June 2004 -

Milestones

APPOINTMENTS

Vice Provost Steven Olswang, '77, became the UW Tacoma interim chancellor in April, replacing Vicky Carwein. Olswang earned his Ph.D. in higher education administration at UW and has worked as assistant to the provost and assistant provost for academic affairs. He is also a fellow of the National Association of College and University Attorneys. Carwein left in April to become president of Westfield State College in Massachusetts.

Business Professor Shahrokh M. Saudagaran, '86, will return to the University in July as the head of the Milgard School of Business at UW Tacoma. Since obtaining his Ph.D. in accounting from UW, he worked as a professor of accounting at Santa Clara University, a lecturer at Iranzamin Business College in Tehran and a professor at Oklahoma State University, where he is currently head of the OSU School of Accounting.

HONORS

The UW again has fielded one of the top-performing teams at an international mathematical modeling contest, beating teams from MIT, Yale and the University of California, Berkeley. UW undergraduates Sasha Aravkin, Tracy Lovejoy and Casey Schneider-Mizell designed a theoretical model to find the most efficient and fair way to manage lines at an amusement park. The group was one of seven winners (out of 599 teams from 11 countries) competing in the Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications 2004 Mathematical Contest in Modeling. In 2003, the UW had two winning teams in the prestigious competition. Their adviser is UW Mathematics Professor Jim Morrow.

Four UW electrical engineering professors have been named fellows of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Electrical Engineering Professor Les E. Atlas was honored for his contributions to time-varying spectral analysis and acoustical signal processing. Engineering Dean Denice D. Denton was elected for her leadership in engineering education and faculty mentoring. Affiliate Electrical Engineering Professor Evan L. Goldstein was recognized for his work in the field of optical communications. Electrical Engineering Professor Yasuo Kuga, '77, '79, '83, was elected for his contributions to backscattering enhancement and imaging in geophysical testing.

Three UW professors were chosen to receive 2004 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships. Epidemiology Professor Ann Marie Kimball, '76, '81, will work on emerging infections in an era of global trade. She is also director of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Emerging Infections Network. Materials Science and Engineering Professor Kannan M. Krishnan will use his fellowship to explore the structure of new materials and how these materials apply to emerging technologies. Physics Professor Ann E. Nelson, '83, '92, will focus her research on theories of dark energy, a force that is believed to counter gravity and allow the expansion of the universe to accelerate.

In March, the Epilepsy Foundation of Washington honored Neurological Surgery Professor Jeffrey Ojemann for his 40-year commitment to the treatment and research of epilepsy. He received the organization's highest honor, the Exceptional Service Award, because of his work at the UW School of Medicine and as an attending neurosurgeon at UW medical Center, Harborview Medical Center and Children's Hospital. His work, which focuses on the surgical therapy of certain types of epilepsy and brain tumors, has helped discover ways to reduce the risk of these maladies.


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