Jean E. (Stowell) Ohlson, 71, of New Salem, a retired nursing assistant at University Health Services, died Jan. 31 at the Legend Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Gardner.
Born in Athol, she grew up on the family farm and graduated from Athol-Royalston Regional High School in 1959.
Following high school, she worked briefly at a shoe shop in Athol before going to get her nursing degree from Quinsigamond Community College. After earning her degree, she worked as a nurse at Athol Memorial Hospital, Tech Medical and at University Health Services from 1982-98.
She leaves her husband of
Nicholas Reich, School of Public Health and Health Sciences, is the lead biostatistician for a team of researchers who recently reported results of one of the largest infection prevention trials ever conducted in children, that daily baths with an antiseptic soap can reduce the risk of bloodstream infection in critically ill hospitalized children. Investigators at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center led the work at five pediatric hospitals. Findings were reported in a recent issue of the prestigious journal, The Lancet.
Professor Laura Briggs, chair of the Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies Department, has been awarded the James A. Rawley Prize, given annually by the Organization of American Historians to the author of the best book dealing with the history of race relations in the United States. Her book, "Somebody's Children: The Politics of Transracial and Transnational Adoption," was published last year by Duke University Press.
After bringing more than 60 Pakistani students to the UMass Amherst campus for the past three summers as participants of the Pakistani Young Leaders program, Mike Hannahan, visiting scholar in Political Science, traveled to Islamabad in January, where he oversaw a reunion of the program’s alumni before embarking on a speaking tour of the country—a trip that coincided with President Obama’s second term inauguration and provided ample opportunity to discuss the U.S. government’s policies and practices. 
Two Anthropology faculty and five graduate students are taking part in an international workshop on the theme of “Space, Placemaking, and the Politics of the Local” at the University of Barcelona from Feb. 5-8.
Ian Grosse, professor in the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department and director of the Intelligent Modeling, Analysis, and Design Laboratory has been named a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
Burnley Jaklevic joined the campus’s Office of Commercial Ventures and Intellectual Property as senior licensing officer on Dec. 17.
Astronomy professor Daniela Calzetti recently received one of her profession’s most important honors when she was named the 2013 Blaauw Professor at the University of Groningen’s Kapteyn Astronomical Institute in The Netherlands. She is recognized for “excellence in research, broad knowledge of astronomy and an outstanding international status in astronomy.”
Cristine Smith, associate professor in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Policy, Research and Administration, has been named the recipient of the Kenneth J. Mattran Award for Promoting Literacy Nationally and Internationally by the Commission on Adult Basic Education (COABE).
Lorraine Cordeiro, assistant professor of Nutrition, gave the keynote address for Somerville’s annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration, “equality Through Access,” on Jan. 21.