Kudos

Kudos

Notables: Rallied by their peer Amie Rakosky, and supported by their professors Ann Danis and Mark Conley, music students created “Music of the Heart: An Evening of Music in Memory of Those Lost on September 11, 2001.” The benefit concert raised $1,500 that was donated to the New York Police and Fire Widows and Children’s Benefit Fund. In a letter accompanying the donation, the professors wrote: “We all agreed, that as musicians, there is no better way to express our personal grief and our profound thanks than to simply use our musical gifts. In a society that tends not to value the arts and sometimes sees young adults as uncaring people, it is our privilege as faculty of this great university to work with these individuals every day. Music became a very important source of comfort during the difficult days that followed that fateful day.” Thirty eight music students also signed the letter.

Four Fulbrights: Four faculty members from the College of Arts and Sciences were selected for the U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program. The professors are among approximately 800 U.S. faculty and professionals who received grants to lecture and conduct research abroad. The U.S. Dept. of State sponsors the Fulbright Scholar Program, with additional funding provided by the participating governments and host institutions. URI faculty members awarded a 2001-2002 Fulbright scholar grant are: English professor Mary C. Cappello and English Assoc. Professor Jean Walton, to lecture at the Moscow Literary Institute; Associate chair, Dept. of Psychology Lisa Harlow, to lecture and research at York University, Toronto; and English instructor Allison Petro, to lecture at Yaroslav the Wise Novgorod State University, Novgorod Velikii, Russia.

Hot honors: Graduate School of Oceanography Professor Haraldur Sigurdsson received the Vening Meinesz Medal from the European Geophysical Society, for his research on volcanism in the Indonesia region. This medal was established in 1997 in recognition of the scientific achievements of Dutch geodesist Vening Meinesz (1887-1966) who is known for his gravity measurements at sea. Sigurdsson, who joined the faculty in 1974, has long conducted research in Indonesia. Most notably, he has studied the catastrophic eruptions of Tambora volcano in 1815 that caused “the year without a summer” in North America and the Krakatau volcano in 1883.

Professor Emeritus Geoffrey Boothroyd was presented with the M. Eugene Merchant Manufacturing Medal by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. The medal, established in 1968, honors an exceptional individual who has had significant influence and responsibility for improving the productivity and efficiency of the manufacturing operation.

New options. Chairman and Professor of ocean engineering, Malcolm L. Spaulding has been selected to serve on the National Research Council (NRC), Transportation Research Board, and Marine Board Committee on the Options for Naval Engineering Cooperative Research. The study is designed to offer options to the Office of Naval Research on how it can structure its research programs in ship hull, mechanical, and electrical systems. Spaulding has served on numerous NRC committees over the past decade and has been a liaison to the Ocean Studies Board. He has been a faculty member in URI’s department of ocean engineering since 1973 and chair since 1992.