Professional Notes

Please note: Professional notes were not published in Bulletin Today during the summer; instead they appear below. Those notes submitted more recently will appear in next Tuesday's issue.

Douglas Bass, Graduate Programs in Software, presented a paper, "Symmetric k-Factorizations of Hypercubes with Factors of Small Diameter," at the sixth International Symposium on Parallel Architectures, Algorithms and Networks (I-SPAN '02) in May 2002 in Manila, Philippines.

Joan Griffith, Music Department, has been awarded a 2002-2003 American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Award. Awards are granted by an independent panel and are based on "the unique prestige value of each writer's catalog of original compositions, as well as recent performances in areas not surveyed by the society."

Rev. Jan Michael Joncas, Center for Catholic Studies and Theology Department, has published an online review of Louis-Marie Chauvet's "The Sacraments: The Word of God at the Mercy of the Body" (Collegeville, Minn.: The Liturgical Press, 2001) for Catholic Issues. He also published a foreward to Alan J. Hommerding's Song of the Spirit Texts for Sung Prayer (Schiller Park, Ill.: World Library Publications, 2002).

Meg Wilkes Karraker, Sociology Department, was interviewed and took call-in questions about the new research on marriage and cohabitation on Minnesota Public Radio's "Morning Show" on Friday, July 26.

Dr. Nick Nissley, Department of Organization Learning and Development, has a chapter forthcoming in Advances in Appreciative Inquiry, a book showcasing "cutting-edge research, explorations in appreciative inquiry, and innovative applications of theory to practice." After blind review, Nissley was invited by editor, David Cooperrider, to contribute to the theme on "Appreciative Discourse and Narrative." Nissley's chapter, "The Artful Creation of Positive Anticipatory Imagery in Appreciative Inquiry: Understanding the 'Art of'Appreciative Inquiry as Aesthetic Discourse,' " describes his transdisciplinary work in management education, the arts and appreciative inquiry.

Nissley also has a piece of artwork featured in the September issue of the Journal of Management Inquiry. He co-created the artwork with a group of health care executives as part of a process that permitted the executives to artfully represent their feelings about a merger. The artwork was originally exhibited at the 2000 Academy of Management meeting in Toronto.

Dr. Debra Ricci, Engineering and Technology Management, received the Research on Learning Award for her 2000 doctoral dissertation, "A Phenomenology of the Experience of Learning in Adult Higher Education." She received the award at a spring 2002 ceremony at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Continuing and Vocational Education. The award recognizes research that focuses on learning, thinking and the use of information by adult learners. It is intended to support and encourage research that increases understanding of learning as it is experienced and practiced by adult learners. Ricci served as office manager in UST's Programs in Engineering and Technology Management from 1995-1998, and since 1999, as ABET accreditation self-study report and Baldrige application writer.

Gregory Roberts, vice president for Student Affairs, was the invited facilitator for the Caribbean Tertiary Level Personnel Association's annual conference in Christ Church, Barbados.  Representatives from institutions throughout the Caribbean discussed issues related to student development and professional development of student affairs educators throughout the region.  Countries represented were Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, Trinidad and Haiti. This was the second time this association has invited Roberts to speak.  Also discussed were possible relationships between the University of St. Thomas and the numerous campuses represented at the conference.

Rachel Wobschall, Constituent Relations, has been invited to participate in the National Summit on Technology for People with Disabilities Oct. 7-9 in Providence, R.I.  The purpose of this meeting is to develop and apply a consensus-based perspective to the development and deployment of future technology for people with disabilities.  Fifty participants will examine key areas such as policy, research, professional development, technology innovation and technology funding issues and create an ongoing dialog.  A report will be produced and widely disseminated highlighting the consensus recommendations with the goal of initiating action on the national, state and local levels to improve access to technology for individuals with disabilities.  Read about the RESNA Technical Assistance Project on its Web site.

Dr. Fred Zimmerman, Graduate Programs in Engineering and Technology Management, was interviewed by the Los Angeles Times, the Fort Wayne Journal and the Minneapolis Star Tribune regarding the book he co-authored with Dave Beal of the Pioneer Press. The name of the book is Manufacturing Works: the Vital Link between Production and Prosperity. He and Beal also keynoted the meeting of the Northeast Indiana Industrial Development Association on June 11 in Fort Wayne, Ind., and the annual meeting of the Minnesota Taxpayers Association on June 13.

Some of these and other media appearances were:

  • "In Current Economy, Factory Isn’t a Dirty Word," Neal St. Anthony, Minneapolis Star Tribune, June 14
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    uot;Manufacturing Works: The Vital Link Between Production and Prosperity," interviews for: Fort Wayne Journal, Fort Wayne, Ind.; Cutting Tool Technologies Magazine; and the Macomb Daily Newspaper, Macomb, Mich.  All three interviews on the book were held on July 3.
  • "Status of Boston Area Manufacturing Economy," interview on WBIX Boston Radio, July 17
  • "The Value of Manufacturing to a Community," interview with Tony Mecia for The Charlotte Observer, Aug. 27

Zimmerman says that he particularly enjoyed the interview with Cutting Tool Technologies Magazine, which caters to people in manufacturing. Cutting tools are made with an elaborate powdered metalurgy process in which the tools are formed under extreme pressure and then sintered at very high temperatures. Zimmerman explains that he always thought the process would be good preparation for being dean.

Zimmerman also authored two articles published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune on June 16.  The articles were: "How to cut college costs? Easy as Pi" and "The Committee on the Value of Pi."  In addition, he gave the keynote speech and conference presentation on "Reassessing Merger Mania," for the Rotary Club of Minneapolis on July 12. However, Zimmerman still prefers welding and other forms of tangible production to all of these words.

Additional speaking engagements and a tour:

  • Zimmerman addressed the Steel Users Conference on the 201 steel tariffs on Aug. 21. 
  • He presented the principal findings of his research on industrial relocation to the Electronics Representatives Association on Aug. 23. 
  • He was invited to tour one of the most modern steel mills in the U.S., the Steel Dynamics facility in Butler, Ind., which he toured with his family on Aug. 13, while on vacation.  Everyone agreed that touring the steel mill was a far more productive use of time than aimlessly basking in the sun next to some lake.