For the Record

And the winner is...
Among the Pulitzer Prize winners announced in April were three Chicago alumni: David Auburn, AB'91, received the drama prize for his play Proof ("Burden of Proof," October/00); David Cay Johnston, X'73, won the beat-reporting award for the New York Times; and Laurie Cohen, MBA'78, was a lead writer for a Chicago Tribune story that won for explanatory reporting. Proof was also nominated for six Tony awards to be announced in June.

Space-age polymers
A new initiative will develop improved materials for satellites, space stations, and high-altitude aircraft to better withstand the rigors of space travel. The Center for Materials Chemistry in the Space Environment, led by Steven Sibener, professor of chemistry and director of the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, opened in May with a $5 million grant from the Department of Defense's Multidisciplinary University Research
Initiative. The center's first experiments will seek to understand the chemistry of polymers in space.

A hand for the humanities
Three Chicago faculty were among the recipients of $30.9 million in grants recently awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Sheldon Pollock, the George V. Bobrinskoy professor in South Asian languages and civilizations, was awarded $150,000 for his project "Sanskrit Knowledge Systems in the Eve of Colonialism"; Theo van den Hout, professor in Near East languages and civilizations, received $300,000 to continue his work on the Chicago Hittite dictionary; and Philip Gossett, the Robert T. Reneker distinguished service professor in music, was given $60,000 for his project "The Works of Giuseppe Verdi," with an additional one-to-one match amount of $43,500.

Joining the club
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) have elected President Don Michael Randel and six Chicago faculty to their ranks. Joining Randel in the AAAS are Douglas Diamond, the Merton H. Miller distinguished service professor of finance in the business school; Robert Rosner, the William E. Wrather distinguished service professor in astronomy & astrophysics and physics; and Lucia B. Rothman-Denes, professor of molecular genetics and cell biology. The new NAS members are Frank Richter, SM'71, PhD'72, the Sewell L. Avery distinguished service professor of geophysical sciences; Edwin Taylor, PhD'57, the Louis Block professor of molecular genetics and cell biology; and Robert Wald, professor of physics.

Usiskin's life adds up
Zalman Usiskin, professor in education, received a lifetime achievement award from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics for his work as director of the University Mathematics Project. The project is the nation's largest university-based curriculum program for K-12 mathematics. Usiskin, who joined the University in 1969, has been director of the project since 1987.

A quartet of trustees
The University Board of Trustees elected four new members in April: Thomas Cole, a partner at Sidley & Austin, the second-largest law firm in Chicago; Craig Duchossois, CEO of Duchossois Industries, a family-owned company; Michael Klingensmith, AB'75, MBA'76, president of Sports Illustrated and past president of the Alumni Association Board of Governors ("Nice guys finish first," April/00); and Walter Massey, president of Morehouse College and former president of the National
Science Foundation.

Statistically speaking
Stephen Stigler, the Ernest DeWitt distinguished service professor in statistics, has been elected president of the International Statistical Institute. An expert on the history of statistics and former chair of statistics at Chicago, Stigler will serve as the Institute's president-elect until 2003, when he'll begin a two-year term as president. Stigler is only the fifth American to be elected to the post since the organization was founded in the Netherlands in 1885.