Milestones

UPDATES

The Department of Genetics and Department of Molecular Biology merged into a new Department of Genome Sciences Oct. 19. The new department is part of the School of Medicine; the acting chair is Professor Stan Fields. Genome scicences brings together about 20 faculty members- including the UW's newest Nobel Prize winner, Lee Hartwell (see page 12)-and roughly 20 additional affiliate and adjunct faculty. The department features faculty who are leaders in computational molecular biology and decoding the human genome (see "Code Control," September 2001).

William Foege, '61, was awarded the prestigious 2001 Albert Lasker Award for public service on Sept. 21. It is sometimes called "America's Nobel Prize." Foege (see "Calling the Shots," June 1994) developed a global strategy that led to the eradication of smallpox in 1977. He is now a senior adviser on global health to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Foege graduated from the UW School of Medicine in 1961 and was named the 1994 Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus, the highest honor the UW can bestow upon its graduates.

Descendants of Takuji Yamashita, 1902, donated $65,000 on July 25 to endow a UW School of Law scholarship in international law and human rights. Yamashita (see "A Civil Action," Dec. 2000) graduated from the law school in 1902 but was denied the right to practice law because of his Japanese origins. He died in 1959. The UW School of Law, Washington State Bar Association and Asian Bar Association of Washington successfully petitioned for Yamashita's posthumous admission to the state bar, which took place on March 1. Twenty-three of Yamashita's grandchildren and great-grandchildren endowed the scholarship.

APPOINTMENTS

UW Regent Sally Jewell, '78. REI photo.

Gov. Gary Locke named REI Chief Operating Office Sally Jewell, '78. to the UW Board of Regents on Oct. 30, replacing outgoing Regent Mari Clack. At the UW, Jewell majored in mechanical engineering and, after graduation, was an engineer for Mobil Oil before switching to executive positions in the banking industry. She served on the REI board for four years before becoming the coop's chief operating officer in 2000. Her volunteer work at the UW includes serving on advisory boards for the College of Engineering and the School of Business. She is also on the boards of the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust and the Alliance for Education. Her six-year term expires in 2007.

George F. MacDonald became the new director of the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture on Nov. 1. Prior to coming to the UW, MacDonald was the CEO of Museum Victoria, a three-museum complex in Melbourne, Australia, where he oversaw the construction of the $300 million Melbourne Museum. He also supervised the fund-raising and design of the $200 million Canadian Museum of Civilization in Ottawa, Canada. He is the author of more than 150 publications and has written extensively about the Native cultures of the Pacific Northwest.

Dorothy Van Soest will become the new dean of the UW School of Social Work Feb. 1. Van Soest is currently an associate dean of social work at the University of Texas. An expert on teaching and learning as they relate to cultural diversity, she is the author of five books. Her current research includes investigating the lives of 37 men who were executed by the state of Texas in 1997.

HONORED

Nursing's Psychosocial and Community Health Chair Bobbie Berkowitz and Biological Structure Professor Emeritus Cornelius Rosse were elected to the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academy of Sciences, the institute announced Oct. 15. Election to the group is one of the highest honors for those working in health-related fields. The two join 36 other UW faculty members previously elected. Berkowitz earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in nursing from the UW and a Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University. Rosse is the former chair of the Department of Biological Structure in the School of Medicine.

Materials Science and Engineering Professor Gretchen Kalonji was one of seven U.S. professors given a new award for integrating research into teaching, the National Science Foundation announced Sept. 19. With the Director's Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars comes $300,000 over four years to expand Kalonji's work in education. She has pioneered several UW programs that encourage engineering students to reach beyond the classroom and engage students from other countries in international research collaborations. Kalonji is an expert in the structure and properties of crystalline solids.

Physiology and Biophysics Professor Bertil Hille is one of 65 new members elected to the Institute of Medicine, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences, the institute announced Oct. 14. A member of the UW faculty since 1968, Hille has been widely honored for his pioneering work showing that ions-charged particles such as calcium and sodium-pass in and out of cell membranes through pores called ion channels. Hille's election brings the number of UW faculty members in the institute to 38.

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