Newsmakers

Issue Date: 
December 6, 2010
CELEBRATING INNOVATION AT PITT: William Clark (second from left), a University of Pittsburgh professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, received a Pitt Innovator Award during the University’s 2010 Celebration of Innovation Oct. 5 at the University Club. The sixth annual celebration, hosted by the Office of the Provost and Office of Technology Management, honored researchers at Pitt who, during the past year, have developed innovations with commercial potential. Of those researchers, 72 received Innovator Awards during the evening for their innovations that have been licensed or optioned to industry. Clark was part of a Pitt team that developed a device that gives cardiac patients early warning of even the slightest of heart attacks. The device, which comprises two Pitt innovations, was optioned recently to a start-up company called Telecardia. Also pictured (from left) are Arthur S. Levine, dean of Pitt’s School of Medicine and senior vice chancellor for the health sciences; Patricia E. Beeson, Pitt provost and senior vice chancellor; and Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg.CELEBRATING INNOVATION AT PITT William Clark (second from left), a University of Pittsburgh professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, received a Pitt Innovator Award during the University’s 2010 Celebration of Innovation Oct. 5 at the University Club. The sixth annual celebration, hosted by the Office of the Provost and Office of Technology Management, honored researchers at Pitt who, during the past year, have developed innovations with commercial potential. Of those researchers, 72 received Innovator Awards during the evening for their innovations that have been licensed or optioned to industry. Clark was part of a Pitt team that developed a device that gives cardiac patients early warning of even the slightest of heart attacks. The device, which comprises two Pitt innovations, was optioned recently to a start-up company called Telecardia. Also pictured (from left) are Arthur S. Levine, dean of Pitt’s School of Medicine and senior vice chancellor for the health sciences; Patricia E. Beeson, Pitt provost and senior vice chancellor; and Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg.
PITT PROUD  Eighteen Pitt College of Business Administration (CBA) students are competing in the Chevrolet Campus Promotions Program, a nationwide marketing contest. ProsInMotion, a student-based advertising agency created for CBA’s Projects in Marketing course, launched the “Dare to Be Pitt Proud” campaign to promote four Chevrolet models: the Camaro, the Equinox, the Malibu, and the new 2011 Cruze. ProsInMotion is working to raise Chevy’s visibility by showing the cars and employing the “Dare to Be” slogan at a variety of campus events, including “Dare to Be Strong” for a breast cancer fundraiser and a “Dare to Be Smart” game show. This is the sixth year that CBA students have participated in a national marketing competition; Pitt has won three of them. Pictured with Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg (standing, center) are senior marketing majors (sitting, from left) Patrica Rose, Kristi DePaul, Lauren Smith, Jade Holtzinger, Michael Maten, and Thayer Heaton; (in the second row, from left) Stephen Yen, Tara Ogunde, Aleisha Ponko, Chancellor Nordenberg, Allison Coffey, Abigail Painter, Teresa Bresticker, and Michael McDermott; (and in the back row, from left) Christian Kratsas, Kere Frey, and Andrew Burke. Not pictured are senior marketing students Blake Clawson and Matthew Higgins and the faculty member overseeing the project, Robert Gilbert, a professor of business administration in CBA and the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business.PITT PROUD Eighteen Pitt College of Business Administration (CBA) students are competing in the Chevrolet Campus Promotions Program, a nationwide marketing contest. ProsInMotion, a student-based advertising agency created for CBA’s Projects in Marketing course, launched the “Dare to Be Pitt Proud” campaign to promote four Chevrolet models: the Camaro, the Equinox, the Malibu, and the new 2011 Cruze. ProsInMotion is working to raise Chevy’s visibility by showing the cars and employing the “Dare to Be” slogan at a variety of campus events, including “Dare to Be Strong” for a breast cancer fundraiser and a “Dare to Be Smart” game show. This is the sixth year that CBA students have participated in a national marketing competition; Pitt has won three of them. Pictured with Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg (standing, center) are senior marketing majors (sitting, from left) Patrica Rose, Kristi DePaul, Lauren Smith, Jade Holtzinger, Michael Maten, and Thayer Heaton; (in the second row, from left) Stephen Yen, Tara Ogunde, Aleisha Ponko, Chancellor Nordenberg, Allison Coffey, Abigail Painter, Teresa Bresticker, and Michael McDermott; (and in the back row, from left) Christian Kratsas, Kere Frey, and Andrew Burke. Not pictured are senior marketing students Blake Clawson and Matthew Higgins and the faculty member overseeing the project, Robert Gilbert, a professor of business administration in CBA and the Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business.
MISS AMERICA VISITS PITT  Miss America 2010, Caressa Cameron (far left), participated in the Oct. 13 symposium “Reclaiming Our Youth Through Community Connections III: Focus on Girls and Young Women,” which was sponsored by the Pittsburgh-based Educating Teens About HIV/AIDS. Since she was crowned Miss America, Cameron has been a vocal proponent of education as an essential part of the fight against AIDS. Following the symposium, which was held in the Omni William Penn Hotel, Pitt Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Robert Hill hosted a reception for Cameron in the University Club. Pictured are Cameron; Albertha Graham-Ellison (EDUC ‘96G), vice president and project director of Educating Teens About HIV/AIDS; Hill; and Kezia L. Ellison, Educating Teens About HIV/AIDS founder.MISS AMERICA VISITS PITT Miss America 2010, Caressa Cameron (far left), participated in the Oct. 13 symposium “Reclaiming Our Youth Through Community Connections III: Focus on Girls and Young Women,” which was sponsored by the Pittsburgh-based Educating Teens About HIV/AIDS. Since she was crowned Miss America, Cameron has been a vocal proponent of education as an essential part of the fight against AIDS. Following the symposium, which was held in the Omni William Penn Hotel, Pitt Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Robert Hill hosted a reception for Cameron in the University Club. Pictured are Cameron; Albertha Graham-Ellison (EDUC ‘96G), vice president and project director of Educating Teens About HIV/AIDS; Hill; and Kezia L. Ellison, Educating Teens About HIV/AIDS founder.
REACHING OUT TO YOUNG DOCTORS  Pitt’s chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) held a regional conference Nov. 13 in Scaife Hall. Lynne Holden (left), president and executive director of Mentoring in Medicine, delivered the conference’s keynote luncheon address. Mentoring in Medicine aims to increase diversity in the health field and address health care disparities by providing opportunities and experience to students of color. Also pictured are second-year medical student Adia Kelly (middle), Pitt SNMA chapter president, and Chenits Pettigrew (EDUC ’76G), assistant dean in the Pitt School of Medicine’s Office of Student Affairs and Diversity Programs.REACHING OUT TO YOUNG DOCTORS Pitt’s chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA) held a regional conference Nov. 13 in Scaife Hall. Lynne Holden (left), president and executive director of Mentoring in Medicine, delivered the conference’s keynote luncheon address. Mentoring in Medicine aims to increase diversity in the health field and address health care disparities by providing opportunities and experience to students of color. Also pictured are second-year medical student Adia Kelly (middle), Pitt SNMA chapter president, and Chenits Pettigrew (EDUC ’76G), assistant dean in the Pitt School of Medicine’s Office of Student Affairs and Diversity Programs.
MAKING MEDIA ROUNDS IN INDONESIA  Andrew Weintraub (center), a Pitt professor of music, was interviewed Oct. 3 by TvOne, a privately owned Indonesian television station in East Jakarta. Speaking in Indonesian, Weintraub discussed his new book, Dangdut Stories: A Social and Musical History of Indonesia’s Most Popular Music (Oxford University Press, 2010). The first book in any language about modern Indonesia’s diverse, popular dangdut music, Dangdut Stories offers an historical treatment of the genre’s eclectic musical style, performance practice, and prominent role in Indonesia’s cultural politics. Also interviewed by TvOne was musician and songwriter Rhoma Irama (right), the self-proclaimed “King of Dangdut” and leader of the first dangdut group, established in the 1970s. Irama, whose image appears on the cover of Weintraub’s book, and his 10-piece band performed at Pitt during an October 2008 conference titled “Islam and Popular Culture in Indonesia and Malaysia.” Weintraub’s TvOne interview was one of several national TV and radio appearances he made in Indonesia in October.MAKING MEDIA ROUNDS IN INDONESIA Andrew Weintraub (center), a Pitt professor of music, was interviewed Oct. 3 by TvOne, a privately owned Indonesian television station in East Jakarta. Speaking in Indonesian, Weintraub discussed his new book, Dangdut Stories: A Social and Musical History of Indonesia’s Most Popular Music (Oxford University Press, 2010). The first book in any language about modern Indonesia’s diverse, popular dangdut music, Dangdut Stories offers an historical treatment of the genre’s eclectic musical style, performance practice, and prominent role in Indonesia’s cultural politics. Also interviewed by TvOne was musician and songwriter Rhoma Irama (right), the self-proclaimed “King of Dangdut” and leader of the first dangdut group, established in the 1970s. Irama, whose image appears on the cover of Weintraub’s book, and his 10-piece band performed at Pitt during an October 2008 conference titled “Islam and Popular Culture in Indonesia and Malaysia.” Weintraub’s TvOne interview was one of several national TV and radio appearances he made in Indonesia in October.
SEEDS OF A COLLEGE EDUCATION  Members of Pitt’s Black Action Society (BAS) met with students in University Prep 6-12, an academic magnet school in the Hill District that was formed through a partnership between the University and the Pittsburgh Public Schools. The Oct. 29 assembly was part of the Pitt African American Alumni Council’s (AAAC) Apple Seed Project, an annual community-service event during which AAAC members share their time and experience with students attending Pittsburgh Public Schools. Along with BAS, Pitt’s National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Blue and Gold Society cohosted visits to other schools on the same day.SEEDS OF A COLLEGE EDUCATION Members of Pitt’s Black Action Society (BAS) met with students in University Prep 6-12, an academic magnet school in the Hill District that was formed through a partnership between the University and the Pittsburgh Public Schools. The Oct. 29 assembly was part of the Pitt African American Alumni Council’s (AAAC) Apple Seed Project, an annual community-service event during which AAAC members share their time and experience with students attending Pittsburgh Public Schools. Along with BAS, Pitt’s National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Blue and Gold Society cohosted visits to other schools on the same day.