Newsmakers

Computational Mechanics

Radisav D. Vidic (left), Pitt professor and chair of the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering’s  Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, presents J.N. Reddy a plaque honoring him as the 2009 Landis-Epic Lecturer in Structural Engineering and Mechanics. Reddy, a Distinguished Professor at Texas A&M University, is renowned in the fields of mechanics, applied mathematics, and computational engineering. He delivered the lecture, “Modeling and Simulation of Complex Structures: From Physical to Biological Systems,” on March 20 in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium.

GLOBAL ECONOMICS

French economist Esther Duflo, whose work promotes economic growth in low-income countries, delivered a lecture on March 20 in Alumni Hall. The talk, “Experiments, Science, and the Fight Against Poverty,” was the 2009 McKay Lecture presented by the Department of Economics within Pitt’s School of Arts and Sciences.
Duflo is the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at MIT.

OBAMA ELECTION TALK

David Plouffe, the former campaign manager for President Barack Obama, spoke in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room on Feb. 23. Plouffe is now an adviser to the grassroots organization Organizing for America, which began as Obama’s campaign donation network but is now pushing for public support of the President’s budget. The event was sponsored by the Pitt Program Council.