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Spreading the word
At the December convocation, Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist John Callaway received the Benton Medal for distinguished public service. He is the sixth recipient of the medal since the University trustees created it in 1967 to recognize "the most extraordinary service to the field of education and the University." Callaway, the founding director of the University’s William Benton fellowships in broadcast journalism, hosts WTTW/ Channel 11ís Chicago Tonight.
Building on past gifts
The Biological Sciences Learning Center has taken a new name: the Dorothy and Gaylord Donnelley Biological Sciences Learning Center. Gifts from the Donnelley’s to the U of C over the past 50 years total more than $25 million and have supported the College, the humanities, the Medical Center, the library, the Divinity School, Court Theatre, and the Smart Museum.
Distinguished faculty
The start of the new year saw four faculty members honored with distinguished service professorships: economists Lars Peter Hansen and Jos. Scheinkman; Robert Pippin in the Committee on Social Thought; and Michael Turner, chair of astronomy and astrophysics. Turner received the first Bruce V. Rauner distinguished service professorship.
Naming names
Another six faculty members were awarded named professorships: historian Bruce Cumings; mathematician Robert Fefferman; Cornell Fleischer in Near Eastern languages & civilizations; Bennett Leventhal, interim chair of psychiatry; physicist Sidney Nagel; and Randal Picker, AB'80, AM'82, JD'85, in the Law School. Fleischer, Leventhal, and Picker are the first recipients of their chairs.
One school, three deans
After 18 months as dean of the Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, Don Coursey has stepped down to devote more time to research, teaching, and his family. Norman Bradburn, AB'52, a professor in the Harris School, the GSB, and the psychology department, has been the acting dean. On March 30, Harris School professor Robert Michael will become the school’s new dean. Michael, who was also dean of the Harris School from 1989 to 1994, joined the U of C in 1980 and directed the National Opinion Research Center from 1984 to 1989.
Building a better gym
In January, the Laboratory Schools launched a $5-million campaign to improve the athletic facilities. A planned addition to Sunny Gymnasium will feature a new basketball court with seating for 400 on the second floor, and classrooms, offices, and a space for modern dance and aerobics on the first floor. Sunny Gymnasium itself will be remodeled, and Jackman Field will be reconfigured to include a soccer field, six new tennis courts, and a playground.
The epic hero as icon
Robert Morrissey, PhD'82, an associate professor of romance languages & literatures, has won France’s 1997 Chateaubriand grand prize in history for his book L'empereur ý la barbe fleurie: Charlemagne, dans la mythologie et líhistoire de France. Analyzing the social and political uses of Charlemagne as an icon, the work follows the transformation of French identity.
Health of the nation
The National Academy of Sciences's Institute of Medicine has elected two new U of C members: Ralph W. Weichselbaum, chair of the department of radiation and cellular oncology and director of the Chicago Tumor Institute, and Bryce Weir, section chief of neurosurgery and director of the Brain Research Institute. Chosen for their professional achievement, institute members study matters of national health policy.
The music man
For the second time in his career, associate professor of music Richard Cohn has received the outstanding publication award of the Society for Music Theory. The current honor is for his article in Music Analysis about how composers at the end of the 19th century used consonant triads. |
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