UMass Amherst Mathematician Andrea Nahmod Awarded Simons Foundation Fellow

AMHERST, Mass. – Mathematics professor Andrea R. Nahmod of the University of Massachusetts Amherst has been awarded a Simons Foundation Fellowship in Mathematics by the Simons Foundation. 
 
With the award, Nahmod will spend her 2013-14 sabbatical year as a visiting professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she will pursue ongoing research with MIT’s Gigliola Staffilani on deterministic and nondeterministic aspects of nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs).
 
Nahmod’s research lies at the overlap of nonlinear Fourier analysis, harmonic analysis, and nonlinear

International Conference on the Economic Impact of Cultural Heritage Being Held May 15-17 at UMass Amherst

AMHERST, Mass. – Delegates from around the world will be participating in “The Past for Sale? New Perspectives on the Economic Entanglements of Cultural Heritage,” a conference being hosted May 15-17 by the Center for Heritage and Society at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
 
The conference garnered 120 abstracts from participants representing 30 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Panama, Syria and Zimbabwe.

UMass Amherst Class of 2013 Celebrates Graduation, Hears Advice from Kenneth I. Chenault, Chairman and CEO at American Express

AMHERST, Mass. – Under partly sunny skies, 5,500 students received bachelor’s degrees during today’s Undergraduate Commencement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. A crowd of 20,000 heard commencement speaker and American Express CEO Kenneth I. Chenault advise, that in a world permanently disrupted, graduates may not “find” a job but that “21st century technology makes inventing a job much cheaper and easier.”

Chenault, who also received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at the ceremony, told the graduates, “When you take a risk, expect others to question you, and they

Stockbridge School Commencement at UMass Amherst Salutes Graduates

AMHERST, Mass. – At the 91st commencement for the Stockbridge School of Agriculture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, speakers told graduates they will become stewards of the world through their chosen professions as well as the latest addition to a long standing family of graduates who support each other. The students in six majors received associate of science degrees and bachelor’s degree of science in Bowker Auditorium today.
 
Degrees were awarded to 14 graduates in arboriculture and community forest management, 12 in equine industries, seven in sustainable food and farming, 12

UMass Amherst Graduate Commencement Honors Tradition and Innovation

AMHERST, Mass.– The Graduate School at the University of Massachusetts Amherst conferred more than 1,200 doctoral and master’s degrees this morning at Commencement ceremonies that drew nearly 1,000 graduates, along with family members and friends to the William D. Mullins Memorial Center.
 
Distinguished University Professor John J. McCarthy, marking his first Commencement as vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Graduate School, said that well over 1,700 students earned graduate degrees at UMass Amherst during the just-completed academic year.
 
During a ceremony that

Western Massachusetts Writing Project Celebrates 20th Anniversary

AMHERST, Mass. – The Western Massachusetts Writing Project will celebrate its 20th anniversary on May 16 from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. with a program and reception in the Marriott Center in the Campus Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Titled “Opening Doors and Re-Inventing Teaching Practices,” the program will feature remarks from Sharon Washington, executive director of the National Writing Project.

The project will also honor the newest Massachusetts Teacher of the Year, Anne Marie Bettencourt, of Hatfield, a co-director of the Writing Project and English teacher at Central High

UMass Amherst Police Department Hosts K9 Training Exercises May 13-17 at Campus Residence Halls

AMHERST, Mass. – Police K9 units from the eastern U.S. and Canada will be training in University of Massachusetts Amherst residence halls during the week of May 13-17.
 
The exercises, hosted by the UMass Amherst Police Department K9 unit and the Massachusetts Police Work Dog Association, will take place in Brown House in the Sylvan Residential Area and Butterfield House in the Central Residential Area between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
 
Area residents are advised that there may be large numbers of police vehicles and law enforcement personnel in the vicinity of the two sites during the exercises,

UMass Amherst PhD Student Awarded DAAD Grant for Dissertation Research in Germany

AMHERST, Mass. – Victoria Rizo Lenshyn, a doctoral candidate in German and Scandinavian studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been awarded a research grant by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to support her dissertation research at the Academy for Film and Television (HFF “Konrad Wolf”) in Potsdam/Babelsberg, Germany.
 
During the next academic year, Rizo Lenshyn will conduct research on the stars and star culture in the cinema of socialist East Germany.
 
The campus nominating committee praised Rizo Lenshyn’s project on stardom in East Germany’s socialist context

UMass Amherst Commencement to Honor Exceptional Student Leadership and Achievement

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst will honor the exemplary achievement, initiative and leadership of its most talented and accomplished graduating seniors during Undergraduate Commencement on Friday, May 10 beginning at 5 p.m. at McGuirk Alumni Stadium.
 
Eleven graduating seniors have been named 21st Century Leaders and will be honored for far-ranging achievement, initiative and social awareness. Ten of those being recognized are members of Commonwealth Honors College.

  • Zachary Robert Bemis, a civil engineering major with a minor in geology, is from Southborough.

UMass Amherst’s First Social Media Fundraiser, UMassGives, Raises Nearly $84,000 as Part of Sesquicentennial Celebration

AMHERST, Mass. – The University of Massachusetts Amherst’s first-ever fundraising campaign driven by social media was a resounding success this week, raising $83,947 during a 36-hour event that included 1,533 online gifts as the campus kicked off its 150th birthday celebration.
 
Sarah Sligo, executive director of annual giving, says, “Our alumni and friends, faculty and staff really rose to the challenge with this campaign. So many made it clear that UMass gives so much to the Commonwealth and beyond, and they wanted to give something back.

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