Grain & Chaff

Surita Bhatia

Corporate support

Assistant professor Surita Bhatia of the Chemical Engineering Department is one of eight U.S. recipients of a 2002 DuPont Young Professor Award. The program will provide unrestricted funds of $75,000 for Bhatia's research in complex fluids and polymeric materials. The awards are intended to encourage highly original research. Award recipients are nominated by DuPont personnel and selected based on the quality of their research programs. Bhatia joined the faculty last year.

MVPs

Several University staff and graduate students participated in a Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) educator training session organized by Five Colleges, Inc. and held Sept. 18-20 at Amherst College. MVP educators provide educational programs for undergraduates which encourage them to intervene as bystanders in incidents of sexual violence. UMass participants included Sophie Magos, La Wanza Lett-Brewington and Ben Ostiguy, Everywoman's Center; Stephen Pereira, Stonewall Center, Yeshi Chodon, Health Reach International and Graduate Women's Network, Tom Schiff, Health Education, University Health Services; Lisa McCarthy and Rani Vargese, ALANA Health Outreach and Education Program, University Health Services; and Brett Morgan, Housing Services.

Chancellor John Lombardi receives a medal on behalf of the campus from Renzo Castelnuovo, a member of the council of administration for the University of Siena in Italy, where he teaches economics and monetary policy. Castelnuovo presented the medal at the request of the University of Siena's chancellor, Piero Tosi, in recognition of a recent agreement of academic and scientific cooperation between UMass Amherst and the University of Siena and the semester-long program in Italian Studies through which the campus sends approximately 30 students each spring to Siena. (Stan Sherer photo)

John J. Lombardi

Alter egos

No, the chancellor isn't moonlighting in Little Rhody. In the wake of Providence Mayor Buddy Cianci's recent conviction in federal court, his post was filled by city council president John J. Lombardi, not our guy, John V. Lombardi. ... And while we're at it, let's be clear that new assistant lacrosse coach Chris Gabrielli should not be confused with Chris Gabrieli, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor. With all the talk of cloning these days, it never hurts to check.

By your weave

Art History professor Walter Denny's new exhibition, "The Classical Tradition in Anatolian Carpets," opened Sept. 12 at The Textile Museum in Washington, D.C. Denny authored the exhibition's catalogue, which was published last month in Washington and London. At the exhibition's opening, Ursula Eland McCracken, director of The Textile Museum, announced Denny's appointment as Charles Grant Ellis Research Associate in Oriental Carpets. In that capacity, Denny plans to pursue major research projects at the museum. The exhibition runs through February.