UMass Amherst Faculty Achievements Noted
Nov. 29, 2007
| Contact: | Daniel J. Fitzgibbons 413/545-0444 |
AMHERST, Mass. – Several University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty members have been involved in notable professional activities in recent weeks:
Professor Anna Nagurney was honored Nov. 6 in Seattle during the annual meeting of the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) with the 2007 Award for the Advancement of Women in OR/MS.
Nagurney, who is the John F. Smith Memorial Professor at the Isenberg School of Management, was given the award at the Forum for Women in OR/MS.
She was recognized for being involved in a wide variety of activities aimed at providing increased visibility to women in OR/MS, including the development of seminar series, and collaborating “profusely” with female researchers in fellowships, grants, journal articles and books. The program citation noted her “boundless energy and enthusiasm for the profession, her visibility within and beyond the field, her keen appreciation and understanding of the challenges women face to succeed within it, and her proven track record in recruiting, mentoring, promoting and making an indelible mark on numerous women in OR/MS.”
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Professor Robert Gao of mechanical and industrial engineering has been named a Fellow of the IEEE, the world’s leading professional association for the advancement of technology.
The honor, which is effective Jan. 1, recognizes Gao “for contributions to condition monitoring and health diagnosis of machines through sensing methodologies.”
Each year, following a rigorous evaluation procedure, the IEEE Fellow Committee recommends a select group of recipients for one of the IEEE’s most prestigious honors, elevation to IEEE Fellow.
According to the IEEE, “The grade of Fellow recognizes unusual distinction in the profession and shall be conferred by the Board of Directors upon a person with an extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest. The accomplishments that are being honored shall have contributed importantly to the advancement or application of engineering, science, and technology, bringing the realization of significant value to society.”
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Rutherford H. Platt, professor emeritus of Geography, gave a keynote talk on “Law, and Landscape: Planning for a World of Cities” on Nov. 13 at the EuroMAB conference in Antalya, Turkey.
Man and Biosphere (MAB) is a UNESCO-based program that dates back to the 1972 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm.
The conference focused on how to enhance linkages between science and society, using the experience of the 248 biosphere reserves in the 32 countries making up the EuroMAB Network as learning and sharing sites for sustainable development.
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Three faculty members from the community health studies department in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences presented their research at the 135th annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, held Nov. 4-7 in Washington, D.C.
Rosa Rodriguez-Monguio, assistant professor in the health policy and management program, gave a paper focused on the analysis of the patent and pediatric exclusivity life of antiretroviral drugs and new molecular entities approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from 1987-2006.
Michael Begay, chair and associate professor of public health, presented his research on the politics of a failed effort by President Harry Truman from 1945-49 to enact compulsory health insurance.
Maria Idali Torres, associate professor in the community health education program, discussed the politics of culture in public health practice-based research and the relevance of anthropology and other social sciences in the production of new knowledge necessary for eliminating health disparities. Parts of her presentation are included in a paper scheduled to be published this year in the journal Health Promotion Practice.
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