Professional notes
Dr. William Cavanaugh, College of Arts and Sciences (Theology Department) won the Award of Excellence (first place) in the Theological Reflection: Short Format category at the 91st annual "Best of the Christian Press" awards of the Associated Church Press. The award was announced at ACP's annual convention April 24 in Chicago. Cavanaugh's entry, titled "Threat of Torture Plays With More Minds Than You Might Have Imagined," was published in Vital Theology, an independent, ecumenical newsletter based in Fort Collins, Colo.
Students from the College of Arts and Sciences' Chemistry Department gave oral and poster presentations at the Winchell Undergraduate Research symposium sponsored by the Minnesota Academy of Science April 20-21 at Hamline University. Research students giving talks included Matt Turner and Patrick Hawk, students of Dr. Thomas Marsh, and Tim Dickhudt, a student of Dr. Tony Borgerding. Turner's presentation, "In situ Self-Assembly of G-DNA Molecular Scaffolds Nucleated by a Polymeric Template," won first place in the Chemistry Division. Posters were presented by Turner, Matt Humbert (a student of Borgerding), Jenna Schroeder (student of Dr. Kris Wammer) and Barjeta Balidemaj and Kendra Lystad (students of Dr. William Ojala).
Britta Gibson, Dean of Students Office, and Laura Stierman, undergraduate student, recently were honored at the ACPA-College Student Educators International annual convention. Gibson was selected Outstanding New Professional by the Commission for Admissions, Orientation and First-Year Experience. Stierman was named Outstanding Student by the Commission for Commuter Students and Adult Learners.
Dr. Ellen Kennedy, Opus College of Business (Marketing Department) and the state coordinator for the Genocide Intervention Network (GI-Net), received the City of Edina Human Rights Award at an April 24 ceremony. To learn about the St. Thomas GI-Net chapter, contact Jenny Le, president. For more information about the GI-Net outside UST, visit the state Web site and the national Web site.
Dr. Mark Neuzil, College of Arts and Sciences (Journalism and Mass Communication Department), moderated a panel on media coverage of biological sciences at the semiannual George Wright Society meeting April 19 in St. Paul. Neuzil also presented material on media coverage of a natural disaster in the hypothetical case of lahar inundation at Mt. Rainier National Park.
Dr. Derrin Pinto and Dr. Richard Raschio, College of Arts and Sciences (Modern and Classical Languages Department), presented a paper, "Oye, ¿Qué Onda con mi Dinero? An Analysis of Heritage Speaker Complaints," at the annual conference of the American Association for Applied Linguistics in Costa Mesa, Calif.
David Rodbourne, Opus College of Business (Center for Ethical Business Cultures), facilitated a case-study discussion and presented an overview on ethical leadership to 140 business leaders, college students and faculty at the Ethical Leadership Institute in Lexington, Ky.
Victoria Svoboda, associate dean of students, and undergraduate students Staci Hamilton and Nayila Yaro presented a workshop, "The Arts of Storytelling," at the Region V conference of the National Orientation Directors Association conference April 13-15 in Waterloo, Iowa. Kathrine Russell and Catherine Lennox, graduate students in the Leadership in Student Affairs Program, presented a workshop, "Inspiring Inclusion: Let's Start by Examining Whiteness."
James Rogers, Center for Irish Studies, has been elected vice president of the American Conference for Irish Studies. He will serve two years before automatically succeeding to the presidency. Rogers attended the ACIA annual meeting April 18-21 at the CUNY Graduate Center, where he chaired to panels, attended many others, participated in Executive Committee meetings and promoted New Hibernia Review "pretty much 'round the clock."
Dr. Chris Vye, Graduate School of Professional Psychology, has been awarded the Award for Outstanding Graduate Faculty in Psychology by the Minnesota Psychological Association. The award is presented annually for excellence in instruction, advising and mentoring of students, and involvement of students in research, scholarship and professional development activities. The award was presented at MPA's annual convention April 28 in Plymouth.
