News

Doctoral oral exams for July 16-20

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

Ufuk Aydemir, Ph.D., Physics. Wednesday, July 18, 2 p.m., 1033 Lederle Graduate Research Tower. Dissertation: “Topics in High Energy Physics Beyond the Standard Model.” John Donoghue, chr.

Ozlem Goner, Ph.D., Sociology. Wednesday, July 18, 10 a.m., W-32 Machmer. Dissertation: “A Social History of Power and Struggle in Turkey: State, Memory, Identity, and Movements of Outsiderness in Dersim.” Joya Misra, chr.

Marta Carlson, Ph.D., Anthropology.

Physicists' work is critical to Higgs boson search

Physicists Benjamin Brau, Carlo Dallapiccola and Stephane Willocq were instrumental in this week’s preliminary observation of a new particle, possibly the long-sought Higgs boson, announced by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) particle physics laboratory.

 
The Standard Model of particle physics can correctly explain the elementary particles and forces of nature after more than four decades of experiments.

Butterfield Terrace/Clark Hill Rd. intersection closed

The intersection of Butterfield Terrace and Clark Hill Road is closed to through traffic due to utility work. The closure is expected to remain in place until mid-August.
 
Questions should be directed to project manager Ben Caron, at 545-6460 or ben@admin.umass.edu.
 

Subbaswamy takes reins as chancellor

New Chancellor Kumble R. Subbaswamy this week thanked the campus community for the warm welcome given to him and his family and expressed his enthusiasm for his new role as the campus’s leader.
 
In a July 2 broadcast e-mail, Subbaswamy said, “Over the past several weeks, I have had the opportunity to meet with many of you. In the coming months, I look forward to expanding that circle considerably as I sit down with faculty, students, the faculty senate, our campus unions and a host of individuals and groups, both on campus and beyond.”
 
He added, “I continue to be impressed with the level

Celebration of the life of Howard Ziff

The Ziff family and the Journalism Program invite faculty and staff to attend the Celebration of the Life of Howard Ziff on Sunday, July 22, from noon to 2 p.m. in Memorial Hall.

Ziff, professor emeritus of Journalism, died April 10 at the age of 81.

A reception in the Amherst Room of the Campus Center will follow.

Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP to Donna Vanasse.

 

Thomas is new chair of Board of Trustees

Henry M. Thomas, III, of Springfield, is the new chair of the Board of Trustees following his appointment June 27 by Gov. Deval Patrick.  Thomas, who was appointed to the board by Patrick in September 2007, succeeds James J. Karam, whose term as chair expired at the end of the academic year. Karam will serve on the board until February, when his term ends.

Thomas, who is president of the Urban League of Springfield, most recently served as the board’s vice chair and chair of its Committee on Academic and Student Affairs.

“Henry Thomas is the consummate citizen-servant.

McBride, Harb share in creative economy grants

A Journalism Program partnership with Springfield’s Commerce High School and a joint effort with UMass Dartmouth to promote the development of permaculture gardens have been awarded grants from the President’s Creative Economy Initiatives Fund.
 
President Robert L. Caret last week announced more than $259,000 in grants from the fund to support nine faculty-led projects that promote the arts and culture in Massachusetts. Awards were made to faculty from the Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth and Lowell campuses.
 
Journalism professor Nicholas McBride was awarded $25,000 for a project to bring

Kynard named to board of Nature Conservancy of Massachusetts

Boyd Kynard, adjunct professor of Environmental Conservation, has been named to the board of trustees of the Nature Conservancy of Massachusetts.
 
His research focus includes the life history and fish passage of migratory fish. He has studied sturgeon and other migratory fish in New England, as well as in China and Brazil. Kynard has donated time to the World Wildlife Fund Danube River sturgeon program and has served on sturgeon restoration committees of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the National Marine Fisheries Service.
 
He is also the owner of BK Riverfish,

NEPR to air Tanglewood concerts

As Tanglewood celebrates its 75th anniversary season, New England Public Radio will air live broadcasts from the Shed every Sunday at 2 p.m. from July 8 through Aug. 26.
 
On July 8, Keith Lockhart conducts the Boston Pops Orchestra featuring Broadway superstar Bernadette Peters, who has dazzled audiences for nearly five decades, most recently in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies. They will present Broadway to the Berkshires, including such classic selections as Let Me Entertain You, Fever and Some Enchanted Evening.
 
Venerable maestro Kurt Masur will conduct an all-Mozart

Gordon gives keynote at conference in Dublin

History professor Daniel Gordon delivered one of two keynote addresses at a conference on “Changing Universities: Changing Sociologies” held June 27-30 in Dublin, Ireland, under the auspices of the International Sociological Association.

Gordon’s address, “New Disciplines, New Indulgences: The American University Since 1945,” focused on tensions between the university’s rising standards of disciplinary research on the one hand, and the need to serve a massively growing student body on the other.

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