of critical importance to the economy's technology sector. The program is administered by The Fund for American Studies, a nonprofit educational foundation in Washington, D.C. Camese is one of nine recipients nationwide. For more, click here.

Drama Professor Earns Tony Nod for "The Color Purple"...Associate Professor of Costume Design Paul Tazewell was nominated for a 2006 Tony Award in the category of Best Costume Design for a Musical for his work in the Broadway musical "The Color Purple." A faculty member in the School of Drama for three years, Tazewell has nearly 15 years of freelance experience, designing for both on- and off-Broadway shows, as well as for regional and international theater, dance and opera productions. This was Tazewell's second Tony nomination for Best Costume Design for a Musical, having received one for his contributions to the 1996 show "Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk." He most recently designed for "Hot Feet," which is also running on Broadway. For more, click here.

Music Professor To Receive Lifetime Achievement Award... Jeanne Baxtresser, the Vira I. Heinz University Professor of Flute, will receive the National Flute Association's (NFA) Lifetime Achievement Award at the NFA's 2006 convention Aug. 10–13 in Pittsburgh. The Lifetime Achievement Award, the NFA's highest honor, recognizes flutists whose character, dedication to the art of playing the flute and lifetime accomplishments have inspired generations of musicians. Baxtresser is internationally recognized as a leading recording artist, author and teacher. She began her professional career as principal flutist of the Montreal Symphony after graduating from The Juilliard School. She was principal flutist of the Toronto Symphony before being invited to join the New York Philharmonic, where she was solo flutist for 15 years. This spring, Baxtresser was named a University Professor, the highest academic distinction faculty can achieve. For more, click here.

Garrett Named Head of Civil and Environmental Engineering... James H. Garrett Jr. has been named head of the university's Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. Garrett succeeds Chris T. Hendrickson, who served as department head for the past 10 years. Garrett has served as the associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Engineering since 2000, has been a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering since 1990 and is co-director of the newly formed Center for Sensed Critical Infrastructure Research (CenSCIR). Prior to creating CenSCIR, Garrett served for six years as the director of the Advanced Infrastructure Systems Lab at the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES). In addition to his leading-edge research, Garrett has won numerous academic accolades, including the 2006 Computing in Civil Engineering Award from the American Society of Civil Engineers. For more, click here.

Math Major Earns Department of Homeland Security Scholarship Zofia Koscielniak, a junior mathematical sciences and computer science major, has won a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) scholarship. The award is offered annually to an elite group of undergraduate scholars studying math, engineering or science. It includes full tuition and fees during the recipient's junior year, followed by a summer internship at a DHS-affiliated facility before the student's senior year. By investing in the outstanding young technical minds of today, the DHS believes it is taking preemptive measures against the national security threats of tomorrow. Of the 273 undergraduate applicants in 2005, only 50 received the prestigious DHS scholarship. For more, click here.

Mentzer Wins University's Ryan Teaching Award... Design Professor Mark Mentzer, associate head of the School of Design, was named the winner of this year’s William H. and Frances S. Ryan Award for Meritorious Teaching, the university's most prestigious teaching honor. The Ryan Award annually recognizes faculty who have demonstrated unusual devotion and effectiveness in teaching. Mentzer, a faculty member since the mid-1970s, teaches "Drawing" to all freshmen students and "Color and Communication" to sophomores in the Communication Design program. He is also an active artist who has created at least one original drawing each day for more than 16 years and has catalogued more than 6,000 of his drawings. For more, click here.

Church Named Dean of Student Affairs... Following a national search, Carnegie Mellon has named Jennifer Church its new dean of Student Affairs. Church, who has served as interim dean since June 2005, succeeds Michael Murphy, who was promoted to associate vice president of the university last summer. "After an extensive search, we've come to find what most of us assumed, that Jennifer Church was the best candidate for the job," said Vice President for Enrollment William Elliott. "Jennifer has been a strong advocate, advisor and counselor for our students during the past 10 years and she's become a vital member of our university community. She has proven time and again that she possesses the necessary management skills, experience, vision and compassion to create and implement the types of programs that are essential to building and enhancing our campus community." For more, click here.

Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Honors World-Renowned Professor... The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences has selected John R. Anderson, the Richard King Mellon Professor of Psychology and Computer Science, as the recipient of the inaugural Dr. A.H. Heineken Prize for Cognitive Science. The prize, which carries a $150,000 award, is one of six presented every two years by the Alfred Heineken Fondsen Foundation to outstanding researchers selected by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Anderson, who has been on the faculty since 1978, is receiving the Heineken Award for his work in developing ACT-R, an integrative theory of the computational operations underlying human thought processes. The Heineken Awards will be presented Sept. 28 in Amsterdam. For more, click here.

Nagin Wins Sutherland Award... Daniel Nagin, the Teresa and H. John Heinz III Professor of Public Policy and Statistics, has been named the winner of the 2006 Edwin H. Sutherland Award. The award, established in 1960 by the American Society of Criminology (ASC), recognizes outstanding contributions to theory or research in criminology on the etiology of criminal and deviant behavior, the criminal justice system, corrections, law or justice. His research focuses on the evolution of criminal and antisocial behaviors over a lifetime, the deterrent effect of criminal and non-criminal penalties on illegal behaviors and the development of statistical methods for analyzing longitudinal data. Nagin will receive the award at the November ASC meeting, where he will deliver the plenary address. Alfred Blumstein received the Sutherland Award in 1987. For more, click here.

Burgess Earns CFA Teaching Award... The College of Fine Arts selected Art Professor Lowry Burgess as the recipient of the 2006 Hornbostel Teaching Award. Burgess, former CFA dean, was chosen for his creative legacy, including the profound impact he has had as a teacher throughout the last 40 years—nearly 20 of which he's spent at the School of Art. Given annually to faculty in CFA for excellence in undergraduate teaching and advising, the award is named after Henry Hornbostel, the first CFA dean and architect of the original campus buildings. For more, click here.

Junior Wins Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship... Junior Satyan Pai was recently awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. Pai, who is eligible to receive up to $7,500 through the scholarship, was one of 323 college sophomores and juniors nationwide selected for the honor. The son of Mukund and Surekha Pai of Solon, Ohio, Pai is majoring in biological sciences with a minor in chemistry. After completing his bachelor's degree, he plans to pursue an advanced degree in molecular biology and ultimately conduct research in a pharmaceutical or academic environment. This summer, he will intern at Merck Pharmaceuticals Research Labs in New Jersey, where he will conduct research on the treatment of diabetes. The scholarship program honoring Senator Barry M. Goldwater fosters and encourages outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. For more, click here.