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Archive for June, 2010

Paul Khavari named next chair of dermatology

June 30th, 2010

PAUL KHAVARI, currently the Carl J. Herzog Professor of Dermatology and chief of the dermatology service at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, will become the chair of the Department of Dermatology at Stanford, effective July 1, succeeding AL LANE, who has served as chair of the department for the past 14 years.

Medical school Dean PHILIP PIZZO lauded Khavari’s accomplishments and Lane’s contributions in his June 28 Dean’s Newsletter.

Paul Khavari

Paul Khavari

Zachary Baker named to collection development post

June 29th, 2010

ZACHARY BAKER has been appointed to the position of assistant university librarian for collection development (humanities and social sciences) at Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources (SULAIR), effective July 1. Baker, currently the Reinhard Family Curator of Judaica and Hebraica Collections, will have a primary role in shaping the way Stanford acquires books and other research and teaching materials, as alternatives to printed books become increasingly common.

“It is with great pleasure that I announce that Zachary is accepting this critical position,” said University Librarian MICHAEL A. KELLER. “Over the past decade and more, Zachary has proved himself to be a wise and thoughtful collection builder and leader. I have great confidence in his ability to help us navigate through the undoubtedly turbulent years ahead for collections policy and practice.”

Baker, who was offered the position after a national search, will retain his role as curator of Judaica and Hebraica, which he has held since 1999.

“SULAIR offers an excellent environment to explore the new and the cutting edge, while at the same time documenting and conserving the human heritage in all its diversity,” Baker wrote in his letter of application.

With degrees from the University of Chicago, Brandeis University and the University of Minnesota, Baker came to Stanford with more than 20 years of professional experience at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, New York, and at the Jewish Public Library, Montreal, Canada. He has a reading knowledge of French, Hebrew, Spanish, Yiddish, German, Polish, Portuguese, Russian and English, and is broadly versed in the humanities and library and information policy matters. He has taught several courses at Stanford and written and participated in a broad range of scholarly and professional circles locally, nationally and abroad.

Dressed for success in Silicon Valley

June 25th, 2010

When he emerged from his motorcade at the top of the Oval in jeans, no necktie and a casual blue jacket, Russian President DMITRY MEDVEDEV was a striking contrast to those who had come to greet him. Provost JOHN ETCHEMENDY wore a dark dress suit and tie, and former Secretary of State CONDOLEEZZA RICE, political science professor and Hoover Institution senior fellow, had on an off-white pants suit and pearls. Medvedev, who had spent the morning visiting Apple, Cisco, Twitter and Yandex Labs, casually remarked that he was a bit underdressed, to which Rice replied: “It’s a college campus. It’s California. You’re dressed perfectly.”dish_medvedev_welcome

Stanford wins 16th Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup

June 24th, 2010
Men's volleyball won a national championship

Men's volleyball won a national championship

Word came late Wednesday afternoon from JIM YOUNG, sports information director, that Stanford Athletics has claimed an unprecedented 16th consecutive Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup, an annual award that recognizes the top intercollegiate athletic program in the nation.

Stanford finished with 1,508.50 points, outdistancing Florida and Virginia. After claiming national championships in the sports of men’s volleyball, women’s tennis and women’s lightweight crew-varsity eight, Stanford has won at least one NCAA team title for 34 consecutive years, an ongoing record.

Six other Stanford teams - women’s soccer, women’s basketball, women’s swimming, men’s gymnastics, women’s water polo and synchronized swimming — placed second in national championship competition.

Twenty of Stanford’s 35 intercollegiate programs finished their respective seasons ranked in the top-10 nationally, while nine teams were ranked first in the nation at some point during the year.

Read about the award and about the Cardinal’s remarkable 2009-10 year.

Speaking of sports, the most recent edition of Sandstone & Tile, the publication of the Stanford Historical Society, includes an article called “Coach HARRY MALONEY and the Genesis of the Stanford Sports Camps.”

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As anyone who works at Stanford knows, summer is a time for thousands of sports-loving kids to descend on the Farm for a wide variety of camps, many overseen by coaches and taught by Stanford athletes.

Alumnus THOMAS WYMAN, who wrote the article, believes that the forerunner of these highly successful sports camps was a once-a-week, all-boys gym program called the Saturday Morning Boys’ Class. It was run by “the grand old man of Stanford sports,” Harry Maloney, who conducted it every spring for 25 years from 1919 to 1944. Maloney Field, home to soccer and lacrosse, was named for Maloney, who coached nine sports and served as director of minor sports.

Read the article on the Stanford Historical Society website. Check out the Stanford Athletics website for a rundown of this year’s summer sports camps.

Anna Deavere Smith returns to Stanford for Grand Rounds

June 23rd, 2010
Anna Deavere Smith

Anna Deavere Smith

Former Stanford faculty member ANNA DEAVERE SMITH, starring in the hit TV series Nurse Jackie, is returning to the Farm today, Wednesday, for Grand Rounds at the School of Medicine.

PAUL COSTELLO, executive director of the School of Medicine Office of Communication and Public Affairs, writes about her visit in Scope, which was recently named “Best New Medical Weblog” in Medgadget‘s 2009 Medical Weblog Awards.

Smith taught at Stanford from 1990 to 2000, after having taught at Carnegie Mellon, Yale and New York University. While at Stanford, she was the Ann O’Day Maples Professor in the Arts.

At Grand Rounds, Smith is performing excerpts from her latest play, Let Me Down Easy, in which her characters confront profound issues of life and death. She also previewed the play in 2006 at the Roble Studio Theater.

Read more about her visit in Scope.

Junkerman elected president of Stanford Historical Society

June 22nd, 2010

Charles junkerman

Charles Junkerman

CHARLES JUNKERMAN, associate provost and dean of continuing studies, has been elected president of the Stanford Historical Society, succeeding TESSA BAKER-DEGLER.

At its May meeting, the society also elected four new members to its board of directors. They are GARY CAVALLI, a Stanford graduate who is a sports executive in the Bay Area; LAURA JONES, director of heritage services for the university department of Land, Buildings and Real Estate; PETER STANSKY, the Frances and Charles Field Professor of History, Emeritus; and KATHY TOY, a Stanford graduate who served as the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation’s first executive director and now works at the Stanford Alumni Association.

The society plans to sponsor the following programs in the coming year:

Oct. 13: Stanford Water—Past, Present and Future
Nov. 10: Native Americans at Stanford
January: Jewish Life at Stanford
Feb. 9: A History of the Psychology Department at Stanford
March/April: The Stanfords’ 1872 Ball in Sacramento
April: Annual Historic House and Garden Tour
May: Annual Meeting, featuring a panel on World War II and its impact on women at Stanford

Members and nonmembers are welcome at all programs. For more information, visit the Stanford Historical Society website.

Anne Hannigan retiring as associate vice president

June 21st, 2010
Anne Hannigan

Anne Hannigan

ANNE HANNIGAN, associate vice president for research administration, is retiring after 28 years at Stanford. Hannigan served in leadership roles in three schools and in the university’s central administration. Beginning Aug. 1, Hannigan will work half time until the selection of her successor.

RANDY LIVINGSTON, vice president for business affairs and chief financial officer, said this in an announcement of Hannigan’s retirement:

“She started in 1982 in the School of Medicine as division administrator for General Internal Medicine, then became director of the offices of Student Affairs and Medical Education. From 1984 to 1993, Anne was associate dean for administration in the School of Education. She then moved to the School of Engineering for 10 years as senior associate dean for administration under Deans JIM GIBBONS, JOHN HENNESSY and JIM PLUMMER. In 2003, Anne assumed responsibility for the Office of Research Administration.

“Throughout her time at Stanford, Anne has led or served on numerous committees, task forces and special projects within the university and through national higher education organizations. Most recently, she was appointed to the board of the National Council on Governmental Relations.

“During her time in ORA, Anne has set a vision for transforming the processes that support the research enterprise and begun the implementation of the Stanford Electronic Research Administration (SeRA) system. The first module of SeRA, an electronic proposal and routing form, was introduced to campus in January 2010. Between now and the end of this year, research administration files will be scanned and made available to the entire research community, and a PI workbench will be in place so that investigators can track the status of their projects. All central office processes are being redesigned for greater efficiency as they move into electronic form.”

He added, “I am very grateful for all Anne has contributed to Stanford over the past 28 years and for her consistent dedication.”

Livingston and ANN ARVIN, vice provost and dean of research, will co-chair the search committee for Hannigan’s successor.

R&DE’s Stepping Stones to Success graduates 29

June 17th, 2010
Stepping Stones to Success honored 29 staff members

Stepping Stones to Success honored 29 staff members

Twenty-nine Residential and Dining Enterprises (R&DE) staff members were honored last week during a Stepping Stones to Success graduation ceremony.

Under the program, headed by CHRISTINE GABALI, staff members are tutored in English and computer literacy. SHIRLEY EVERETT, senior associate vice provost for R&DE, reports that one of the employees, ANTONIO SEGOVIA GUTIERREZ, said in his speech, “When I started I could only say ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ and now I’m giving a speech.”

Stepping Stones to Success also partners with the Tutoring for Community Program, where staff members’ children are tutored on campus by Stanford students at the Haas Center for Public Service.

Commencement slideshow: Vikings, sunbathers, the Tree and more

June 16th, 2010
comm_vikes

Toby Gerhart, Andrew Clauson and Cory Bannister celebrated Commencement as vikings during the Wacky Walk. Click on the photo for the full slideshow.

LINDA CICERO, university photographer, has captured the romp and circumstance of Commencement in a slideshow. This year’s highlights include TOBY GERHART, now playing football for Minnesota, dressed in more traditional viking gear. According to the Associated Press, Gerhart finished his finals last Tuesday, went to minicamp for a couple of days, then flew back to the Farm for Commencement. Others featured in the slideshow include the Class of 2010′s RUBY GARRETT playing a game of duck, duck, goose, bathing beauties waving to their families in the stands and more.

Elizabeth Hadly receives the 2010 Allan V. Cox Medal

June 15th, 2010

ELIZABETH HADLY, professor of biology, has received the 2010 Allan V. Cox Medal, which is awarded annually to a faculty member who has established a record of excellence directing undergraduate research.

The medal was presented by RICHARD SALLER, dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences, during the Department of Biology‘s diploma ceremony on Sunday, June 13.

The citation for Hadly’s award recognized her for “exemplifying the passion for research; for her dedication to cultivating undergraduate research; for fostering a spirit of inquisitiveness and creativity in a collegial setting; for mentoring and encouraging students, particularly young women in the sciences, and enabling them to enter into the community of scholars; for setting the highest standards of intellectual exchange and development in her classroom and lab, and providing her students with unstinting support; for nurturing the ambitions and professional development of junior scientists, helping them to become original contributors to the field, and inspiring them to excel at Stanford and beyond.”

According to its website, the Hadly Lab researches prehistoric and modern vertebrate ecology and evolution, particularly studying the response of animals to climatic change using genetic, morphological, community and geochemical analyses.

The Cox award was established in memory of the late Allan Cox, a professor of geophysics and dean of the School of Earth Sciences. He is widely known as the co-discoverer of magnetic field reversals.