The Johns Hopkins Gazette: August 16, 1999
August 16, 1999
VOL. 28, NO. 42

  

For The Record:
Cheers

Johns Hopkins Gazette Online Edition

Cheers is a monthly listing of honors and awards received by faculty, staff and students plus recent appointments and promotions. Contributions must be submitted in writing and be accompanied by a phone number.

APL

Wayne Swann has joined APL to establish the laboratory's first Office of Technology Transfer. Swann, who holds 10 issued U.S. patents, comes to Hopkins from the University of Maryland, where he created its Office of Technology Liaison and oversaw its operation for 13 years. He previously worked at Genex Corp. as a research scientist and technology marketing manager and at W.R. Grace & Co. as a research associate.

A constellation of asteroids now bears the names of seven APL researchers. At its International Asteroids, Comets and Meteors conference held on July 28 at Cornell University, the International Astronomical Union named asteroids for Stamatios M. (Tom) Krimigis, Andrew F. Cheng, Robert E. Gold, Gene A. Heyler, Noam R. Izenberg, Scott L. Murchie and Jeffrey W. Warren. They were among the 60 individuals and institutions receiving the honor. All the APL researchers are key contributors to the NEAR program, the first of NASA's Discovery missions, which is sending a spacecraft to rendezvous with 433 Eros on Feb. 14, 2000, to conduct the first in-depth study of an asteroid.

Asteroid 8323 Krimigis honors Tom Krimigis, head of the Space Department and a specialist in solar, interplanetary and magnetospheric physics; 8257 Andycheng honors Andrew Cheng, a planetary scientist who serves as project scientist on the NEAR mission; and 4955 Gold honors Robert Gold, who has made many contributions to space science through numerous spacecraft missions, including Ulysses, Geotail, Delta Star and ACE.

Asteroid 5446 Heyler recognizes Gene Heyler, a spacecraft attitude control expert, who has been responsible for developing innovative techniques for tracking minor planets during fast flybys. Asteroid 5584 Izenberg recognizes Noam Izenberg, a planetary scientist and an expert in the geologic interpretation of reflectance spectra, and 4642 Murchie honors Scott Murchie for his work in the area of planetary problems ranging from icy satellites, Martian rocks and moons, to the age dating of terrestrial rocks. Jeffrey Warren has had asteroid 5597 named 5597 Warren in recognition of his work designing, fabricating and operating the Near-Infrared Spectrometer, a major instrument on the NEAR spacecraft.


Engineering

Nicholas Jones, professor and chair of the Department of Civil Engineering, was appointed editor of the Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics in July.

K.T. Ramesh is the new chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department. He follows Andrew Douglas, now associate dean for academic affairs. Ramesh, who received a doctorate in the mechanics of solids from Brown University in 1987, joined the Hopkins faculty in 1988 and was awarded tenure in 1997. He received the William H. Huggins Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1995. Ramesh's interest in material deformation and failure at ultra-high strain rates and biomimetics and active materials has led to the development of two laboratories in the department.

Joshua Reiter, who will be joining the Mathematical Sciences Department in September as a lecturer, has received a patent for a computerized system that would allow advertisers to put customized messages and/or coupons on envelopes being mailed.

Charles ReVelle, professor of geography and environmental engineering, recently received a $960,000 award from the Packard Foundation for an interdisciplinary research project titled "The Multi-Objective Design of Nature Reserves."

M. Gordon ("Reds") Wolman, professor, Geography and Environmental Engineering, is the recipient of the Geological Society of America's 1999 Penrose Medal in recognition of his contributions to the fields of geomorphology and environmental policy. The Penrose Medal was established in 1927 by R.A.F. Penrose Jr. to be awarded in recognition of eminent research in pure geology, for outstanding original contributions or achievements that mark a major advance in the science of geology. The award is made only at the discretion of the GSA Council, which interprets pure geology to apply to all scientific disciplines represented by the society.

Three degree programs in the Part-time Programs in Engineering and Applied Science have announced new leadership at the chair or vice chair levels. James Spall, of APL's Strategic Systems Department, is the new chair of the program in applied mathematics. He follows James Stadter, who has retired. Russell McCally, a member of the APL Institute for Advanced Science and Technology in Medicine, is the new program chair for Applied Biomedical Engineering. He succeeds Richard Farrell, who was the first chair of the Engineering and Applied Physics of Biomedicine Program, now renamed ABE. Dexter Smith, of the APL Submarine Technology Department, is the Electrical Engineering Program's new vice chair. The former vice chair, Robert McDonough, has retired.


Medicine

AIDS researcher Robert F. Siliciano has been named head of the M.D./Ph.D. program. Siliciano will coordinate the program and participate in selecting and recruiting students. The highly competitive program, which takes seven years to complete, accepts only about 12 students--or 10 percent of the entering medical school class--each year. A 1983 graduate of the program, Siliciano did his postdoctoral work at Hopkins and then at Harvard before returning in 1988 to join the faculty in immunology. Since 1993, Siliciano has led Hopkins' immunology graduate program.

Mark J. Soloski has been appointed head of the immunology graduate program, replacing Robert F. Siliciano. A molecular immunologist and associate professor in the Department of Medicine, Soloski is a leading authority on the biology of MHC molecules. He previously was the admissions coordinator for the immunology program. Soloski earned his doctorate at Rutgers University and did his postdoctoral work at Southwestern Medical School. He joined Hopkins in 1984. In his new position he will be responsible for pre- and postdoctoral training in immunology.

James Weiss, the Michael J. Cudahy Professor of Cardiology, has been named associate dean of admissions and academic affairs. He succeeds Leon Gordis, who will continue in his role as director of both the Physician and Society course and the Clinical Scholars Program. Since 1988, Weiss has served as a member of the Committee on Admissions and for the last three years has been its vice chair. He is also Fellowship Training and Program Director for the Division of Cardiology.


Nursing

Martha N. Hill, professor and director for the Center for Nursing Research, received the Distinguished Research Award from the International Society on Hypertension in Blacks for contributions in research leading to preventive, clinical and basic health service delivery for underserved and understudied populations.

Victoria Mock, associate professor, was appointed an American Cancer Society Professor of Oncology Nursing by the ACS Mid-Atlantic Division Maryland Council. The award honors an oncology nurse educator for contributions to cancer-related clinical practice, education and research.

Linda C. Pugh, associate professor and director of professional educational programs, received the James A. Shannon Director's Award from the National Institutes of Health, NINR, to create a nurse intervention for low-income, breast-feeding women.

Mary Roary, project director at the Center for Nursing Research, received the Rookie of the Year Award from the mid-Atlantic region of the American Heart Association for her efforts in promoting heart-healthy lifestyles in the African American community.


Peabody

Leon Fleisher was awarded the Commander in the Order of Leopold II by King Albert of Belgium for his services to the Queen Elisabeth of Belgium International Competition.


Public Health

Alvaro Munoz, professor of epidemiology, was named a fellow of the American Statistical Association in a presentation at the Joint Statistical Meetings held Aug. 8 to 12 in Baltimore. Munoz was recognized for development and application of statistical methods for infectious disease epidemiology, for leadership in the coordination of multicenter studies and for service to the profession.


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