Academic Year Kicks Off With Record Enrollment (up^)
For the fifth consecutive year, the University of Vermont has seen record-breaking enrollment numbers. Approximately 13,100 students began classes on Monday, August 31, a number that includes 10,200 undergraduates, 1,450 graduate students, 450 medical students and 1,000 non-degree students. The incoming Class of 2013 is the largest in UVM history, at 2,620, representing 41 states and 12 foreign countries. Also breaking records in numbers this year are UVM's ALANA (Asian-American, Latino, African-American, Native American and multi-racial) students. Read more.
College of Medicine Welcomes Class of 2013 (up^)
A former cartoon caricature artist, smokejumper trainee, and choreographer are among the newest members of the University of Vermont College of Medicine, who began their medical school training with a week of orientation on August 10. The Class of 2013 includes 59 women and 55 men. Twenty-three students are Vermonters; others hail from 22 states and four international countries and speak 12 languages other than English. The first-year students' first day of orientation included their first patient interaction. The week’s schedule featured sessions on professionalism, leadership, team-building, the College's award-winning integrated electronic learning technology (COMET), an overview of the College's curriculum and a global health discussion, concluding with a Pizza and Lawn Party on the Chittenden Buckham Wills green at noon on Friday, August 14. Read more.
U.S. News: UVM a 'Top Up-and-Coming School' (up^)
The University of Vermont continued its steady rise in the just released U.S. News & World Report rankings, claiming the 39th spot among the nation's top public universities, up from 40th last year and 47th in 2000. There are more than 500 public colleges and universities in the nation. UVM also rose in the magazine's national universities ranking, from 89th last year to 88th. UVM was ranked 96th in 2001.Reflecting this steady rise, UVM was 8th among national universities in a list of the magazine's "Top Up-and-Coming Schools," institutions that have "recently made striking improvements or innovations — schools everyone should be watching," the magazine said. "I am pleased that the first-rate education UVM offers is increasingly recognized every year," said UVM president Daniel Mark Fogel. "UVM has been a stellar institution throughout its 200-plus year history, but it is gratifying to see the clear gains we've made over the past decade are being noticed."
Happiness Study Featured in 'NYT,' 'Science,' and 'Chronicle' (up^)
Research by University of Vermont scientists shows an unexpected new way to measure the nation's mood. And the nation's newspapers and bloggers are paying attention. Peter Dodds and Chris Danforth, applied mathematicians working in UVM's Advanced Computing Center, have built a "hedonometer," — a data-mining technique for measuring the happiness expressed by millions of blogs, Twitter tweets and song lyrics. Their study is described in The New York Times, Science magazine, and The Chronicle of Higher Education. Full Story.
Sierra Magazine: UVM Fourth 'Coolest School' in the Country (up^)
Sierra magazine ranked the University of Vermont fourth in the country on its just released "10 Coolest Schools" list for its commitment to the environment. Coolest Schools is the cover story in Sierra's September/October issue. Sierra graded schools on a 1-10 scale in eight categories and awarded bonus points for programs that were exceptional. Avital Binshtock, Sierra's lifestyle editor and editor of the Coolest Schools feature, said it was UVM's consistency across all categories that helped it rise to the top."A lot of schools shone in one category, but Vermont was one of the first schools we encountered that was consistent in every realm," she said. According to Gioia Thompson, director of UVM's Office of Sustainability, UVM's growing reputation as one of the country's most environmentally committed schools begins with its long-standing academic program in the environment, one of the country's oldest. Read more.
New Maple Spout Could Nearly Double Production (up^)
An innovative new maple spout developed by the University of Vermont's Proctor Maple Research Center with funding secured by Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy will have a dramatic impact on maple syrup production while boosting job creation and economic development in the state, the senator announced at a press conference August 17. The new spout will increase sap yields by 50 to 90 percent per tree, Leahy said. The announcement was made at Progressive Plastics in Williamstown, Vt., which began commercial production of the device, called a check valve spout, the day of the press conference. "It's very gratifying to see federal dollars pay such clear dividends," Senator Leahy said. The new spout is expected to increase sap yields by 50 to 90 percent per tree. Full story.
Heart Association Statement Garners Global Headlines (up^)
Rachel K. Johnson, associate provost and professor of nutrition, is the lead author on a new American Heart Association scientific statement, released Monday, August 24, that is spurring media coverage around the world. The statement offers specific guidance on limiting the consumption of added sugars and provides information about the relationship between excess sugar intake and metabolic abnormalities, adverse health conditions and shortfalls in essential nutrients. The statement is published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association and sets forth the organization's position. Stories have appeared in media from The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal to Good Morning America. Full story.
Saleem Ali: 'The Alchemist,' Forbes Writes (up^)
Saleem Ali's views don't fall neatly into any box: he's an environmentalist who believes in consumption, a conservationist who sees value in gold mining. His independent perspective and his new book, Treasures of the Earth, forthcoming in October from Yale University Press, are the subject of a profile in the upcoming issue of Forbes magazine. Read the article online at Forbes.com. The profile will also be published in the print edition of the magazine dated September 7. Saleem Ali is associate professor of environmental planning and Asian studies in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. For more information on his work, visit: http://www.uvm.edu/~shali or e-mail saleem.ali@uvm.edu.
Keeping the North Woods Open for Business (up^)
Across the Northern Forest, timber is giving way to tourism. But to maintain an economy in this 26-million-acre swath of trees — from the Maine coast across northern New Hampshire, Vermont, and into the Adirondacks — hikers, paddlers, hunters, and leaf-peepers need access to land. And more than 85 percent of the Northern Forest is privately owned. This land stands at risk of being posted, fenced and otherwise closed-off — and with these restrictions the economies of many Northern Forest communities may also be at risk. Lisa Chase, director of the Vermont Tourism Center at the University of Vermont and a specialist with UVM Extension, has been leading a research project "Public Access to Private Lands for Recreation and Tourism in the Northern Forest," that sheds light on how this land might remain open for nature recreation. Read more and view a video.
UVM Alumna the Next Food Network Star (up^)
Catamounts across the country tuned in to the Food Network on Sunday evenings this summer to root for alumna Melissa d'Arabian '90 who, after nine weeks of grueling competition, was crowned The Next Food Network Star. D'Arabian, the self-described "dark horse" candidate as the only home cook competing, won her own Food Network show that premiered just one week later on Aug. 9. Ten Dollar Dinners with Melissa d'Arabian aims to show viewers how to create creative and tasty meals for four people while working within a budget. Read an interview with Melissa d'Arabian
Vermont Fifth in Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy Standings (up^)
On the heels of the University of Vermont athletic department posting its best ranking in the final standings of the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup with the 98th spot, the Catamounts finished fifth in the Division I-AAA Athletic Directors Association (DI-AAA ADA) All-Sports trophy standings for the 2008-09 season. The University of Denver took home top honors in the rankings of the 99 Division I institutions that do not sponsor football, followed by UC Irvine, Boston University, Providence and Vermont. A pair of NCAA individual national championships, two teams advancing to the NCAA Tournament and an America East Championship highlighted the 2008-09 University of Vermont athletic season. The Catamounts posted their best winning percentage, both overall and in conference play, in six years. Vermont also continued to show its commitment to developing student-athletes. UVM won the America East Academic Cup for the fifth consecutive season and sixth time overall. Read the full story.
In Memoriam (up^)
Abbas Alnasrawi, professor emeritus of economics, passed away in August. He was a world-renowned economist who published six books and numerous articles and served as a consultant for OPEC and other major international organizations. Known for his integrity, voice of reason, honesty, and relentless pursuit of knowledge, Alnasrawi served as associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, served on a number of committees, and was designated University Scholar in the Social Sciences and Humanities for the 1992-93 academic year.
Richard H. Janson, professor emeritus of art, passed away in July. He served as director of the Fleming Museum for two decades and as director of the art department from 1967 to 1977. Under his leadership, the Fleming increased its collections, and the art department grew in faculty and stature while he served as department chair. He taught courses in architectural history from 1967 until his retirement in 1993.
H. Lawrence McCrorey, professor emeritus of molecular physiology and biophysics, passed away in August at his home in Grand Isle. He held a number of key positions during his nearly three decades at UVM, including acting vice president, associate vice president for academic affairs, and dean of the School of Allied Health Sciences, and was a pioneer in bringing multicultural issues to the forefront.
John O. Outwater, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering, passed away in August. He was a well respected professor in the College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (CEMS) where he taught from 1956 to 1993. His research interests centered on ski safety and mechanisms of injury; slope design; tree mechanics with sap flow; composite materials; pultrusion; fracture mechanics test methods; and variation of elastic constants. He had dozens of papers published in such prestigious publications as the Journal of Biomechanics, Journal of Computational Materials and others.
Campus Kudos (up^)
Robert V. Bartlett, Gund Professor of Liberal Arts in the Political Science Department, is the co-author (with Walter F. Baber) of a new book published by The MIT Press, Global Democracy and Sustainable Jurisprudence: Deliberative Environmental Law. Arguing that environmental protection is ultimately dependent on the democratization of global politics and policy, the book proposes a philosophical foundation and realistic deliberative mechanism for creating a transnational common law for the environment. Baber and Bartlett are authors of a previous book published by The MIT Press, Deliberative Environmental Politics: Democracy and Ecological Rationality (2005).
Jason H. T. Bates, professor of medicine and a Vermont Lung Center scientist, is author of a new textbook published by Cambridge University Press, titled Lung Mechanics: An Inverse Modeling Approach. Bates specializes in the mechanics that make lungs work and developing instruments that mimic and measure that function in the lab.
Matthew Bovee, professor of management information systems in the School of Business, recently had his paper on accounting information usefulness models accepted by peer review for presentation at the 2009 Americas Conference on Information Systems in San Francisco. The paper, titled "Decision-Useful Financial Reporting Information Characteristics: An Empirical Validation of the Proposed FASB/IASB International Accounting Model," was also selected as "Best-In-Track" and one of 33 papers entered into the competition for "Best-In-Conference." The "Best-In-Track" papers represented the top 5 percent of more than 660 peer-reviewed papers at the conference.
The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation Foundation presented the 2009 Robert L. Morris Humanitarian Award to J. Tobey Clark, director of Instrumentation and Technical Services at UVM. The award recognizes individuals whose humanitarian or education efforts have applied health technology to improving global human conditions. "Tobey epitomizes the spirit of this award in many ways," a spokesperson for the foundation said. "With over thirty years of dedicated experience and providing leadership in organizations supporting the global clinical engineering field as well as through developing courses, teaching and publishing articles, Tobey works diligently to improve the safe use of medical technology around the globe."
Ethan Guth, a postdoctoral fellow in biochemistry, is first author of a study titled "Asymmetric Amino Acid Activation by Class II Histidyl-tRNA Synthetase from Escherichia coli" in the July 31 issue of The Journal of Biological Chemistry. Christopher S. Francklyn, professor of biochemistry, is senior author on the paper, and Matthew Bovee, professor of management information systems in the School of Business, is a co-author.
Ted James, assistant professor of surgery, was elected to a partial term ending in 2011 as a member of the board of directors of the American Cancer Society's New England Division. James, a member of the Vermont Cancer Center, is active in research, including exploring novel therapies for the treatment of breast cancer. He serves as chairman of the Fletcher Allen Health Care Cancer Committee, Cancer Liaison Physician to the American College of Surgeon's Commission on Cancer.
David Jones, assistant professor in the School of Business Administration, and his colleagues (Dr. Chelsea Willness at Brock University and Shannon MacNeil at the University of Calgary) were recently honored at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management in Chicago. Their paper, "Corporate social responsibility and recruitment: Person-organization fit and signaling mechanisms," was selected from among 291 submissions as the best conference paper in the Human Resources division.
A research paper proposal by Dorian McCoy, assistant professor of higher education and student affairs, titled, "A Phenomenological Exploration of First-Generation Students of Color Experiences," was accepted for the 2009 Association for the Study of Higher Education Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, Nov. 4-7.
Alan Wertheimer, professor emeritus of political science and senior research scholar in the Department of Bioethics, Clinical Center, at the National Institutes of Health, was co-author of an article, "The Obligation to Participate in Biomedical Research," that appeared in the July 1 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. In the article, Wertheimer and his co-authors, G. Owen Shaefer and Ezekiel J. Emmanuel, argue that there is an obligation for patients to participate in biomedical research for the public good.
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