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Decker honored by Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division of ACS

Eric A. Decker, professor and head of the Department of Food Science, last month received the Advancement of Application of Agricultural and Food Chemistry Award from the Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society.

The presentation of the award was part of a symposium on oxidative processes in foods that included top scientists from academia and industry at the ACS meeting held Aug. 17-23 in Philadelphia.

The Award for the Advancement of Application of Agricultural and Food Chemistry is the top research award of the Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division.

Umberger elected to the executive board of the American Society of Biomechanics

Brian Umberger, associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology, has been elected to a two-year term on the executive board of the America Society of Biomechanics (ASB).

Umberger will serve as program chair-elect for the 2013 ASB annual meeting in Omaha; then he will serve as program chair for the 2014 annual meeting, which will be held in conjunction with the World Congress of Biomechanics in Boston. Biomechanics is the field of study that involves the application of mechanical principles in the study of biological systems.

Randhir keynotes climate change seminar in India

Timothy Randhir, associate professor of Environmental Conservation, was a keynote speaker at a national seminar on climate change held Aug. 16 at Bharathiar University in Coimbatore, India.

Inaugurated by the vice-chancellor of the university, the one-day event included several presentations from experts and researchers in India on climatic change issues.

In his remarks, Randhir highlighted the need for actions that increase adaptation to climatic change, which can have wide-ranging effects on South Asian countries.

Sommers appointed program officer at NSF

Eric Sommers, an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, has been appointed a program officer in the Division of Mathematical Sciences at the National Science Foundation.
 
Sommers, who begins his appointment Sept. 10, will spend the upcoming year at NSF assisting three other officers handling grant applications to the Algebra and Number Theory Program, which is responsible for grants in the areas of algebraic geometry, number theory, algebra and representation theory.
 
Sommers, whose work focuses on the representation theory of algebraic groups, joined the

Halgin to receive Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award

Richard P. Halgin, professor of Psychology, has been chosen to receive the Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award, which is given to a small group of American professors who inspired their former students to achieve greatness by establishing an “organization that has demonstrably conferred a benefit on the community at large.” 

Each recipient receives a cash award of $25,000 and will be honored at a ceremony on Nov. 10 at the Carter Center and Presidential Library in Atlanta. 

Halgin was nominated by his former Ph.D. advisee, Robert A.

Textile Museum to honor Denny for lifetime achievement

The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. will honor Walter B. Denny, professor of Art History, for lifetime achievement in textile arts with its George Hewitt Myers Award on Oct. 11.

The Myers Award, named for the museum’s founder and given by its board of trustees, will be presented during a special reception at the Turkish Embassy Chancery. The award is recognized as the highest accolade in the field of textile arts.

Denny is a scholar, author, educator and widely recognized expert on Islamic art, ceramics of the Ottoman Empire and oriental carpets.

Espinal elected vice president/president-elect of REFORMA

Isabel Espinal, librarian for Afro-American Studies, Native American Indian Studies and Information Literacy, has been elected vice-president/president-elect of REFORMA, a national association that promotes library and information services to Latinos and the Spanish-speaking.

Espinal’s commitment is for three years. She becomes president-elect at this year's American Library Association annual conference in Anaheim; then she becomes president 2013-14, and immediately thereafter past-president 2014-15.
 
Espinal said she was inspired to run by a fortuitous re-encounter with a REFORMA lapel

Ryan recognized by International Society of Arboriculture

H. Dennis P. Ryan, professor of Environmental Conservation and coordinator of the Arboriculture and Community Forestry Program in the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, this month received the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Award of Merit.
 
The award acknowledges Ryan’s service in advancing the principles, ideas and practices of arboriculture. ISA president Colin Bashford presented the award at the society’s annual conference and trade show, held Aug. 11-15 in Portland, Ore.
 
“Dennis’s commitment to safety and educating future arborists in the classroom has changed the way we

CPPA to honor Schweik, alumnus at Sept. 6 book launch party

Charles Schweik, associate professor of Public Policy and Environmental Conservation, and alumnus Robert English, co-authors of the just published Internet Success: A Study of Open Source Software Commons, will be honored by the Center for Public Policy and Administration at a book launch party on Thursday, Sept. 6 from 4-6 p.m. in the Gordon Hall atrium.
 
Published by the MIT Press, Internet Success is the result of the first large-scale empirical study examining the social, technical and institutional aspects of open source software.

Albany Records releases CD of Bestor's compositions

"The Sound of Time," a new CD of the music of professor emeritus Charles Bestor, has been released by Albany Records.  

The CD, his first to include all compositions with electronics also features Eric Berlin, professor of trumpet, as a soloist. 

Bestor's many works have been published by G. Schirmer, Elkan-Vogel, General Music Publishers, International Editions, Dorn Music and Media Press, and recorded by Serenus, Orion, Capstone and the ASUS Recording Series.

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