News

Woolf named a Presidential Innovation Fellow

President Barack Obama’s office has named computer science education pioneer Beverly Woolf a Presidential Innovation Fellow for 2013, recognizing her leadership in designing software tutors that respond to a student’s mood and personal learning pace, for example, to dramatically improve lesson effectiveness.
 
Woolf’s work combines artificial intelligence, computer network technology and multimedia features in digital tutoring software for teaching mathematics according to individual students’ needs. She attended a ceremony at the White House on June 21 to accept the award.
 
President

Dining Services team wins 3rd gold in 3 years in cooking competition

A team from Dining Services earned a gold medal with the highest overall score (37.617) on June 21 in the American Culinary Federation-sanctioned competition held at Berkshire Dining Commons during the 19th annual Taste of the World Chef Culinary Conference. 
 
It is the third gold medal Dining Services has won in the past three years.
 
The team of catering chef Matthia Accurso, Berkshire DC chef Anthony Jung, pastry chef Pamela Adams and Jeff Kellogg, head cook at Berkshire DC, competed against 16 other teams from the U.S.

CPPA team recognized in collaborative governance competition

Lucia Miller, who received her master of public policy and administration last year, and associate professor Charles Schweik, Environmental Conservation and Public Policy, have received an honorable mention in an international competition of case studies and simulations that focus on collaboration and public management.
 
The duo studied the use in Massachusetts state government of open standards, a topic that has long been of interest to Schweik. They began working together while Miller was in Schweik’s Information Technology class and continued the project after she graduated last spring.

Anderson to receive ASEE Chester F. Carlson Award

Tim Anderson, dean of the College of Engineering, is the recipient of this year’s American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Chester F. Carlson Award, to be presented June 26 at the society’s conference in Atlanta.
 
The award is presented annually to an individual innovator in engineering education who, by motivation and ability to extend beyond the accepted tradition, has made a significant contribution to the profession. Nominees must demonstrate the ability to recognize the influence of a changing sociological and technological environment on academic customs.

Spencer named faculty representative to NCAA

Rebecca Spencer, assistant professor of Psychology and a former student-athlete, has been named the campus’s faculty athletic representative to the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Spencer will report directly to Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy and serve as a key advisor on intercollegiate athletics. The faculty athletic representative is also a member of the Faculty Senate’s Athletic Council.
 
Subbaswamy says Spencer will be a valued and well-informed advisor on athletic matters.

Reiff honored by Massachusetts Service Alliance

John Reiff, director of Civic Engagement and Service-Learning, was honored June 6 by the Massachusetts Service Alliance, which gave him its Higher-Education Community Service Champion award during the Massachusetts Conference on Service & Volunteering in Marlborough.

The award recognizes faculty members who have rendered exceptional educational, humanitarian, civic or other service in their community in addition to the honoree’s primary university responsibilities.

On verge of retirement, Phyllis Berman reflects on her 40-year career

After driving to campus for 40 years, Phyllis Berman says could likely do it blindfolded, but promises not to try.
 
Come June 30, the research and administrative associate in Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences is retiring, concluding a career that spanned a slew of departmental mergers, involved a string of collateral duties and witnessed technological advances that seemed fantastic back in 1973, when she received her B.S. in Public Health.
 
Immediately after graduation, she began working for Mark Mount of the Plant Pathology Department.

Doctoral oral exams for July 1-5

The graduate dean invites all graduate faculty to attend the final oral examinations for the doctoral candidates scheduled as follows:

Alina Gross, Ph.D., Regional Planning. Monday, July 1, 10 a.m., 325 Fine Arts Center. Dissertation: “Creating a Framework for Public Participation.” Elizabeth Brabec, chr.

Ganisher Abbasov, Ph.D., Plant and Soil Sciences. Monday, July 1, 3 p.m., 201 Stockbridge Hall. Dissertation: “Evaluation of a Split-Root System to Optimize Nutrition of Basil.” Lyle Craker, chr.

Olga Tsvetkova, Ph.D., Environmental Conservation. Tuesday, July 2, 10 a.m., 306 Holdsworth Hall.

Flags lowered for Dudley soldier killed in accident

Gov. Deval L. Patrick has ordered the U.S. and Commonwealth flags be lowered to half-staff at all state buildings from sunrise until sunset on Saturday, June 22 in honor of U.S. Army PFC Christopher P. Dona of Dudley who died June 13 in a training accident at Fort Stewart-Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Ga.
 

Survey shows widespread public opposition to ‘killer robots,’ support for new ban campaign

The results of a new campus survey show that a majority of Americans across the political spectrum oppose the outsourcing of lethal military and defense targeting decisions to machines. The opposition to autonomous weaponry is bipartisan, with the strongest opposition on the far left and far right, and among active and former members of the military.
 
A random sample of 1,000 Americans was asked how they felt about military technology that could take humans out of the loop altogether, dubbed “killer robots” by the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots, an international coalition of non-governmental

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