College of Medicine Sixth in Nation for Primary Care (up^)
The University of Vermont College of Medicine again appears in the top tier of the nation's 130 medical schools, ranking sixth for primary care education according to U.S. News & World Report's 2010 edition of "America's Best Graduate Schools." For the third year in a row, UVM has ranked in the top five percent of all medical schools for Primary Care and has been in the top ten four times in the last five years. "We're extremely proud to once again be recognized as a national leader in providing top-quality medical education and training," said College of Medicine dean Frederick C. Morin, III, M.D. "Primary care is an integral part of our health care system, and, along with our teaching hospital partner Fletcher Allen Health Care, we have a long history of educating physicians who are well prepared to serve our community, our state and the nation.” Full story at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=14176.
School of Business Administration the Best in Operations (up^)
The University of Vermont's School of Business Administration has been named one of the nation's top 15 business schools by The Princeton Review in the area of operations. The "Student Opinion Honors for Business Schools" list appeared in the April 2009 issue of Entrepreneur magazine. It was based on students' assessments of how well their business school courses prepared them to succeed in one of six areas: accounting, finance, general management, global management, marketing, and operations. The Princeton Review compiled the list using data from its national survey of 19,000 MBA students attending 296 business schools profiled in its book, Best 296 Business Schools: 2009 Edition. The 80-question survey asked students to report on classroom and campus experiences at their schools and rate their MBA programs. More at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=14030.
UVM Hosts U.S. Debate Championship (up^)
More than 147 of the best college debate teams came to campus April 3-5, when the Lawrence Debate Union hosted the U.S. Universities Debating Championship (USUDC), one of the largest college debate tournaments in the country. The USUDC, held annually at a different university, pits students against each other for the title of U.S. debate champion. Besides a large draw from U.S. teams, a number of international teams attended. "UVM has been a center for debating for over 100 years," said Alfred Snider, UVM professor and director of the Lawrence Debate Union, a program that has provided debate instruction and assistance in more than 28 nations worldwide, "but it is appropriate that we have this tournament now, when we are such a center of debate expertise for so many parts of the world." View a video of the event at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=14073.
Student Research on Display at April Conference (up^)
On Thursday, April 16, more than 175 students presented their research on the fourth floor of the Davis Center at the UVM Student Research Conference. The day-long event was designed to celebrate the quality and breadth of undergraduate and graduate student research conducted in every UVM college and school, and to promote and encourage the interdisciplinary exchange of ideas among undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty. The range of research subjects was wide. A number focused on Vermont — from projects on mobile home park communities in Starksboro to soil quality in managed northern forests. Others explored environmental justice, pottery in 14th Century Pueblo society, robotics, wireless networks; sustainable development, molecular genetics, nutrition, computer science, and many more topics. Learn more on the Student Research Conference website.
Best Seller Features UVM Research Connection (up^)
Currently on The New York Times Best Seller List, author David Grann's The Lost City of Z chronicles generations of Amazon exploration with a particular focus on one ill-fated expedition in 1925. The book is an armchair adventure page-turner that also explores a complex and controversial anthropological question many believe was answered by Michael Heckenberger, a 1988 graduate of UVM, and the late James Petersen, a 1979 alumnus and UVM anthropology professor at the time of his death. Grann communicated with both Petersen and Heckenberger as he researched his book. An account of his own journey into the jungle and his meeting there with Heckenberger appear in the book’s final chapter. More at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=14213.
Alumnus Screens Award-Winning Documentary (up^)
Filmmaker Peter Sanders, who earned his bachelor's degree in history from UVM in 1992, returned to campus on Monday, March 23 for a screening of his documentary, The Disappeared. The film delves into the horrors of Argentina's Dirty War, 1976-1983, an era of state-sponsored violence in which tens of thousands of citizens "disappeared." The film tells the story through the experience of Horacio Pietragalla, one of 500 children who disappeared during the period, but was reunited with his biological family in 2003. Across four years, Sanders collected interviews with Pietragalla, journalists, and gained difficult access to military leaders. The Disappeared has earned critical praise, appeared on the History Channel, and been featured at several international film festivals. It received the "2007 Best Documentary" award at the Documentary and Fiction Festival of Hollywood. More at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=13924.
Ancient Acoustics (up^)
Classics Professor John Franklin makes music in a decidedly contemporary way: using a computer and the latest software tools. But the music he creates is anything but modern, originating more than 2,000 years ago in ancient Greece. Franklin calls himself a music archeologist. His computer-based innovations, it turns out, are the best way to recreate a music that sounds hauntingly strange to modern ears. See the video at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=13669.
Cats Fall to BU in National “Frozen Four” Semifinal (up^)
The Vermont Catamounts' run through the NCAA Hockey Tournament came to a close on Thursday, April 9, with a 5-4 loss to Hockey East rival Boston University, the nation's top-ranked team. After falling behind by two goals in the first period, the Catamounts fought back to take the lead in the second, netting three goals in a thrilling six-minute span. After BU tied the game with their own answer in the second, the third period opened 3-3. The Cats took the lead on freshman Drew MacKenzie's goal at 9:40 in the third, but the Terriers would close with two goals in the final seven minutes to advance to the Frozen Four title game. "As a coach, seasons don't always end in championships, but I've got a lot of champions in that locker room," Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon said in his post-game comments. Read the sports report of the game on the Athletics website. For an account of the days leading up to the semifinals and the big game, see University Communications staff writer Tom Weaver's Frozen Four Notebook. See a video at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=multimedia.php&SM=newssub.html. See a photo slideshow of the game on the UVM Photo website.
Campus Kudos (up^)
Cathy Beaudoin, assistant professor, and her co-authors, Drs. Christopher Agoglia and George Tsakumis (University of Massachusetts and Drexel University, respectively) had an article published in the most recent issue Behavioral Research in Accounting.
Dennis Clougherty, professor of physics, co-authored an article published in the journal Physical Review Letters. The article, "Polarization and Adiabatic Pumping In Inhomogeneous Crystals," provides a way of calculating the effects of slowly varying fields on the electronic polarization of a crystal. This new theory provides insight into the fundamental nature of a new class of materials known as multiferroics where both electric and magnetic polarization coexist. It also sheds light on the nature of fractionally charged solitons, exotic excitations that can be used for quantum information processing.
Cambridge University Press has published a collection of original essays, Criminal Disenfranchisement in an International Perspective, co-edited by Alec Ewald, assistant professor of political science.
George S. Leibowitz, assistant professor in the Department of Social Work, had a paper titled "Comparison of juvenile sexual offenders and nonsexual offending delinquents on pornography exposure: the absence of relationships between exposure to pornography and the majority of later sex offense characteristics" in the Journal of Forensic Nursing. Another, co-authored conference paper on the differences between adult sex offenders and sexual abusive youth was accepted by the same journal.
Kathleen Liang, associate professor in the Department of Community Development and Applied Economics, will receive the 2009 Outstanding Research Award in the division of Entrepreneurship Education by Allied Academy, one of the largest organizations for entrepreneurship and business disciplines in the world. The award is based on a paper that Liang co-authored with Paul Dunn, Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship and Small Business at the University of Louisiana in Monroe, titled "Are We On The Same Page On Financial Issues? A Comparison of Entrepreneurship/Small Business and Finance Professors' Reaction."
The George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health highlighted the College of Medicine's Vermont Integrated Curriculum and Robert Macauley, assistant professor of pediatrics, in its winter 2009 newsletter in an article titled "Spirituality . . . New England Style."
Hendrika Maltby, associate professor of nursing, led a three-week field experience trip in Bangladesh involving nineteen University of Vermont nursing students. The program was sponsored by Independent University, Bangladesh and included visits to Manikganj and Sylhet. An article about the group was featured in the January 18, 2009, issue of the Dhaka, Bangladesh daily English newspaper New Age.
Robert Manning, professor of natural resources, was selected the first-ever recipient of the George Wright Society Social Science Achievement Award, which was created in recognition of the increasing importance of the social sciences to park research, management, and education.
Mark Nelson, professor and chair of pharmacology, was awarded the honor of Fellow in the Biophysical Society. This award is designed to honor the Society's distinguished members who have demonstrated excellence in science and to the expansion of the field of biophysics.
A CD titled, "Night Pageantry: Music of Thomas L. Read," featuring Donna Amato and Cynthia Huard (piano); Rachel Elliott and Janet Polk (bassoon); Neil Boyer (oboe); Steven Klimowski (clarinet); and Bonnie Klimowski (cello) will be released in 2009 by Zimbel Records. The release honors the music of Professor Emeritus Thomas L. Read, a composer and violinist.
Chun Zhang, assistant professor in the School of Business Administration, had a paper titled "Do buyer cooperative actions matter under relational stress? Evidence from Japanese and U.S. assemblers in the U.S. automotive industry" accepted for publication in the Journal of Operations Management. Co-authors are John W. Henke Jr. (Oakland University) and David A. Griffith (Michigan State University).
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