Talking Points

Bromery remembered as transformational leader

The life and legacy of former chancellor Randolph W. Bromery were remembered May 17 at a memorial gathering hosted by the Chancellor’s Office at the Marriott Center for Hospitality Management in the Campus Center.
 
Bromery, who served as chancellor from 1971-79, died Feb. 26 at the age of 87.
 
The remembrance drew 150 people, including the Bromery family, administrators, faculty, friends and colleagues from other institutions that Bromery led during his long career as a geophysicist and stints as chancellor of Board of Higher Education, interim president of Westfield State College and

Campus licenses microorganism to boost corn and soybean plant health

A recent exclusive license agreement between UMass Amherst and LidoChem, Inc., a New Jersey-based wholesale turf and agricultural nutrient supply firm, means a fungus-fighting bacterium discovered and developed by Haim Gunner, professor emeritus of Environmental Sciences, will now be marketed nationally as part of an eco-management approach to plant disease protection.
 
Gunner, a co-founder of the Environmental Sciences Department in the 1960s, first identified the bacterium Bacillus amyloliquifaciens as a contaminant in a laboratory experiment in the 1990s, when he was trying to grow a

Town agrees to share cost of development study proposed by chancellor

Amherst Town Meeting members on May 15 approved a proposal by Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy to jointly hire a consultant to study strategic planning issues involving the university and the town.
 
The $30,000 for the town’s share of the cost passed on a 122-46 vote.
 
Subbaswamy addressed Town Meeting to outline the reasons for the study, which is expected to focus on housing issues but also touch on ways to strengthen boundary neighborhoods, public safety and economic development.
 
 

Senate panel’s budget plan differs from 50-50 formula adopted by House

The Senate Ways and Means Committee is proposing a $33.92 billion fiscal 2014 state budget that calls for a $35 million increase for the public higher education system, about $75 million less than the amount included in the House budget and backed by Gov. Deval Patrick.
 
The Senate plan, which was unveiled May 15, includes $454.8 million for the UMass system, an increase of $16 million from this fiscal year.

New UMass Rising website conveys goals, reasons for supporting fundraising campaign

UMass Rising, the campus’s $300 million, comprehensive fundraising campaign, has launched a new website outlining its goals and priorities accompanied by testimonials from alumni benefactors, recent graduates, faculty, staff and Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy.
 
The campaign, which was formally announced last month’s Founders Week, has raised $183.7 million, or 60 percent, of its goal.

SPHHS honors service and mentorship

Jeff Harness, director for integrated care and population health at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, was honored April 26 at the School of Public Health and Health Sciences’ Celebration of Service Breakfast in the Campus Center.
 
Harness, who received his master’s in Public Health through the school, was presented with the Distinguished Service Award honoring outstanding leadership in the field of public health.
 
Elizabeth Cardona, director of the governor’s western Massachusetts office, presented Harness with a citation from Gov. Deval Patrick.

SPHHS doctoral student Larry Pellegrini wins APHA award

Larry Pellegrini, a Ph.D. candidate in the Health Policy and Management Program in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, recently received the American Public Health Association’s (APHA) 2013 Medical Care Student Session Award.
 
Pellegrini will present his winning abstract, “The Impact of the Labor Market on Medicaid, the Industrial and Occupational Composition of the U.S. Healthcare Industry and Mortality, 1999-2009,” in November at APHA’s annual meeting in Boston.
 
“This research explores the labor market’s impact on Medicaid provisions and mortality and morbidity, with

‘Dinner with Friends’ raised nearly $30,000 for new Digital Media Lab

The 11nth annual “Dinner with Friends” on April 6 raised nearly $30,000 for the new Digital Media Lab in the Du Bois Library. The event, hosted by the Friends of the UMass Amherst Libraries, featured a talk by New York Times bestselling mystery writer Archer Mayor.

New this year, the dinner featured silent and live auctions, including a live auction during which dinner guests could bid on having their name featured for one of the characters in Archer Mayor’s next book.

Sponsors Bassette Printing, Brattle Book Shop, Elsevier, Lexington Group, Print Associates, Sunshine Sign Co., UMass

Nuclear physicist, with hundreds worldwide, tracks huge magnetic ring across country for muon experiments

Nuclear physicist David Kawall is among scientists from 26 institutions worldwide who are waiting patiently for an electromagnet 50 feet in diameter to be transported from New York to Illinois, where they plan to launch an experiment in 2016 that could open new realms of particle physics.
 
Kawall’s responsibility will be to measure very precisely the magnetic field inside the ring-shaped magnet when it arrives at its new home sometime in late July. “It’s definitely new territory,” he says, “because we need to measure the field accurately to 70 parts per billion in this huge magnet.

Student awards presented by Libraries

The Department of Special Collections and University Archives recently presented the fourth annual Emily Silverman Book Collecting Award and the fifth annual Friends of the Library Undergraduate Research Award (FLURA).
 
The first place recipient of the Emily Silverman Book Collecting Award in the undergraduate category was senior Sonia McCallum of Ashby, for “Vampires Don’t Sparkle: Vampires Outside the Romance Genre.” McCallum received $750 and a $250 gift certificate to the Brattle Book Shop in Boston.
 
The recipient of the FLURA first place prize of $750 was senior Ken Lefebvre of

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