Winter 2008/Volume 47, No.1

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News from the Colleges

College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources

• More than 400 students and 34 companies attended the college’s 23rd annual Career Fair in October.
• Food microbiologist F. Ann Draughon received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring. Only 178 such awards have been presented, and Draughon is the first UT faculty member to be honored.

College of Arts and Sciences

• Earth and Planetary Science: Researchers are playing a key role in NASA’s DAWN mission to explore two of the largest asteroids in the solar system and provide information about Earth’s early stages.
• Professor Larry McKay was selected as the Geological Society of America’s Birdsall-Dreiss Distinguished Lecturer for 2008.
• Religious Studies: Jazz musicians from Knoxville, across the country, and around the world headlined last November’s “Knoxville Jazz for Justice” concert to benefit children in war-torn Northern Uganda. Jazz for Justice was formed in 2006 by Professor Rosalind Hackett.
• Music: Jeremy Wilson ’05, a trombonist, was invited to join the world-renowned Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
• School of Art: In September, after 18 months of work, sculpture students helped install a steel gate they designed and forged for James Agee Park.

Architecture and Design

• School of Architecture: Professor Max Robinson received the American Institute of Architects East Tennessee Gold Medal … Associate Professor David Fox’s studio class is working with the Clarksville Housing Authority to develop affordable housing units.

College of Business Administration

• Mike Stahl, program director of the Physician Executive MBA program, was honored as the Tennessee Communication Association’s 2007 Communicator of the Year.
• James Cody was named director of the Aerospace/Defense Clearinghouse.
• Andy White was named director of the Aerospace MBA program.
• The Construction Industry Research and Policy Center was awarded a $6.9-million contract to provide technical services to OSHA for the next five years
• John T. “Tom” Mentzer received the Armitage Medal from the International Society of Logistics. He is UT’s first recipient.
  

Communication and Information

• A $500,000 grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation will fund construction of the Scripps Convergence Communication and Information Laboratory to prepare students for an increasingly digital and interactive industry.
• A $50,000 grant from the Scripps Howard Foundation will fund the “Tennessee Journalist Web Journalism Project” where students will learn from Web journalism professionals.
• Sally McMillan, associate professor of advertising and public relations, has been named associate dean for academic programs.
• Sam Swan, professor of journalism and electronic media, has been named director of internationalization and outreach.
• Carol Tenopir, professor of information sciences, has been named director of research and director of the Center for Information and Communication Studies, formerly known as the Center for Information Studies.
• The School of Journalism and Electronic Media is celebrating its 60th anniversary, and WUTK has turned 25.

College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences

• Exercise, Sport and Leisure Studies: The Institute for Leadership, Ethics and Diversity in Sport (I-LEAD) has been created to provide cross-disciplinary training and research to meet the changing demands of the global sport and leisure industry. Assistant Professor Fritz Polite is director
• Department of Retail, Hospitality and Tourism Management: The Culinary Institute, a 10-week intensive certificate program, was established for aspiring chefs, professional cooks wanting to hone their skills, and anyone serious about cooking.
• Education: Award-winning scholar and college administrator Ira Harkavy, a pioneer in university-community-school partnerships and service learning, presented the annual Goodrich Lecture in September. As a prelude, UT officials and others highlighted UT’s full-service schools program, a 10-year-old community partnership between UT and several Knox County schools led by Professor Robert Kronick.
• Nutrition: The Obesity Research Center has been formed for multidisciplinary research. Co-directors are professors Naima Moustaid-Moussa and David Bassett. Funding comes from the college, the UT Office of Research, UT Agricultural Experiment Station and UT Extension.

College of Engineering

• Research Professor Jack Parker, along with a Stanford University professor, has been awarded $1.3 million over three years to find the best methods to analyze and clean up the U.S. Department of Defense sites contaminated with highly toxic substances from weapons production and base operations.

College of Law

• The multi-state law firm of Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs LLP has established a scholarship to help promote accessibility and diversity, and Michelle Quinn, a first-year law student from Memphis, was the first recipient.
• In honor of the Legal Clinic’s 60th anniversary, the college hosted a celebration and symposium in September that explored the future of clinical legal education.

Nursing

• Nursing doctoral students Debbie Persell and Beth Fiske studied at Japan’s Radiation Effects Research Foundation last summer.
• Undergraduate and graduate nursing students administered about 4,000 immunizations at campus and regional flu clinics coordinated by Professors Pat Melcher and Carole Myers.
• Lora Beebe received a $140,000 grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health to examine a nursing intervention she adapted to increase exercise motivation in persons with schizophrenia.
• The college’s clinic at Vine Middle School received funds from the Ronald McDonald House to support an additional pediatric nurse practitioner.
• Graduate nursing students led by Carole Myers held a community diabetes fair in Blount County with the Blount County Health Department.

College of Social Work

• The College of Social Work Office of Research and Public Service (SWORPS) organized “Building Teams for Permanence: Fall Conference on Foster Care, Kinship Care and Adoption,” a conference for foster, adoptive and kinship parents in October. UT athletics director Mike Hamilton, father of two adopted children, was the speaker.
• College faculty are seventh in the nation when it comes to having their work published in major social work journals, according to a recent study. This study is done every five years, and the college’s ranking has risen from 25th in the nation since the last time the study was done.

College of Veterinary Medicine

• Dean Michael Blackwell left his position Jan. 1, 2008, with his retirement effective March 1. Dr. Leon Potgieter is interim dean.
• Dr. Robert DeNovo is the new associate dean for administration and clinical programs.
• Dr. Claudia Kirk has been named the acting head of the Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences.
• Dr. Scott McVey ’80, received the college’s 2007 Distinguished Alumni Award. McVey is an associate professor at the Veterinary Diagnostic Center, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
• The college—one of only two standardized vet nutrition programs recognized by the American College of Veterinary Nutrition — recently celebrated its first Hill’s Fellow in Nutrition, Beth Hamper.
• Dr. John Henton received the Tennessee Veterinary Medical Association’s Distinguished Service Award.

 

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