The team, representing more than 200 students and nine academic programs, excelled in several of the decathlon events held during the last ten days, including capturing third in engineering, fifth in architecture, and third in the use of energy-efficient appliances. The UT team also tied for first place in the cornerstone area of the competition, the Energy Balance Contest. Living Light garnered perfect marks by achieving a net-zero energy balance throughout the competition, as the home produced enough solar energy to maintain all of the house’s needs.

University of Maryland won the overall competition.

“We are incredibly proud of our Living Light students and faculty. They represented our university quite well with great professionalism, enthusiasm, and extensive knowledge of sustainable design and building,” Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek said. “We look forward to welcoming them home and supporting their efforts to use the house as a mobile classroom across the state.”

More than two years of work went into qualifying, planning, designing, and building the home, inspired by Appalachia’s cantilever barns. The team developed significant sponsors and involvement of alumni and business and industry throughout the project.

The Living Light project began with students and faculty in the College of Architecture and Design and was led by faculty members Edgar Stach, Richard Kelso, James Rose, and Barbara Klinkhammer of the college, along with Deb Shmerler in the School of Art, Leon Tolbert in electrical engineering, and Stan Johnson and Bill Miller in mechanical engineering.

Upon its return to Knoxville, the Living Light house will transform into a mobile classroom and laboratory as a part of Living Light’s Tennessee Tour. A joint effort of the UT College of Architecture and Design and the UT Institute of Agriculture Office of Extension, the house will travel around the state and beyond as a teaching tool for K-12 students and industry professionals to learn about cutting-edge sustainable science, technology, and design.

Jerome Baudry

Expertise:
Jerome Baudry specializes in developing and using high-performance supercomputers and cloud computational architectures to identify chemicals that possess a biological effect. His research and development work uses the world’s most powerful supercomputers to accelerate the discovery of new and potent pharmaceuticals and to improve industrial and agricultural development by identifying environmental pollutants that are hazardous to human health.

Baudry has worked in industrial, academic and national laboratories. He and his co-workers have published several scientific articles and have patent applications on supercomputing developments of pharmaceutical and agrochemical discovery.

Expertise Categories: Drug Discovery | Supercomputing | Environmental Pollution | Molecular Biophysics | Molecular Modeling

Contact Information

Email: jbaudry@utk.edu
Phone: 865-576-0930
Web: http://cmb.ornl.gov/people/baudry

Joshua S. Fu

Expertise:
Joshua Fu’s research work includes climatic changes, environmental impact assessments, air pollution modeling and energy usages on air quality, land use (satellite applications) and emissions. He also focuses on the impacts of extreme events on health, the impacts of transportation planning, diesel track emission effects and energy optimization planning.

He served as an international adviser/expert on East Asia/China air quality modeling assessment, such as Beijing and Shanghai air quality modeling assessment for the 2008 Olympic Games and 2010 Shanghai World Expo.  He develops and provides scientifically sound, cost-effective analysis tools to design and develop complex climate and environmental model applications. His recent work includes coupling global climate and chemistry models with regional climate and chemistry models to assess climate impacts at regional/local scales simulated in peta-scale supercomputers including Jaguar and Kraken, the two of the10 fastest supercomputers in the world.

Expertise Categories: Climate Changes | Air Pollution | Energy Optimization | Air Quality Modeling Assessment

Contact Information

Email: jsfu@utk.edu
Phone: 865-974-2629
Web: http://www.engr.utk.edu/civil/people/people.php?id=jsfu

Expertise:
Edgar Stach focuses on materials, technology and sustain­ability, which is supported through a mode of working that combines practice, teaching and research. His current research centers architecture technologies using new materials and construction methods. He is the founder of UT on Zero and director of the Institute for Smart Structures (ISS). He is the principal investigator for UT’s 2011 Solar Decathlon project, Living Light. In 2009, he received the Cox Professorship award from UT for excellence in teaching and scholarship.

He published over 45 scientific papers and technical publications and lectured at universities in Europe, Asia and North America. He is a licensed architect in Germany and established his architecture practice in 1995 in Weimar, Germany. His submitted work focuses on efficiency, ecological sensitivity and responsibility and reflects his concern for the built environment. He has received national and international design awards and recognition for his accomplishments in this area.

Expertise Categories: Architecture | Ecological Sensitivity | Efficiency | Sustainability

Contact Information

Email: stach@utk.edu
Phone: 865-974-0656
Web: Stach Klinkhammer Architects: www.smartstructures.de, UT Zero Energy House:  http://utzero.utk.edu/

Elizabeth Hendrickson

Expertise:
Elizabeth Hendrickson’s research interests include social media cultivation, media adoption of new technology and the organizational communication systems found within various media. She teaches courses focusing on the magazine industry and multiplatform communication. She also has taught qualitative research methods, principles of American journalism and magazine design.

Her recent studies have examined the relationship between Twitter use and blogging, how computer-mediated communication can operate as an organizational tool and how consumers of celebrity texts utilize health messages. She was an entertainment editor at magazines such as Ladies’ Home Journal, Glamour and First for Women before obtaining her graduate degrees.

Expertise Categories: Social Media | Computer-Mediated Communication | Media Adoption of Communication Technologies | Cultural Production

Contact Information

Email: ehendri2@utk.edu
Phone: (865) 974-4452
Web: http://www.cci.utk.edu/users/elizabeth-hendrickson
Twitter: @elizhendrickson
Social bookmark: delicious.com/ehendrickson24

Brandon Prins

Expertise:
Brandon Prins specializes in international politics, with an emphasis on the relationship between domestic politics and violent militarized conflict among nation-states. He has an extensive list of refereed publications and has co-authored chapters in four edited volumes. His articles have appeared in the International Studies Quarterly, Journal of Peace Research, International Interactions, Congress and the Presidency, Presidential Studies Quarterly, and the International Journal of Peace Studies, as well as several other national and international publications. Currently, Prins is working on the manuscript, “The Use of U.S. Military Force,” to be included in The Handbook of American Foreign Policy for 2011.

Beyond the university, Prins contributes and advances his expertise in the field of politics through involvement in a number of professional organizations. Prins has been a featured speaker at several conferences nationwide. This year, he chaired the Conflict and Security Section at the Southern Political Science Association’s annual conference, and he will serve as the chair of the Foreign Policy Section for the American Political Science Association’s conference in 2011.

Expertise Categories: International Politics | Conflict Processes | U.S. Foreign Policy

Contact Information

Email: bprins@utk.edu

Phone: 865-974-7047
Web: http://web.utk.edu/~bprins/

The Commercial Appeal (Memphis), the Jackson Sun, the Shelbyville Times-Gazette, the Standard Banner (Jefferson City) and the Erwin Record won the top general excellence awards at the association’s 2010-2011 officer installation ceremony and awards luncheon held today in Nashville.

UT has co-sponsored the annual contest since 1940.

For the eighth year in a row, the Erwin Record has won the top general excellence award for its category.

General excellence honors are based on total points accumulated for awards in each of five categories, based on average weekly circulation, and include small and large daily and non-daily papers. The Illinois Press Association judged a total of 1,468 entries from 76 of the association’s 124 member newspapers.

Other highlights:

• The Erwin Record also earned the most first-place honors with 12. It won for local features, best single feature, community lifestyles, sports writing, editorials, best single editorial, best personal humor column, best spot news coverage, best news reporting, headline writing, best special issue or section and best website.

• The Commercial Appeal won eight first-place awards, for local features, best single editorial, best personal column, headline writing, best news photograph, best feature photograph, best sports photograph and best website.

• The Daily Herald (Columbia) won six first-place awards, for best single feature, editorials, best single editorial, best personal column, best education reporting and promotion of newspapers.

The university’s Edward J. Meeman Foundation honored 10 newspapers for their accomplishments in editorial writing and public service journalism with $250 awards in the categories of best single editorial, editorials and public service.

The foundation was established in 1968 at UT to fund the contests, provide professional critiques of journalists’ work, and support journalism students and faculty.

Newspapers receiving Meeman awards:

• The Commercial Appeal, the Daily Herald, the Union City Daily Messenger, Grainger Today (Bean Station) and the Erwin Record, best single editorial;

• The Advocate & Democrat (Sweetwater) and the Erwin Record, editorials; and

• Bristol Herald Courier, the Jackson Sun and Roane County News (Kingston), public service.

Winners of five first-place awards:

• Bristol Herald Courier, for make-up and appearance, best personal humor column, investigative reporting, public service and best special issue or section;

• Shelbyville Times-Gazette, for best single feature, community lifestyles, best personal column, best news photograph and best sports photograph;

• The Standard Banner, for local features, best single feature, best sports photograph, best special issue or section and promotion of newspapers; and

• The Tennessean, for sports writing, editorials, best spot news coverage, best news reporting and best education reporting.

Winners of four first-place awards:

• Grainger Today, for best graphics and/or illustrations, best single editorial, headline writing and public service;

• Southern Standard (McMinnville), for make-up and appearance, local features, sports writing and headline writing;

• The Daily News Journal (Murfreesboro), for local features, sports writing, best spot news coverage and best news reporting;

• The Jackson Sun, for investigative reporting, public service, best feature photograph and best website; and

• The Lebanon Democrat, for editorials, best education reporting, investigative reporting and best special issue or section.

Other first-place award winners:

• Mt. Juliet News, best education reporting, investigative reporting and public service;
• News Sentinel (Knoxville), best single feature, community lifestyles and best graphics and/or illustrations;
• Roane County News, best personal humor column, public service and best feature photograph;
• Carthage Courier, best personal column and best feature photograph;
• Memphis Business Journal, make-up and appearance and investigative reporting;
• The Advocate & Democrat, editorials and best news photograph;
• Ashland City Times, best sports photograph;
• Chattanooga Times Free Press, Sunday editions;
• Chester County Independent (Henderson), best personal column;
• Citizen Tribune (Morristown), community lifestyles;
• Crossville Chronicle, best spot news coverage;
• Herald and Tribune (Jonesborough), best feature photograph;
• Herald-Citizen (Cookeville), best personal humor column;
• Hickman County Times (Centerville), best personal humor column;
• Johnson City Press, headline writing;
• Lake County Banner (Tiptonville), best news photograph;
• Manchester Times, sports writing;
• Pulaski Citizen, best spot news coverage;
• The Courier (Savannah), best website;
• The Daily News (Memphis), best news reporting;
• The Daily Times (Maryville), best sports photograph;
• The Greeneville Sun, best special issue or section;
• The Herald-News (Dayton), community lifestyles;
• The Leaf-Chronicle (Clarksville), make-up and appearance;
• The Mountain Press (Sevierville), best news photograph;
• The Newport Plain Talk, best news reporting;
• The News Examiner (Gallatin), best education reporting;
• The Paris Post-Intelligencer, best website;
• The Tomahawk (Mountain City), make-up and appearance; and
• Union City Daily Messenger, best single editorial.

A complete list of winnersis available by visiting http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/wp-content/uploads/2010_Master_list.pdf.

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C O N T A C T :

Charles Primm, UT Knoxville Media Relations, (865) 974-5180, primmc@utk.edu

Robyn Gentile, Tennessee Press Association, (865) 584-5761, rgentile@tnpress.com

Graham, who has more than 15 years of campus law enforcement experience, will begin at UT Knoxville on Aug. 23.

“Gloria Graham brings a diversity of experience and knowledge to this new role. She will provide leadership to our campus police department which already exhibits high standards of professionalism and has a strong relationship with our campus community,” said Jeff Maples, senior associate vice chancellor for finance and administration. “We look forward to working with Gloria on enhancing the university’s initiatives to improve campus safety.”

Assistant police chief at Duke since 2007, Graham was directly responsible for oversight of police operations, including uniform patrol, criminal investigations and special event planning, in addition to security and police services within the Duke University Health System. She supervised 51 sworn police officers, 69 security officers and contract security staff.

She implemented a crime analysis and accountability program which resulted in more efficient deployment of resources and decreased incidents of reported crime. The program was highlighted during this year’s International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators national conference. She also has worked closely with members of the university community, including athletics and student affairs as well as the Durham community and local law enforcement agencies, to increase safety on and off campus.

“Campus law enforcement is a very special profession,” Graham said. “It epitomizes community policing. My first focus is going to be on learning as much about the men and women of UTPD and the University of Tennessee as possible. The police department has been recognized nationally as a professional organization and I’m honored to become a part of it. I hope to maintain the great things already being accomplished, and to solicit input from all facets of the community in order to develop goals and objectives to carry us forward.”

Graham began her career in law enforcement in 1995 as a police officer at Indiana State University (ISU). An Indiana native, she spent five years at ISU with the Department of Public Safety and founded the Crime Prevention Unit. She was appointed as the law enforcement chair of the Governor’s Coordinating Council and oversaw the department’s dangerous and impaired driving operations. While at ISU, she graduated in the top 10 percent of her class from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in 1998.

Her other campus law enforcement experience includes four years with the Florida Atlantic University Police Department in Boca Raton and three years with the University of Southern California (USC) Department of Public Safety in Los Angeles. As the Operations Captain at USC, Graham was recognized for her work with the student community, Los Angeles Police Department and City of Los Angeles. Among the many programs she coordinated at USC was a highly successful effort to deter burglary and thefts in residence halls and off-campus housing.

Graham, who has a bachelor’s degree in justice studies from North Carolina Wesleyan College, has received special training in threat assessment and mass shootings planning and response. She was chosen after a national search led by a committee representing the campus and area law enforcement community. Greg Reed, associate vice chancellor of research, served as the chair.

Graham replaces former chief August Washington who left in July 2009 to become chief of police and assistant vice chancellor at Vanderbilt University. Debbie Perry has been serving as the interim chief and will return to her previous role as assistant chief.

UTPD has 79 full-time staff, which includes 52 sworn officers. UTPD is also one of only 15 agencies nationwide accredited by both the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.

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C O N T A C T :

Rebekah Winkler (865-974-8304, rwinkler@utk.edu)

For more UT news, visit http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/

Check out our faculty experts guide at http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/media/experts-guide/

See UT faculty, staff and students making news at http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/category/in-the-news/

Jered Sprecher

Expertise:
Jered Sprecher is an artist whose studio practice explores the “handwriting” of humankind. The vocabulary that he draws from is focused on the vast array of marks and images in one’s surroundings. From this vocabulary he samples visual motifs and imports them into his paintings and drawings. These works continually focus on remnants and fragments that are captured in the midst of change, then edited and fused together in the space of painting. These images are pregnant with a longing to communicate. The success and failure of these “messages in a bottle” are the basis of his work.

In 2003, Sprecher was granted a studio through the Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation Space Program. He was an artist in residence at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, Ireland in 2007. Sprecher was awarded a 2009 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in Visual Arts. During his Fellowship year, he worked on a series of large-scale paintings that built upon his earlier interest in using the tradition of painting to bring together disparate forms of image making.

Expertise Categories: Art | Painting | Drawing

Contact Information

Email: jspreche@utk.edu
Phone: 865-974-9396
Web: http://art.utk.edu/painting_drawing/faculty/faculty.html

The Summer College will take place July 28-Aug. 1, with a one-day trip to Nashville on Saturday, July 31.

The program begins with dinner and a keynote lecture by UT alumna Delores Ziegler, professor and chair of the Voice/Opera Division at the University of Maryland School of Music. Ziegler is a noted mezzo-soprano and has performed in many of the world’s greatest opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Vienna Staatsoper, the Bastille in Paris and the Salzburg Festival.

UT professors will lecture on their areas of research Thursday and Friday. One of the speakers will be UT interim president, Jan Simek, who will discuss prehistoric rock art in Tennessee.

Other lecture topics include

• “The Visual Cultures of Shakespeare’s Theater” by Heather Hirschfeld, associate professor of English
• “In Consideration of Photographing in the South” by Baldwin Lee, professor of art
• “The History of Rock-and-Roll” by Wendel Werner, director of the UT Singers and lecturer in the School of Music
• “Do You Believe in Centaurs” by Beauvais Lyons, professor of art

Participants will tour the Knoxville Museum of Art, the recently renovated Tennessee Theatre and see the Clarence Brown Theatre’s final day of the Summer Acting Workshop. The Saturday trip to Nashville includes a tour of the Frist Center for Visual Arts and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Tuition for the program is $350, which includes the Saturday trip and selected meals. Lodging is the responsibility of the participant, although rooms are reserved at a discounted rate at the Knoxville Marriott. Deadline to register is July 14.

For more information or to register visit http://alumni.utk.edu/programs/ASC/. Those interested may also contact Patrick Wade at (865) 974-3011.

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C O N T A C T :

Patrick Wade, Alumni Affairs, (865-974-3011, pwade2@tennessee.edu)

Beth Gladden, Media Relations, (865-974-9008, bgladden@utk.edu)

For more UT news, visit http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/

Check out our faculty experts guide at http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/media/experts-guide/

See UT faculty, staff and students making news at http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/category/in-the-news/

Wirth is currently an associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley, which he joined in 2002 following several years as a materials scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Wirth leads a number of research projects funded by various U.S. Department of Energy offices to investigate the performance of nuclear fuels and structural materials in nuclear environments. He expects this research to lead to improved prediction of the longevity of nuclear reactor components and ultimately the development of high-performance, radiation resistant materials for advanced nuclear fission and fusion energy applications.

“Through the Governor’s Chair program and the UT-Oak Ridge partnership, the university continues to enhance the stature of our faculty by adding the best researchers in fields critical to the future of our state and nation,” UT Interim President Jan Simek said.

Wirth will serve in the Department of Nuclear Engineering in the College of Engineering at UT Knoxville and in ORNL’s computer science and mathematics division. The Governor’s Chair Program is funded by the state of Tennessee and ORNL.

“Over time, the Governor’s Chair program has brought together a diversity of expertise that well represents the goals we set for it,” said Gov. Phil Bredesen. “Attracting top scientists and researchers like Brian Wirth as Governor’s Chairs continues to broaden and enhance the unique partnership that exists between the University of Tennessee, as the state’s flagship university and ORNL, the country’s largest multi-program laboratory.”

Wirth will serve as the Governor’s Chair for computational nuclear engineering.

Wirth’s research plays a key role in America’s energy future now that nuclear power is back on the table as a viable energy source as America strives to be more energy independent and emit less carbon. New American energy policy aims to ensure existing nuclear power plants are upgraded and operating at close to full capacity, and new ones are in the works so that nuclear power has a bigger piece of the energy production pie. Wirth’s research ensures this is done safely and efficiently.

As nuclear reactors’ licenses go up for renewal, Wirth is examining the effects of 40 to 60, or even up to 80 years of extreme temperatures and constant radiation have on specific reactor materials. Certain materials may not be tough enough to withstand future use, creating the danger of a vessel failure or even a meltdown. As well, Wirth’s research aims to define the materials operating limits for advanced nuclear reactor technologies that are currently being designed. In sum, his research plays a critical role in ensuring nuclear power plant upgrades and lifetime extensions are done safely and that advanced nuclear reactors can operate more efficiently.

Wirth’s nuclear engineering expertise arrives in a place integral to the birth of nuclear energy, ORNL — once again taking a leadership role in the future of nuclear energy.

“Brian’s experience with the partnership between the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, along with his leadership in nuclear energy research, is a significant contribution to our world-class Governor’s Chair program,” said UT Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek. “His contributions will continue the positive momentum of the UT-ORNL partnership and the key role we play in addressing our nation’s significant energy and resource challenges.”

Using high-fidelity computation modeling, Wirth investigates the physical processes that are responsible for causing defects in materials and degrading the performance and lifetime of nuclear reactor components. The ultimate goal of his research is to provide a better assessment of the reliability of these components and how long they will last. Wirth also aims to use this knowledge to develop advanced, new materials with revolutionary improvements in properties and performance. In addition, Wirth researches materials capable of containing the energy from a new source: nuclear fusion reactors.

Wirth said he hopes his work leads to a country primarily powered by nuclear energy — even if he does not live long enough to see it.

As a Governor’s Chair, Wirth will have the opportunity to further his research by taking advantage of the exceptional resources and expertise available at both UT Knoxville and ORNL. Among those resources is DOE’s first energy innovation hub, the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors, recently awarded to a multi-institutional partnership led by ORNL.

“Brian Wirth’s announcement as a Governor’s Chair expands our core capabilities in advanced materials, computing, and applied nuclear science and technology,” said ORNL director Thom Mason. “Tennessee is well positioned for leadership in America’s nuclear future and Brian brings exceptional strengths to our growing role in this key energy technology.”

Wirth’s preeminent research has been published in more than 100 peer-reviewed papers in archival journals and conference proceedings, which have been cited more than 1,400 times. His research is currently funded by several offices within the U.S. Department of Energy (Office of Nuclear Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Office of Fusion Energy Sciences), the National Science Foundation and the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office within the Department of Homeland Security.

Wirth received a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1992 and his doctorate in mechanical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1998, where he was a Department of Energy Nuclear Engineering Graduate Fellow.

The UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair program is designed to attract exceptionally accomplished researchers from around the world to boost joint research efforts that position the partnership as a leader in the fields of biological science, computational science, advanced materials and neutron science. Eight of the nine Governor’s Chairs now have joint appointments at UT Knoxville and ORNL.

Other UT-ORNL Governor’s Chairs include:

• Jeremy Smith, a computational biologist who came to UT Knoxville and ORNL from the University of Heidelberg in Germany. He was appointed in 2006.
• Howard Hall, an expert in nuclear security who came to UT Knoxville and ORNL from Lawrence Livermore National Lab. He was appointed this in 2009.
• Alexei Sokolov, a polymer scientist who came to UT Knoxville and ORNL from the University of Akron. He was appointed in 2009.
• Yilu Liu, an electric grid researcher who came to UT Knoxville and ORNL from Virginia Tech. She was appointed in 2009.
• Thomas Zawodzinski, an energy storage researcher who came to UT Knoxville and ORNL from Case Western Reserve University. He was appointed in 2009.
• Frank Loeffler, a biologist and environmental engineer who came to UT Knoxville and ORNL from Georgia Tech. He was appointed in 2009.
• Robert Williams, a genetics and biomedical researcher at the UT Health Science Center and ORNL. He was appointed in 2009.
• William Weber, a materials scientist who came to UT Knoxville and ORNL from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He was appointed in 2010.

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C O N T A C T :

Whitney Holmes, UT Knoxville (865-974-5460, wholmes7@utk.edu)

Bill Cabage, ORNL (865-574-4399, cabagewh@ornl.gov)

For more UT news, visit http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/

Check out our faculty experts guide at http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/media/experts-guide/

See UT faculty, staff and students making news at http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/category/in-the-news/

Jeffrey Davis, an associate professor in the Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education, is identifying Plains Indian sign talkers who use the elaborate language so that it can be documented and revitalized in native communities. The conference will be held August 12-15 on the Northern Cheyenne reservation in southeastern Montana. It is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through its Documenting Endangered Languages program.

Sign language provided a means of communication for members of Native American nations who spoke at least 40 different languages. It also was used within native communities as an alternative to their spoken languages and as a primary language for deaf people.

“Based on fieldwork the NSF funded in 2009, we have identified more than two dozen Plains Indian signers, including women and deaf tribal members from among the Northern Cheyenne, Crow, Blackfoot and Assiniboine,” Davis said. “We anticipate that more sign talkers will be identified as a result of this historic conference.”

Davis said the gathering will be the first since 1930, when retired U.S. Army general Hugh Scott called together chiefs and elders from a number of Plains Indian tribes in an effort to capture the disappearing language, which was used for communication between tribes. Using the latest in 1930s technology, Scott filmed the signers, but he died soon after, and the motion pictures were forgotten in the archives of the Smithsonian Institution.

The films came to light when Davis was stranded in a snowstorm at the National Archives in Washington D.C. with documentary filmmaker Ken Burns’ crew. They pointed out the collection to him and — with support from the NSF, the National Endowment for the Humanities and UT Knoxville — he rescued the films and had them digitized. The collection is now displayed and interpreted on a website that Davis maintains.

Davis is working with Melanie McKay-Cody, a sign language teacher at William Woods University in Missouri, who is both deaf and Chickamauga Cherokee/Choctaw. They expect fluent signers and students from tribal groups and colleges to attend.

“For the first time, we’ll bring together sign language linguists and deaf and American Indian individuals,” Davis said. “We hope that further collaboration with the tribes could lead to a hand talk dictionary and grammar that could be shared widely across many cultures.”

Davis is training UT students and native signers in linguistics, field methods and the use of new technologies for language documentation. The documentary materials collected will be made available to tribal schools and colleges and made accessible online to educate larger audiences and broaden awareness about the language and legacy of Native American cultures.

“Our goal is to use these for education and to raise awareness about this language,” Davis said. “That’s my goal — to educate others.”

Montana State University, the Little Bighorn National Monument, Chief Dull Knife College and the Northern Cheyenne nation are collaborating in the project.

For more details in the conference, visit http://sunsite.utk.edu/pisl/.

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C O N T A C T :

Whitney Holmes (865-974-5460, wholmes7@utk.edu)

For more UT news, visit http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/

Check out our faculty experts guide at http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/media/experts-guide/

See UT faculty, staff and students making news at http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/category/in-the-news/

UT’s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy was one of just 15 recipients to receive funding to train as many as 200 students to serve as poll workers for the Nov. 2 federal election in Knox County.

The Baker Center received $61,000 as part of the EAC’s Help America Vote College Program. The EAC was established by Congress in 2002 to provide assistance to states administering federal elections.

“The grant allows us to create accessible opportunities for students to participate in the election process and fills the immediate need for poll workers,” said Carl Pierce, interim director of the Baker Center. “Most importantly, we can help to develop a new generation of young voters who will be engaged in the electoral process over their lifetime, which is central to the Baker Center mission.”

In partnership with the Knox Election Commission and Pyxl Inc., the Baker Center will create a program that will recruit and train about 200 college students from diverse student populations to serve as poll workers in Knox County. The project involves a training program and awareness campaigns, as well as a website and training videos. Students will be able to view the training videos on the website and take quizzes on the material presented. Students who complete and pass tests and other screening parameters will be contacted to attend an in-person training session held prior to election day.

While the focus of the website, training videos and marketing campaign will be on soliciting college students to participate in the poll worker training program for election day, the information also will be developed to allow for the future growth of the program.

“The website may be modified to engage and train all citizens to be poll workers,” said Greg Mackay, administrator of Knox County elections, “allowing the program to grow into a model for the state and an example for the nation.”

A total of $750,000 was awarded to this year’s winners which include Morehouse College in Atlanta, Suffolk University in Boston and the non-profit organization Kids Voting of Central Ohio in Columbus.

To view the complete list this year’s winners, visit http://www.eac.gov/eac_announces_winners_of_grants_to_recruit_college_poll_workers_.

EAC is an independent commission created by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). EAC serves as a national clearinghouse and resource of information regarding election administration. EAC has awarded 89 grants totaling $3.1 million since the program was established in 2004 to recruit and train college poll workers.

The commission is charged with administering payments to states and developing guidance to meet HAVA requirements, adopting voluntary voting system guidelines, and accrediting voting system test laboratories and certifying voting equipment. It also is charged with developing and maintaining a national mail voter registration form.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Gibson (865-974-3816, agibson1@utk.edu)

For more UT news, visit http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/

Check out our faculty experts guide at http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/media/experts-guide/

See UT faculty, staff and students making news at http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/category/in-the-news/

“The Career Advantage Program is the first time we’ve partnered with an organization to help identify top potential candidates for our program,” said Amy Cathey, executive director of UT’s full-time MBA program. “We hope it serves as a model for future business partnerships.”

Through the Career Advantage Program, Y-12 is offering full-time employment to up to five prospective students before they enroll in the full-time MBA program. Previously, Y-12 offered part-time internships to several students after they enrolled.

“In this new collaboration, identified students simultaneously interview with us for acceptance into the program while they interview with Y-12 for employment,” Cathey said.

Selected MBA students receive a tuition waiver and small stipend, which makes the program particularly attractive to out-of-state students.

“We need to attract top talent to ensure that our operations benefit from the best management thinking available, and letting MBA students work for us while they’re getting a great education at UT Knoxville already has yielded excellent results for us,” said Darrel Kohlhorst, president and general manager of B&W Y-12, which operates Y-12 for the National Nuclear Security Administration.

Students work at Y-12 for the program’s three semesters, plus a summer internship. During the academic year, the student’s Y-12 work commitment is approximately 12 hours per week. During the summer when there are no MBA classes, the students work full-time at Y-12.

In addition to developing contacts with a diverse array of businesses and business leaders, from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies, students work with Y-12 senior managers, perform market research and collaborate with Y-12 staff to determine the commercial potential of Y-12 technologies.

“Y-12 is helping us make offers to outstanding students who might otherwise not have considered UT Knoxville,” Cathey said. “Y-12 is offering these students the experience to work in a unique research and technologically focused national security environment that is transferable to any organization.”

UT Knoxville students who have worked at Y-12 have helped to find the best way to site a new warehouse, analyzed business and financial data to identify the best measures of business performance, and helped to formalize the review process for licensable technologies.

“My graduate assistantship at Y-12 has permitted me to apply the concepts and teachings learned in the MBA program to the real world,” said Michael Bowman, UT MBA class of 2010. “Also, Y-12 has a real teamwork atmosphere that mirrors the attitude found in the program.”

Cathey noted the partnership has already had positive results. One of the MBAs who interned with Y-12 last year was hired by Y-12 and another became president of a small local business.

Y-12 is a large manufacturing complex with responsibilities that include stewardship of the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal, provision of fuel to the nuclear Navy and provision of material for peacetime uses such as fuel for commercial and research reactors and the production of medical isotopes. In fulfilling its missions, Y-12 also develops technologies, processes and equipment that can benefit other government entities and the private sector.

For more information about the UT Knoxville-Y-12 partnership, visit http://MBA.utk.edu.

For more information about the UT Knoxville College of Business Administration, visit http://bus.utk.edu.

C O N T A C T :

Cindy Raines, UT Knoxville (865-974-4359, craines1@utk.edu)

David Keim, B&W Y-12 (865-574-1053, keimdm@y12.doe.gov)

For more UT news, visit http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/

Check out our faculty experts guide at http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/media/experts-guide/

See UT faculty, staff and students making news at http://www.utk.edu/tntoday/category/in-the-news/

Barbara J. Thayer-Bacon

Expertise:
Barbara Thayer-Bacon can discuss philosophy of education, feminist theory and pedagogy and cultural studies.

Expertise Categories: Education | Feminism | Cultural Studies

Contact Information

Email: bthayer@utk.edu
Phone: 865-974-9505
Web:

Wei He

Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering

Expertise:
Wei He can discuss surface modification of biomedical implants, biomaterials for neural tissue repair and neural interface and polymers for drug delivery.

Expertise Categories: Polymers | Biomaterials | Biomedical Implants

Contact Information

Email: whe5@utk.edu
Phone: 865-974-5275
Web: http://www.engr.utk.edu/mse/faculty/he/default.html; http://weihe.openwetware.org

Justin Rhinehart

Expertise:

Justin Rhinehart has researched the use of dietary fat supplementation to alleviate the negative effects of endophyte-infected tall fescue on reproductive performance of beef heifers. He has also focused on pregnancy loss in cattle associated with changes in steroid hormone concentrations and placental development. He has served as an extension beef cattle specialist. His goal is to translate research findings into management practices that improve the profitability of beef cattle production.

Expertise Categories: Animal Science | Beef Cattle Production | Reproductive Physiology | Endocrinology

Contact Information

Email: jrhinehart@utk.edu
Phone: 615-835-4561
Web: http://animalscience.ag.utk.edu/

John Scheb

Expertise:
John Scheb can discuss American government, constitutional law, civil rights and liberties, administrative law, criminal law and procedure, the judicial process and law in American society. Scheb is proficient in survey research and also has served as a consultant to numerous government agencies, political candidates, corporations, attorneys, interest groups and other nongovernmental organizations. He is also faculty associate in the Howard Baker Center for Public Policy and has written and edited numerous books and articles for professional journals.

Expertise Categories: American Government | Law | Civil Rights | Judicial System

Contact Information

Email: scheb@utk.edu
Phone: 865-974-2845
Web: http://web.utk.edu/~scheb/default.html

Caula Beyl

Expertise:
Caula Beyl has served as principal investigator or co-investigator on 41 funded research projects in various areas of horticulture, stress physiology and space biology.  Her research has resulted in several refereed research publications, seven book chapters, one book and 115 abstracts and presentations, which included institutional research and assessment topics.

She began her academic career as a researcher and teacher at Alabama A&M University where she remained for more than 26 years. She assumed the role of director of the Office of Institutional Planning, Research and Evaluation in 2002. Beyl helped to revise and write new strategic and effectiveness documents for the university and was essential in guiding Alabama A&M University through its reaffirmation of accreditation process including the development of a Quality Enhancement Plan.

She has presented on a variety of retention, institutional planning, learning outcomes, and QEP development topics to NACDRAO, SAIR, SEF and SACS, among others. She also has served as the external examiner for Masters of International Horticulture students at Liebniz University in Hannover, Germany.

Expertise Categories: Biology | Horticulture | Retention | Institutional Planning

Contact Information

Email: cbeyl@tennessee.edu
Phone: 865-974-7303
Web: