Connections

UNM Connections

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Funding Connections
Big Boon for Tiny Subject: EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research)-National Science Foundation Award has funded the purchase of key nanotechnology microscopes for UNM and other New Mexico universities. UNM will receive a one-of-a-kind microscope with extremely high resolution to define or the surfaces of nanoscale particles.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-02-17epscor.htm

Cool Research: Along with researchers from the University of Arizona and Johns Hopkins, astronomy professor Mansoor Sheik-Banae has begun investigating laser cooling in solids. The collaborative research is funded by a US Department of Defense Mutidisciplinary Uniersity Research Initiative.
http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/000196.html#more

American Indian Educators: The College of Education has received a three-year, $900,000 grant from the New Mexico State Department of Education to increase the number of American Indian teachers and principals. Administered by UNM's Institute for American Indian Education, the grant from the Indian Education Division will provide scholarships and support for American Indian students at UNM.
http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/000195.html#more

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Honorable Connections
Highest Honor: Linguistics professor Joan L. Bybee was named UNM's 49th Annual Research Lecturer, the highest honor UNM awards faculty members. Bybee presented a lecture entitled, "Say It Again: How Usage Shapes Language,"
http://www.unm.edu/news/04-04-19/bybee.htm

Leader of the Coif: School of Law professor Leo Romero has been elected president of the National Order of the Coif. Coif is the national honorary society for law, promoting academic and scholarly excellence.

Library Leader: Dean of Library Services Camila A. Alire has been elected vice president/president elect of the Association of College and Research Libraries. The ACRL is the largest division of the American Library Association. It sets standards for college and university library facilities.
http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/000191.html#more

She’s a Fellow: History professor Virginia Scharff has been elected a Fellow of the Society of American Historians "in recognition of the literary and scholarly distinction of historical work." Scharff was one of 13 individuals elected this year.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-04-21scharff.htm

Dagestan Digest? Byron Lindsey, associate professor of Russian, has received a Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad award to study and translate texts from the literature of Dagestan, a region from the former Soviet Union in the northern Caucasus.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-0429lindsey.htm

To Cyprus He Will Go: Mark Childs, assistant professor in the School of Architecture and Planning, received a Fulbright to Cyprus for spring semester 2005. Childs is the first faculty member from the school's architecture program to receive a Fulbright.
http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/000193.html#more

Chosen to Lecture: Melissa Bokovoy, Regents' Lecturer and associate professor of History, recently presented the annual Snead-Wertheim Endowed Lecture, entitled "The Politics of Commemoration: Memory and Mourning in Serbia and Croatia, 1918-1941."
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-04-02bokovoy.htm

Teaching Touted: CASTL, the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship in Teaching and Learning, has presented its awards for exceptional teaching. UNM President Louis Caldera presented the 2004-2006 Presidential Teaching Fellow to Christopher C. Mead, professor, School of Architecture and Planning.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-04-30castl.htm

Appreciation Communicated: Ken Frandsen, Communication and Journalism professor, has received the Western States Communication Association’s Distinguished Service Award recognizing individuals who have made significant and long-lasting contributions to the communication discipline.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-03-03frandsen.htm

New Bloomer: Alf Simon, director of Landscape Architecture in the School of Architecture and Planning, has been elected vice president/president elect of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture.

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Student Connections
Surprise Visit: UNM President Louis Caldera surprised mechanical engineering student and Lobo baseball player Sean Murray with the announcement that Sean was been named a 2004 Truman Scholar. Sean is one of 80 students nationwide to be selected, based on leadership potential, intellectual ability, and the likelihood of "making a difference." The Truman Scholarship is a $26,000 merit-based grant awarded to undergraduates to attend graduate or professional school in preparation for careers in government or the non-profit sector.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-03-30truman.htm

More about the Maori: Regents’ Scholar and Anthropology student Stephanie Ford has been awarded a Fulbright grant to study Maori culture in New Zealand. Ford will attend classes at the University of Auckland, study the Maori language, and participate in a study of how New Zealand protects, preserves, and interprets Maori traditional culture and archaeological sites.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-04-13fulbright.htm

Legal Whizzes: UNM School of Law students Anna Martinez and April Winecke earned top honors at the National Native American Law Students Association moot court competition in Denver. Martinez won the prize for "best oralist" and Winecke for "best brief."
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-02-18nalsa.htm

Law Legate: Brenna Clanni, a second-year law student, has been elected to the American Bar Association Law Student Division's Board of Governors. Clani represents all ABA-approved law schools in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.
http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/000184.html#more

Weightless Wonder: For the fourth consecutive year, Chemical and Nuclear Engineering students zipped up their flight suits and flew experiments on board the "Weightless Wonder," a microgravity KC-135 airplane at Johnson Space Center in Houston. The experiments were part of NASA's Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-02-27nasa.htm

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Publishing Connections

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Media Connections
Top 25: Hispanic Magazine ranked UNM 23rd on its list of top 25 Colleges and Universities for Latinos in its March 2004 issue. According to the magazine, academic excellence and Hispanic achievement lead the list of qualities for schools receiving the honor.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-03-17rankings.htm

Ranking News: UNM graduate programs in engineering, fine arts, law, and medicine are ranked among the best in the nation in the April 5 issue of US News & World Report. The listing of America's best graduate schools for 2005 includes eight UNM programs. For the first time, a specialty program in the UNM School of Engineering is included in the top 50 rankings.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-04-06rankings.htm

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Research Connections
Who Do We Elect? Political Science professor Christine Sierra has launched a three-year study on the role of gender and race as it relates to elected officials in the United States. The first-of-its-kind study is funded by a $680,000 Ford Foundation grant.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-04-07sierra.htm

Math, Given a Chance: Students from low-income communities can excel in mathematics when schools make teaching and learning a top priority, a College of Education study shows. Assistant professor Rick Kitchen’s research team examined the distinguishing characteristics of nine high-achieving schools serving low-income communities.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-03-11kitchen.htm

Volcanic Expedition: Tobias Fischer, assistant professor, Earth and Planetary Sciences, and graduate student Maarten de Moor have joined representatives of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California-San Diego (UCSD), Carnegie Institution of Washington, and Boston University to take part in the National Science Foundation-funded MARGINS initiative, an expedition to study volcanoes near the Mariana Islands.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-04-09Marianas.htm

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New Connections
Alum Dean at Anderson: Charles Crespy has been appointed dean of the UNM's Anderson Schools of Management. Crespy, a four-time alumnus of UNM (’74 BUS, ’77 MA/MBA, ’84 PhD), previously served as JP Morgan Chase Professor and dean of the College of Business at the University of Texas at El Paso.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-04-28crespy.htm

Museum Mover: Linda Bahm has been appointed the new director of the University Art Museum. She has worked as interim director since 2001, and associate director since 1985.
http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/000186.html#more

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Miscellaneous Connections
Water Ways: UNM is partnering with Escuela Agrícola Panamericana, a private college in Honduras, to design and implement a water resources program for Central American water managers and administrators.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-02-18zamorano.htm

Heritage Help: The School of Architecture and Planning had its graduate certificate program in historic preservation approved by the State Board of Finance recently. The certificate will be a tool for cultural-resource professionals and those in architecture, landscape architecture, and planning to understand how to revitalize and restore a community’s heritage.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-03-24preservation.htm

International Themes: International relations is the focus of a new task force assigned to Paul Nathanson, associate provost for Academic Affairs. The task force will identify central themes within the university's teaching, service, and research activities to broaden UNM's international profile.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-04-21nathanson.htm

Air Force Lobos? Leaders from UNM and the US Air Force have signed an agreement establishing the Air Force Institute of Technology in Albuquerque. The educational initiative will allow Air Force officers and civilians to earn advanced degrees in science, technology, and management by combining credits from both institutions.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-03-17soe.htm

Graduation Celebration: UNM President Louis Caldera conferred a total of 2,797 degrees upon UNM main campus graduates at the May commencement ceremony. Denise Chavez, New Mexico author, actress, director, and teacher, received an honorary doctor of letters degree and delivered the commencement address. Edward Lewis and Stewart Udall also received honorary degrees. Chavez and Lewis are both UNM alumni.
http://www.unm.edu/news/Releases/04-05-03commencement.htm

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Thanks to the UNM Office of Public Affairs for compiling the Connections stories.

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