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The Yale Alumni Magazine is owned and operated by Yale Alumni Publications, Inc., a nonprofit corporation independent of Yale University. The content of the magazine and its website is the responsibility of the editors and does not necessarily reflect the views of Yale or its officers. |
School Notes School of Architecture Architecture’s “new” home After an extensive renovation of its Paul Rudolph-designed Art & Architecture Building, the School of Architecture has moved back from its temporary quarters to its home at the corner of York and Chapel streets. The building will receive a new name—Paul Rudolph Hall—at a formal rededication celebration on November 7 and 8, which will also mark the introduction of the two other components of the arts complex: the Jeffrey Loria Center for the History of Art and the Robert B. Haas Family Arts Library. Both the design of the new buildings and the restoration of the A&A Building are a project of Charles Gwathmey ’62MArch, principal of Gwathmey Siegel & Associates. Dean Robert A. M. Stern ’65MArch said that Gwathmey’s design was “carried out with both great sensitivity and a deep knowledge of Rudolph’s aesthetic intentions,” and called it a “valuable example to others who plan to restore modernist structures, a subject of increasing importance today.” Exhibition showcases twentieth-century architect The school reopened its gallery August 28 with an exhibition showcasing the work of Hawaii’s master architect, Vladimir Ossipoff (1907-1998). Ossipoff is credited with almost single-handedly defining the post-war architectural vernacular of the Hawaiian islands. Long before the concept of “sustainable building” became commonplace, Ossipoff was a proponent of site-sensitive planning and design, incorporating indigenous resources in construction and building in harmony with the landscape, environmental conditions, and culture. “Hawaiian Modern: The Architecture of Vladimir Ossipoff” explores the architect’s lasting legacy and highlights his designs from the 1930s through the 1970s. National Building Museum honors dean Dean Stern has been chosen to receive the 2008 Vincent Scully Prize, presented by the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. This is the tenth anniversary of the prize, which recognizes exemplary practice, scholarship, or criticism in architecture, historic preservation, and urban design. It is considered one of the most important awards in the field. Stern is being honored for “his years of teaching at Columbia and Yale universities, his leadership as the dean of the Yale School of Architecture, and his seminal publications reflecting on the history of architecture in New York,” and specifically for helping create the revival of the shingle style and successfully promoting traditional town planning. The awards ceremonies take place in November in Washington.
School of Art Sculpture department returns home Now that the School of Architecture has vacated the Sculpture Building and returned to the A&A Building, the School of Art has begun the process of refitting the Sculpture Building to accommodate the needs of art students. MFA students, undergraduate majors, and all students enrolled in sculpture courses will be able to take classes in the space beginning in the spring semester of 2009. In addition, the building will house production areas and classrooms for work in video, as well as a gallery for exhibitions. This move back to the Sculpture Building will bring all components of the School of Art back to the arts area of campus, which includes the two major university art galleries and the renovated A&A Building. MFA photography on view The seven 2008 graduates of the MFA program in photography—Samantha Contis, Jen Davis, Bryan Graf, Richard Mosse, Bradley Peters, Sasha Rudensky, Sarah Stolfa, Marley White, and Suyeon Yu—had their work exhibited this summer at Gallery 339 in Philadelphia. The gallery’s owner describes the work by this group of photographers as “very broad, ranging across the spectrum of contemporary experience, from deeply personal explorations of self to expansive, chaotic visions of American society.” Yet, he adds, there is a “consistency of interest in the state of ourselves and the world.” The exhibition was on view from July 11 through September 6. It can be found online at www.gallery339.com.
Yale College Assistant dean will help manage freshman programs Since the position of dean of freshman affairs was created in 2005, programs for freshmen have grown dramatically, most recently with the addition of the Old Campus Fellows and the expansion of the freshman counselor program. The job of managing freshman academic and student life has grown to become two positions, and the dean’s office has created the post of assistant dean for freshman student affairs to fill the second position. The first person to fill this role is Raymond Ou, who comes to Yale from Johns Hopkins University’s Peabody Institute, where he has held positions in student affairs, residential life, and conference services. At Yale Dean Ou will work with Dean of Student Affairs Marichal Gentry, and will administer freshman orientation, the Old Campus Fellows program, and the expansion of the freshman counselor program; he will also help develop a network of peer counselors for freshmen that will be implemented next year. Symphony Orchestra tours Italy The Yale Symphony Orchestra made its debut in Italy this summer, with performances in Rome, Florence, Bologna, and Milan over a week-long visit. Under the direction of YSO music director Toshiyuki Shimada, the program included works by Berlioz, Brahms, Ives, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Vivaldi. A total of 70 orchestra members went on the trip. The Yale Symphony Orchestra, established in 1965, is considered one of the premier undergraduate orchestras in the United States.
Divinity School Mapping the New Haven religious landscape Divinity School students will be conducting a detailed mapping of New Haven religious life. The mapping project aims to produce an exhaustive inventory of the Elm City’s religious communities, ranging from those that meet in hotel ballrooms and community centers to traditional churches and synagogues. The effort is being led by Harlon Dalton '73JD, an Episcopal priest, YDS adjunct professor, and professor at the Law School. The mapping project is part of a larger, three-year initiative to prepare students for social justice ministries, through a $250,000 grant awarded recently by the Jessie Ball duPont Religious, Charitable, and Educational Fund. The initiative includes an intensive course designed to give students the leadership skills necessary to create change in communities, as well as the development of new curricula at the Divinity School to groom students for social justice work. Are we safe? At what cost? The 2008 Sarah Smith Memorial Conference is grappling this autumn with questions of how faith can be used constructively to engage security concerns in new ways. The September 18-19 interdisciplinary event, entitled “Are We Safe Yet? Vulnerability and Security in an Anxious Age,” takes as a premise that security—as traditionally pursued—comes only at an extremely high price, in human and financial terms. Open to the public, the conference will bring together pastors, politicians, academics, and business leaders. Planned participants include Academic Dean Emilie Townes, currently president of the American Academy of Religion, and former Canadian MP Douglas Roche, who now heads an international consortium of nonprofit organizations that focus on nuclear disarmament issues. The annual forum, named after a YDS alumna with a passion for moral leadership, is co-hosted by the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. The Pastor’s Study: learning what it’s like to serve the church One of the perennial challenges of Divinity School students is how to integrate academic pursuits with pastoral aims. A new weekly program, The Pastor’s Study, aims to expose students to a variety of choices and experiences. The series of ten luncheon encounters spans the fall term and features speakers ranging from a local rabbi talking about what Christian clergy need to know about Jews, to Yale University Chaplain Sharon Kugler discussing how to build a multi-faith outreach in a diverse academic setting. The Pastor’s Study is part of a new effort, headed by Assistant Dean William Goettler, to enhance support offered by the school to the roughly 50 percent of the student body bound for church-related careers. The series began on a more modest scale last year. During one encounter, homiletics professor Thomas Troeger, an accomplished writer of hymns and a musician, advised students, “I have told you what I do, hoping that you may discover in the specifics of my life what you need for the specifics of your life as a preacher.”
School of Drama Students named Greene Foundation fellows Brian Hastert '09, Teresa Avia Lim '09, Luke Robertson '09, and Erica Sullivan '09 are the first recipients of the Jerome L. Greene Foundation Fellowship, which underwrites the full tuition and living expenses of four students in the acting department in their third and final year of training. The Jerome L. Greene Foundation made a $3.235 million gift in January to the Yale School of Drama—the largest single gift for scholarship ever made to the school—to establish the endowed scholarship fund. 2008 Yale Drama Series Award Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee has selected Grenadine by Neil Wechsler (Yale College '96) as the recipient of the 2008 Yale Drama Series Award, an annual award inaugurated in 2007 that supports emerging playwrights. Wechsler will be awarded the David C. Horn Prize of $10,000; his play will be published by Yale University Press and will receive a reading at Yale Repertory Theatre. The Yale Drama Series Award is funded by a gift from the David Charles Horn Foundation, and is jointly sponsored by Yale University Press and Yale Repertory Theatre. British playwright David Hare has been named the judge for the 2009 and 2010 competitions. Yale Rep honored by Connecticut theater critics The Connecticut Critics Circle, a statewide organization of theater critics in various media, has recognized the Yale Repertory Theatre with four awards. The cast of Boleros for the Disenchanted—Lucia Brawley '02MFA, Joe Minoso, Gary Perez, Adriana Sevan, Felix Solis, and Sona Tatoyan—was named outstanding ensemble; Riccardo Hernandez won for outstanding set design, in The Evildoers; Patricia Kilgarriff was named outstanding actress in a play for her role in A Woman of No Importance; and Anya Klepikov '08MFA received the outstanding costume design award for the same production.
School of Engineering & Applied Science Electrical engineering professor receives technology award Tso-Ping Ma, the Raymond John Wean Professor of Electrical Engineering, is the recipient of the 2008 Connecticut Medal of Technology, the highest honor for technological achievement in fields crucial to Connecticut’s economic competitiveness. Early in his career, Ma did research at IBM on advanced silicon device technology and ionizing radiation effects in metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) devices. He joined the Yale faculty in 1977, where his research and teaching have focused on microelectronics, semiconductors, MOS interface physics, ionizing radiation and hot electron effects, advanced gate dielectrics, flash memory device physics, and ferroelectric thin films for memory applications. Ma’s ongoing research has had a major impact on the high-tech industry and many of his students have gone on to leadership positions in the semiconductor and computer hardware field. He has served as the principal investigator of joint R & D projects with numerous companies worldwide, including IBM, Intel, Motorola, Lucent Technology, GE, Hughes, Rockwell Semiconductors, Philips, Siemens, Hitachi, Toshiba, and Mitsubishi Electric. Tang selected for symposium Hong Tang, professor of mechanical and electrical engineering, has been selected to participate in the 2008 Frontiers of Engineering Symposium. The three-day event, hosted by the National Academy of Engineering, brings together engineers who are performing exceptional engineering research and technical work in a variety of disciplines. The symposium will be held September 18-20 at Sandia National Laboratories at the University of New Mexico and will examine emerging nanoelectric devices, cognitive engineering, drug delivery systems, and understanding and countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. The participants—from industry, academia, and government—were nominated by fellow engineers and chosen from a large pool of applicants. Professor named neural networks pioneer Kumpati Narendra, the Harold W. Cheel Professor of Electrical Engineering, is the recipient of the 2008 IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (CIS) Neural Networks Pioneer Award, recognizing his contributions to the theory of identification and control using artificial neural networks. The Pioneer Award recognizes significant contributions to early concepts and developments in the neural networks field. The contributions have to be made at least 15 years prior to the award date. Narendra’s paper entitled “Identification and Control of Dynamical Systems Using Neural Networks” was published in the first issue of the IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks in March 1990, and essentially started the field of neurocontrol. The paper has been cited more than 3,000 times since publication.
School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Americans willing to pay more for “green” products Many Americans, including those who are enduring financial hardship, are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products, according to a survey conducted by the environment school and GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media. “Many American consumers, even in the face of economic uncertainty, express a willingness to pay more for environmentally friendly products,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change. “Toyota can’t make the Prius fast enough to meet consumer demand, to cite just one example, and many see 'green' products as the wave of the future.” Half of the respondents to the survey said they would “definitely” or “probably” pay 15 percent more for eco-friendly clothes detergent (51 percent) or for an automobile (50 percent). Forty percent said they would spend 15 percent more on “green” computer printer paper and 39 percent would do the same for “green” wood furniture. Americans who said their current financial situation is “fair” or “poor” were just as willing to spend 15 percent more on environmentally friendly detergent or wood furniture as those Americans more confident of their current financial situation. Environmental problems require shift in values Successfully confronting today’s environmental and social challenges requires a re-examination of the values and worldviews that shape our perceptions of nature and society, according to an environment school report, “Toward a New Consciousness: Values to Sustain Human and Natural Communities.” The report synthesizes the insights and recommendations of more than 60 leaders in the natural and social sciences, philosophy, communications, religion, public policy, business, and the creative arts, which were generated during a conference organized by the environment school last fall in Aspen, Colorado. The first section of the report seeks to identify and understand the contemporary worldviews that pose barriers to grappling successfully with environmental and social needs. The second addresses the changes in values needed to strengthen human ties with each other and with the natural world, and identifies steps toward realizing these goals. The report can be found at http://environment.yale.edu/newconsciousness. New Internet tools promote faculty research Visitors to the Yale University and environment school’s websites, as well as to entertainment portals such as YouTube and iTunes, can now access faculty research in audio and video. To date, the environment school has created four video and eight audio podcasts that aim to inform and educate the public about pressing environmental issues. These can be downloaded to cell phones, MP3 players, and computers. The videos feature faculty discussing their research in such areas as the discovery of hermaphrodite frogs in the suburbs of the Connecticut River Valley and predator-prey relationships in the meadows of Yale-Myers Forest. Audio segments cover such stories as the effects of “green” practices on a business’s bottom line and how agriculturally based countries in middle and low altitudes will suffer disproportionately from the effects of climate change.
Graduate School of Arts & Sciences Engineer to direct office of diversity Michelle Nearon joined the Graduate School over the summer as assistant dean and director of the Office for Diversity and Equal Opportunity. After earning an undergraduate degree from MIT and a master of science degree in aerospace engineering from Brooklyn Polytechnic University, she worked in the private sector as a research engineer for eight years. Nearon earned her PhD in mechanical engineering at Stony Brook University in 2000 and remained there as a Turner Postdoctoral Fellow. She subsequently served as director of recruitment and diversification for Stony Brook’s College of Engineering and Applied Sciences while holding an assistant professorship in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Dean Butler goes abroad As part of Yale’s commitment to international outreach, Dean Jon Butler has traveled to the Far East several times this year. This summer he visited Beijing to meet new graduate students who are coming from the People’s Republic of China to pursue PhD and master’s degrees at Yale in the fall. The incoming students began their Yale affiliation with a month-long English-language immersion program at the Beijing Foreign Studies University, fully funded by Yale. The aim of the program was to improve English proficiency and ease the cultural and social transition for students from PRC to New Haven. Last spring, Dean Butler traveled to Japan to meet with Yale alumni and Japanese educators. His schedule included hosting a large reception for alumni of all Yale schools and attending a Yale-sponsored reception organized by alumni in government service. In addition, he visited Japan’s major universities and met with his counterparts to discuss academic partnerships. Commencement honors for graduates and faculty At last May’s commencement ceremonies, 227 doctoral candidates were granted their PhD degrees—in Latin, according to long-standing Yale tradition. The Graduate School’s convocation ceremony, held the day before, featured a talk by Sterling Professor of History Jonathan Spence and the distribution of student prizes, including two university-wide awards. The Theron Rockwell Field Prize, for outstanding poetic, literary, or religious works by students enrolled in any Yale school, was given to Claudia Lozoff Brittenham (history of art) for “The Cacaxtla Painting Tradition: Art and Identity in Epiclassic Mexico"; Jeffrey M. Leichman (French) for “Acting Up: Staging the Modern Subject in Eighteenth-Century France"; and Brent Nongbri (religious studies) for “Paul Without Religion: The Creation of a Category and the Search for an Apostle Beyond the New Perspective.” The John Addison Porter Prize, awarded for a work of scholarship in any field that is written in such a way as to make the project of general human interest, was given to Elizabeth Nathan Saunders (political science) for “Wars of Choice: Leadership, Threat Perception, and Military Interventions"; and Siddhartha Das (chemistry) for “Molecular Recognition in Regio- and Stereoselective Oxygenation of Saturated C-H bonds with a Dimanganese Catalyst.” In addition, three faculty advisers were honored for outstanding mentorship: Seth Fein, assistant professor of history; Ellen Lust-Okar, associate professor of political science; and Mitchell Smooke, the Strathcona Professor and chair of mechanical engineering and professor of applied physics.
Law School Military justice expert appointed Rogatz Visiting Lecturer Eugene R. Fidell, a leading expert in military justice and founding president of the National Institute of Military Justice in Washington, DC, will join Yale Law School in January 2009 as the Florence Rogatz Senior Visiting Lecturer in Law. Since 1984, he has been a partner at Feldesman Tucker Leifer Fidell LLP in Washington, DC, where he heads the firm's military practice group. Fidell has taught at Harvard Law School and American University’s Washington College of Law and began teaching as a visiting lecturer in law at Yale Law School in 1993. As the Rogatz Senior Visiting Lecturer, he will continue to teach his popular course on military justice and do other lecturing and clinical teaching. He will also address military justice issues in collaboration with the National Institute of Military Justice. YLS students helped prepare case detailed in Business Week Yale Law School students played a key role in a lawsuit that is the subject of Business Week’s June 5 cover story, “Banks vs. Consumers (Guess Who Wins?).” The lawsuit was filed by San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera on behalf of the People of the State of California against the National Arbitration Foundation (NAF) and one of its largest clients, FIA Card Services, Inc. It charges that NAF arbitrators unfairly favor creditors over consumers and that FIA misuses the unfair arbitral process created by NAF. Several Yale Law students helped research the many legal issues involved and helped prepare the case for litigation. The students began working with the city attorney’s office in September 2006 through a unique partnership called the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project, which also includes students from Berkeley Law School. Yale Law professor Heather Gerken and visiting lecturer Kathleen Morris helped create Yale’s program. “Since it began,” said Gerken, “the Yale students have been involved in a number of significant public policy cases and gotten an insider’s view of the cutting-edge public interest work being done in San Francisco.” Fellowship will support students in human rights A $3 million gift from the Robina Foundation will fund the creation of the Robina Foundation Human Rights Fellowship Initiative at Yale Law School, which will provide support for human rights leaders at all stages of their careers. The initiative will meet the intense interest students have in human rights and their need for financial support to pursue human rights careers. It will also foster the work of human rights advocates by providing opportunities for them to spend time in residence at Yale Law School. Through the initiative, the Law School will make financial support available as student scholarships, summer human rights fellowships, postgraduate fellowships, and fellows-in-residence opportunities. “Investing in the development of human capital is a critical, but usually overlooked, step toward ensuring the successful future of the human rights movement worldwide,” said Dean Harold Hongju Koh. “This initiative will seek to fill that gap by educating future leaders at all levels and fields of human rights work.”
School of Management SOM names Donaldson Fellows Five SOM alumni have been chosen to be Donaldson Fellows as part of a new program for graduates who embody the school’s mission to educate leaders for business and society. The Donaldson Fellows Program, named after the school’s founding dean, Bill Donaldson '53BA, recognizes SOM alumni who exemplify three characteristic themes: leading and managing across boundaries; transforming positive values into personal, professional, and institutional commitments; and bringing creativity and discipline to complex management problems. All five fellows will be on campus on October 2 and 3 for the Donaldson Symposium, which will feature a variety of activities, including a facilitated conversation between the fellows and first-year MBAs. The first class of fellows includes Adam Blumenthal '89MPPM, managing general partner of Blue Wolf Capital Management; Laszlo Bock '99MBA, vice president of people operations for Google, Inc.; Andrea Levere '83MPPM, president of the Corporation for Enterprise Development; James Levitt '76BA, '80MPPM, director of the Program on Conservation Innovation at the Harvard Forest, Harvard University, and president of Levitt & Company, Inc.; and Elizabeth Serlemitsos '93MBA, chief advisor for the National AIDS Council, Zambia. Pioneering class graduates The first class of students educated under the Yale integrated MBA curriculum graduated from SOM in May. Two years ago, the 203 students of the Class of 2008 embarked on an unprecedented course of study. The school wholly redesigned how it teaches management, creating a new integrated MBA curriculum aimed at providing students not just with new tools and perspectives for solving the complex problems of modern business, but also with a new model of broadly engaged leadership for organizations in the twenty-first century. “It is amazing to see how quickly our new approach to management education has increased the school’s already strong reputation, and begun to create a brand that represents innovation and leadership, augmenting our historic and strong reputation for excellence in nonprofit and financial management, in multi-sectoral focus, in our school's unquestioned commitment to values and ethics,” Dean Joel Podolny told the group at its commencement. Learn more about the Yale integrated MBA curriculum at mba.yale.edu/curriculum. Global leaders attend Yale Governance Forum More than 200 global leaders in corporate governance, including corporate executives and directors, regulators, and academics, gathered at Yale University for the third annual Yale Governance Forum on June 9-10. The two-day event, hosted by the Millstein Center for Corporate Governance and Performance, was designed to give practitioners the opportunity to discuss current issues in the field. This year’s session had a special focus on the current state of global capital markets. Discussion topics included how boards and shareholders should approach one another, governance issues between private equity and pension funds, and whether boards should treat short-term and long-term shareholders differently. Among the participants were Bill Donaldson '53BA, former chairman of the SEC and founding dean of SOM, who discussed recent events in corporate governance; and David Jackson '93MBA, the CEO of Istithmar World Capital, an investment arm of Dubai, who analyzed the state of the global capital markets. Also, the Millstein Center named 56 professionals under the age of 40 as the inaugural group of “Rising Stars of Corporate Governance,” an international group of analysts, experts, activists, and managers focused on improving the relationships between corporations and their shareholders.
School of Medicine Learning to care when you can no longer cure Starting this fall, medical school students will be required to participate in a new program designed to help them address the physical, emotional, cultural, and spiritual needs that patients face at the end of life. The medical school developed the program in collaboration with the nursing and divinity schools, Yale Religious Ministries, and the Palliative Care Services of Yale–New Haven Hospital. Students will work through interactive cases online and participate in workshops facilitated by faculty from each school to learn how to recognize spiritual distress in patients and how to provide support and encouragement. The medical school received funding through the Connecticut Cancer Partnership and the state’s Department of Public Health to launch the program, which will be made available to other Connecticut institutions for use in palliative care education. Pioneering researcher in cell biology joins the Yale faculty James E. Rothman '71, one of the world’s leading cell biologists, will serve as chair of the medical school’s Department of Cell Biology and will launch the Center for High-Throughput Cell Biology at Yale’s new West Campus. Rothman comes to Yale from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. “Jim Rothman is one of the most brilliant researchers of our time,” says Dean Robert J. Alpern, who credits Rothman with revolutionizing the field of cell biology. Rothman graduated summa cum laude from Yale College with a degree in physics. At the new Yale Center for High-Throughput Cell Biology, Rothman will lead multidisciplinary teams of scientists to develop tools and techniques that will provide fresh insights into disease and identify new molecular targets for therapy. Understanding the mysteries of immunity Yale medical school researchers have figured out how a key component of many vaccines activates an immune system response, a finding that opens up promising new avenues of research on better ways to prevent infections. In a paper that appeared in an online edition of the journal Nature, a team of scientists led by Stephanie C. Eisenbarth '01, '03PhD, a fellow in laboratory medicine, and Richard A. Flavell, Sterling Professor and chairman of immunobiology, describe one way aluminum hydroxide, a chemical catalyst or “adjuvant” used in many vaccines, helps fight off pathogens. Researchers believe that knowing how these adjuvants work to activate the immune system will help them find new ways to bolster immune system responses and provide long-term protection against pathogens. Professor donates mammography van to Ugandan hospital When Assistant Professor of Medicine Ken Miller heard that Yale was selling a mammography van, he decided to buy it and donate it to Mulago Hospital, in Kampala. The hospital already uses mammography for the diagnosis of established tumors, but this marks the first time it will be made available for screening. Fred Okuku, a third-year resident in internal medicine at Makarere University, spent several months at Yale, studying ultrasound and mammography in preparation for running the program. The van, staffed by a driver, a nurse, and a technician, will screen women in suburban Kampala. The service will be publicized on the radio, and brochures will educate women about the early signs of cancer and the fact that, if caught early, many cancers are treatable.
School of Music Yale Music in Asia The School of Music undertook two ambitious pre-Olympic projects simultaneously this summer in Asia. (See “Overture to the Olympics.”) “Musicathlon: The Conservatory Music Festival” was presented jointly by the Yale School of Music and Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM), and over a two-week period featured concerts, lectures, and master classes from ten of the world’s most renowned conservatories. In the meantime, the Philharmonia Orchestra of Yale gave concerts in Korea and China, converging in Beijing with the Musicathlon in its final days. Musicathlon concerts ranged from orchestral programs to chamber music and solo recitals, often showcasing the national musical heritage of the participating conservatories. Alongside concerts, each conservatory offered lectures for the general public and master classes for young Beijing musicians. From Yale, horn professor William Purvis presented a master class at the Central Conservatory, and Yale faculty percussionist Robert Van Sice, with four members of Yale percussion, offered both a master class and mini-recital. The Musicathlon’s concluding event was a performance of Mahler’s Second Symphony at the National Performing Arts Center on July 24, featuring the Yale Philharmonia, members of CCOM’s orchestra and chorus, and Yale alumni singers Heather Buck '96MusM and Mary Phillips '93MusM, both on the roster of the Metropolitan Opera. CCOM faculty member Yongyan Hu, a former student of the Yale School of Music, conducted. Before that historic concert, the Philharmonia had already been in Asia for more than a week. Taking up residence in Seoul, the 92-piece orchestra spent four days with music director Shinik Hahm rehearsing its tour program of music by Bernstein, Dvorak, Beethoven, and Saint-Saens, along with three national anthems and encores based on folk tunes of the host country. The Korean encore was an arrangement by Professor Thomas C. Duffy of a folk song interwoven with “America the Beautiful,” and in China the orchestra played an arrangement of “Valley Mountain Sky” by Derrick Wang '08MusM. The Korean leg of the journey ended with a sold-out concert in the Seoul Arts Center, featuring Korean violinist Sun-Mi Chang '08MusM. The Philharmonia then traveled to Beijing where it performed its first Musicathlon concert to a sold-out house at the Forbidden City Concert Hall. Then, after the July 24 Mahler concert, the orchestra flew to Shanghai and played its fourth and final concert at the Shanghai Grand Theater. The soloist at the Forbidden City and in Shanghai was one of the school’s most prominent alumni, the internationally renowned cellist Jian Wang '88Cert.
School of Nursing Federal grant will enable study of heart monitoring Teaching nurses to make optimum use of electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring is the goal of a $3.9 million research grant awarded to Professor Marjorie Funk of Yale School of Nursing. This is the largest grant ever awarded to a researcher at YSN. The funding from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health will enable Professor Funk and her co-investigator, Professor Barbara Drew of the University of California-San Francisco School of Nursing, to conduct a five-year, 16-hospital clinical trial. The study will test the effect of implementing new practice standards for ECG monitoring. Professors Funk and Drew will provide an interactive online ECG monitoring education program they developed for nurses and use nurse “champions” in the hospital units to reinforce what the nurses learn in the online program. The long-term goal of the study is to improve nursing practices related to ECG monitoring for more accurate diagnosis and more timely treatment, which may lead to better outcomes for patients. Dean testifies before Senate on childhood diabetes and obesity Dean Margaret Grey recently testified before the U.S. Senate’s Subcommittee on Children and Families on the subject “Childhood Obesity: The Declining Health of America’s Next Generation.” “The obesity epidemic has led to an entire generation of youth developing type 2 diabetes in childhood, not in adulthood or old age as we are more used to seeing,” Dean Grey stated during her testimony. “In addition to the severe physical complications of overweight and obesity, there are complications related to quality of life, depression, and academic achievement. These complications have the potential to reduce the productivity of the next generation in the work force.” Dean Grey went on to describe some of her own research on approaches to preventing type 2 diabetes in youth, and underscored the need for more studies and funding for prevention programs, calling the need for such programs “critical.” Dean Grey’s entire testimony is available for download at http://nursing.yale.edu/News/Features/20/.
School of Public Health Lyme disease has European origins The epidemic of Lyme disease in the U.S. is caused by a bacterium that has European ancestry, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and co-authored by scientists at Yale School of Public Health. (See “The birthplace of Lyme disease.”) Some researchers had believed that the Lyme disease bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, which is less common in Europe, originated in the United States. The researchers analyzed 64 different samples of bacterial DNA from ticks collected in the field and from infected human patients at locations across Europe and the United States. A computer-generated evolutionary tree showed that European strains are more closely related to a common ancestor than are the North American strains, indicating a European origin for the Lyme disease bacterium. “Understanding the evolution of pathogens is a key epidemiological tool,” said Durland Fish, professor of epidemiology and principal investigator on the Yale research team. Bradley joins World Economic Forum An agency that monitors global health has invited Elizabeth H. Bradley, director of the Health Management Program and Global Health Initiatives at the Yale School of Public Health, to join its international advisory panel. The World Economic Forum’s Agenda Council on Healthcare Systems seeks to bring together approximately 30 specialists with a range of backgrounds to analyze global health concerns. The organization monitors and prioritizes global health issues, develops possible solutions, and is available to assist in crisis situations. The Geneva, Switzerland-based council convenes quarterly, with a summit to be held in Dubai in November. Bradley has accepted the offer, saying, “I am honored to serve in this capacity, especially as we expand Yale’s role in improving health systems globally.” Aerial spraying may curtail West Nile virus The incidence of human West Nile virus cases can be significantly reduced through large-scale aerial spraying that targets adult mosquitoes, according to research co-authored by a Yale School of Public Health student. Ryan M. Carney, an MPH/MBA student at Yale and the project’s lead researcher, examined infection rates in humans before and after planes applied an insecticide over two areas of Sacramento County, California, in 2005. The infection rate of people within the treated areas decreased significantly after spraying, compared with the rate within areas of the county that were not treated. It was the first time in state history that aerial insecticides had been applied over a large urban setting and results were available from such well-defined application areas. “Aerial [spraying] is generally the most effective manner when the density of adult mosquito populations needs to be quickly reduced,” said Carney. |
Note to Readers The Yale Alumni Magazine carries this supplement in every issue for news from Yale’s graduate and professional schools and Yale College. This supplement is underwritten by the university and is not produced by the magazine staff but provided by the schools. |
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