Accounting Professor James Jiambalvo became dean of the UW Business School May 1, replacing Acting Dean David Burgstahler. Jiambalvo’s research includes audit decision-making, the relationships between stock prices and information, and earnings management. He is also a certified public accountant. Since joining the UW Business School in 1977, Jiambalvo has served as the school’s Department of Accounting chair (1992–1996) and was faculty director of E-Business (2000–2003). A primary goal as dean, he says, is to raise funds for a new business school complex that will improve the quality of education and foster a sense of community among students, faculty and local businesses. He holds a doctorate from Ohio State University and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Illinois.
Vice Provost Steven G. Olswang, ’77, will become interim chancellor of UW Bothell, effective July 1, President Mark Emmert, ’75, announced April 15. Olswang replaces Warren Buck, who served as UWB chancellor for six years and who announced in March that he will return to teaching. Olswang most recently served as interim chancellor at UW Tacoma from 2004 to April. At the time of his appointment, he said he will not be a candidate in the search for the new UWB chancellor. Olswang has a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Northwestern University, a J.D. from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. in higher education administration from the UW.
The UW Graduate School has a new dean; Suzanne Trager Ortega, currently dean of the graduate school at the University of Missouri-Columbia, will become the UW’s leader for graduate education on Aug. 29. A sociology professor, Ortega is the author of more than 30 scholarly monographs, articles and book chapters. Her research interests include social gerontology, the sociology of health and mental health, deviance and criminology, and minority group relations. She received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tenn., in 1974, and a master’s and doctorate in sociology in 1976 and 1979, respectively, from Vanderbilt University.
Anthropology Professor Donald Grayson was named the winner of the Nevada Medal March 8. The award was established in 1988 by the Desert Research Institute to acknowledge outstanding achievements in science and engineering. Grayson was honored for his landmark research on human interaction with the landscape and his ability to use archaeological data to answer biological questions.
Men’s Basketball Coach Lorenzo Romar was voted Pac-10 Coach of the Year by his colleagues, the conference announced March 8. Romar coached his team to a Pac-10 Tournament Championship and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, finishing with a 29-6 record. This is the fourth time a UW men’s basketball coach has been honored with the award, which was established in 1976. Marv Harshman won in 1982 and 1984, and Bob Bender won in 1996.
Genome Sciences Professor Evan Eichler and Physiology and Biophysics Professor Fred Rieke were named investigators of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, one of the world’s largest funding organizations for biomedical research, the institute announced March 22. Eichler studies sequences and genes in the human genome. Rieke studies how the visual system works in conditions ranging from starlight to bright sunshine. His goal is to determine how the retina understands its input signals. The UW now has 13 full-time faculty members who are institute investigators.
Vice Provost for Technology Transfer James Severson received the 2005 Bayh-Dole Award from the Association of University Technology Transfer Managers for his contributions to academic technology transfer. Severson acts as a liaison between private industry and local government on matters pertaining to technology and the University’s role in the knowledge economy. According to the association, the UW is among the top 10 schools in the nation for generating income from research discoveries.
On March 25, U.S. District Court Judge James Robart threw out claims by former UW Softball Coach Teresa Wilson that the UW discriminated on the basis of gender when it decided not to renew her contract in December 2003. In his decision, Robart wrote that the University “had reason to be concerned that plaintiff had not exercised good judgment in protecting athletes on the softball team, and might exercise poor judgment in the future.” Reports of prescription drug abuse among UW softball players surfaced in the fall of 2003. In April 2004, an internal investigation of the program found that volunteer team doctor William Scheyer improperly prescribed and distributed large quantities of narcotic medicine and other prescription drugs to UW softball players from 1999 to 2003. (See “UW Probe Finds Drug Overuse in Softball,” June 2004). Other charges in Wilson’s lawsuit that allege infliction of emotional distress, wrongful termination and breach of contract were not dismissed.