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Maryland Moments, March, 2002 Towards Being Best: Rankings, Numbers, Appointments, New Programs
Dennis O'Connor was appointed vice president of research and dean of the graduate school. Before coming to Washington to serve as under secretary for science at the Smithsonian, he was chancellor and vice-chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh and vice chancellor of academic affairs and provost at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
William E. Kirwan, the former president of the University of Maryland, College Park (1988 to 1998) accepted the chancellorship of the University System of Maryland, leaving Ohio State where he was president for four years. Kirwan came to Maryland in 1965, where he also served as a mathematics professor, department head and provost. The Robert H. Smith School of Business joined the Naval Postgraduate School to offer military personnel in Maryland a defense-focused master's degree to be offered at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington.
The university conducted a televised bridge link between it and Tashkent State Agricultural University recently while that nation's president was visiting the U.S. Maryland is working with the government of Uzbekistan to create the central Asian country's first virtual university.
The first U.S. News & World Report College Sports Honor Roll recognized Maryland's athletics department as being one of the 20 best in the nation. Schools were evaluated on compliance with NCAA rules, gender equity, win/loss records, number of athletic programs and graduation rates. The only Atlantic Coast Conference school to make the list with Maryland was Duke University.
U.S. News & World Report ranked the schools best complying with gender equity standards. Maryland was ranked 15th in a list of top 20 schools. The only other Atlantic Coast Conference school to make the list is the Georgia Institute of Technology. Faculty, Student Achievement
The American Physical Society presented Roald Sagdeev, a distinguished university professor of physics and director of the East West Space Science Center, with its James Clerk Maxwell Prize for contributions to modern plasma theory.
Institute Inderjit Chopra, Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Professor and director of the Gessow Rotorcraft Center in aerospace engineering, received the American Institute of Astronautics and Aeronautics Structures, Structural Dynamics and Materials Award for 2002. The award is for outstanding technical or scientific contributions in aerospace structures, structural dynamics or materials.
Doctoral student in music Robert Henry tied for first at the Washington International Competition for Pianists, while second place went to fellow Maryland student Ralitza Patcheva. Henry won a similar competition in New Orleans last summer. He is taught by Larissa Dedova, an associate professor who is an internationally acclaimed artist herself. Research, Signifcant Discoveries UM students poured the foundation for a totally sun-powered house that will be moved to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in September for the first-ever Solar Decathlon sponsored by the Department of Energy. Solar power is to do everything from heating water to powering a home office and an electric car.
The Human-Computer Interaction Laboratory and the Internet Archive created a Web site that has 100,000 works of children's literature online.
The campus's National Language Center, which has campaigned for more U.S. linguists to be deployed in defense against terrorists, oversees a department of defense initiative. The National Security Education Program's Advanced Language Institutional Grant competition is a pilot program to cut the shortage of those who can speak languages and dialects in a world changed by terrorists. Outreach: Campus People Aiding The Community
More than 400 students from 42 Maryland elementary and middle schools competed in the 10th annual Black Saga Competition at the university, March 23. The contest was begun and continues to be led by urban geography professor Charles Christian. Newsmakers: University People Earning Media Attention
Antonio Busalacchi, professor of meteorology, attended a meeting of the world's weather experts in Australia where a warning was issued concerning an El Nino developing in the Pacific Ocean. Busalacchi was quoted in the world press that the upcoming weather phenomenon will not be as serious as four years ago.
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