HISTORY MAKER Pitt trustee Herbert P. Douglas Jr. (B.S. ’48, M.Ed. ’50) was among six Pittsburghers recognized for exceptional historical contributions during the 14th Annual History Makers Award Dinner on April 28 in the Westin Convention Center Hotel. Douglas, a 1948 Olympic bronze medalist and founder of the International Amateur Athletic Association who helped to integrate Pitt’s athletic program, received the award in the “Leadership” category. While working at Schieffelin & Co., he became only the third African American vice president of a top-ranked national company. Douglas’ numerous awards include Pitt’s Bicentennial Award of Distinction. He also created two awards: the Jesse Owens International Trophy Award for the most outstanding amateur athlete and the Jesse Owens Global Award for peace.

• The University of Helsinki has awarded an honorary degree—Doctor Rerum Politicarum, honoris causa—to University Professor of Philosophy Nicholas G. Rescher at its convocation ceremony in May. It was the seventh honorary degree awarded to Rescher by universities on three continents.

Last month, Rescher was elected a Foreign Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, that country’s equivalent of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

• Phalguni Gupta, professor and vice chair of the Graduate School of Public Health’s (GSPH) Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, succeeded Meryl Karol as the school’s associate dean for academic affairs, effective July 1.

Gupta has served as the chair of the GSPH Faculty Advancement, Promotion, and Tenure Committee for the past six years and vice chair of infectious diseases and microbiology for nine years.

• Paul A. Moore is the new chair of the Department of Anesthesiology in Pitt’s School of Dental Medicine. Effective July 1, he succeeded C. Richard Bennett, who had been the department’s chair since 1971.

In the United States, more patients experience anesthesia, be it local or general, at the dentist’s office than anywhere else in the healthcare system. Numbing and sedation agents can be helpful in a variety of situations encountered in dental practice, from wisdom tooth extraction to treating anxious patients or those who have a disability that inhibits dental care in a traditional setting. The training of future practitioners in the science of anesthesiology is of critical importance for practice in any setting.

“Only a handful of dental schools have an autonomous department of anesthesiology separate from their oral surgery departments,” Moore said. “Pitt has consistently demonstrated leadership in the discipline, and I look forward to carrying on that tradition.”

• Katherine Wisner, professor of psychiatry, obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences in Pitt’s School of Medicine, is the 2006 recipient of the Robert L. Thompson Award for Community Service, given by Healthy Start of Pittsburgh/Allegheny County and Fayette County, a community-based agency focusing on improving health outcomes for disadvantaged women and their infants.

The award is named for Robert L. Thompson, Pitt associate professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive sciences in the School of Medicine and vice chair of the Healthy Start board. Thompson was instrumental in bringing the Healthy Start program to Allegheny County.

Wisner directs the Women’s Behavioral HealthCARE program at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. The program has been a significant force in efforts to combat the effects of postpartum depression and other mental illnesses by working closely with Healthy Start to train caseworkers to recognize the signs of depression and steer Healthy Start participants toward effective treatments.

• Lindsay Hilton Retchless, a 1998 alumna of the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, has been named the campus’ new director of alumni relations. Retchless will be responsible for developing and managing a comprehensive program of Pitt-Bradford alumni events along with coordinating the campus’ alumni telemarketing fundraising program.

• Jody Burgert, assistant professor of teacher education at Pitt-Bradford, has received the campus’ 2006 Chairs’ Faculty Teaching Award for excellence in teaching. The chairs of Pitt-Bradford’s five academic divisions chose Burgert for the award based on letters of recommendation, student evaluations of teaching, syllabi, and grade distribution. The chairs also considered teachers’ knowledge of subject matter and their advising and dedication in working with students outside the classroom in such activities as internships and research projects.

• The National Consortium for Teaching about Asia (NCTA) program housed in Pitt’s University Center for International Studies has been awarded a two-year, $690,000 grant from The Freeman Foundation. This NCTA regional branch— which serves Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia—is coordinated by Diana Marston Wood, who organizes seminars for secondary school teachers to encourage them to integrate East Asia into their curricula.

Pitt NCTA program has received Freeman Foundation funding for the past five years. This year’s grant money will fund a study-tour in summer 2007 as well as seminars at Pitt, Elizabethtown College, Bucknell University, and another to-be-determined university in the Baltimore area.

• The Cleveland section of the American Chemical Society has given its Edward W. Morley Award to Pitt chemistry professor Dennis Curran. The annual regional award, open to nominees in the United States and Canada within 250 miles of Cleveland, recognizes significant contributions to chemistry through research, teaching, engineering, research administration, public service, outstanding service to humanity, or industrial progress.