Author: khintz

KNOXVILLE — Student organizations at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, will commemorate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., on Monday, Jan. 18, with a celebration titled Carrying On the Dream.

Beginning at 4 p.m. in the University Center Auditorium, the event will feature performances from many student organizations including the Love United Gospel Choir, Strange Fruit on Stage Productions, the Ice Cold Experience (I.C.E.) Jazz Quartet, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity and many more. During the “Reflections from the Generations” segment, audience members will hear personal stories of King’s impact from students, faculty and staff.

Carrying On the Dream is free and open to the public. A reception will follow in the University Center Ballroom.

The event is sponsored by the Black Cultural Programming Committee within the Office of Minority Student Affairs. Founded in 1979, the committee aims to develop programs and activities that enhance public awareness of African-Americans and their accomplishments, encourage the interaction and unity of African-American students, provide opportunities for African-American students to be actively involved in the academic and local communities and serve as a catalyst to motivate African American students’ self-development, discovery and esteem during their educational careers at the university.

For more information or disability accommodations, contact the Office of Minority Student Affairs at 865-974-6861.

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C O N T A C T :

Rebekah Winkler (865-974-8304, [email protected])

Demetrius Richmond (865-974-6861, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — It’s not thinking in the way humans, dogs or even birds think, but new findings from researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, show that bacteria are more capable of complex decision-making than previously known.

The discovery sets a landmark in research to understand the way bacteria are able to respond and adapt to changes in their environment, a trait shared by nearly all living things, and it could lead to innovations in fields from medicine to agriculture.

In the long-term, the researchers think that scientists will be able to take these findings and use them to tailor medicines in new ways to fight harmful bacteria or to find enhanced ways to use bacteria in agricultural or other applications.

The findings are published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a top academic journal.

Biology typically looks at the common bacteria Escherichia coli as the model for bacteria’s ability to move actively and independently, but Gladys Alexandre, an associate professor of biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology at UT Knoxville, decided to look at the more complex soil bacterium, Azospirillum brasilense.

“As bacteria’s ability to make decisions goes, E. coli is kind of dumb, which makes it easy for researchers to study sensing and information processing — essentially, decision making — in this bacterium,” says Alexandre.

It helps to understand the way that bacteria “think”. Their cells contain a number of receptors, and each one affects a certain behavior or trait in the bacteria, for example where to move, how to function, even whether to become virulent. The advent of genetic sequencing means we know more about how many receptors bacteria have, and the more receptors, the more ways a bacterium has to sense its surroundings.

E. coli has only five receptors that direct its decision-making process about movement, while Azospirillum brasilense has 48, making it comparatively much “smarter” in its ability to detect changes in its environments and as a result, to make complex decisions regarding where to move.

What scientists have not known and have been unable to study until now is how the individual receptors, by sensing their environment, directly affect the bacteria’s behavior and ability to adapt to their environment. Alexandre’s study is one of the first to isolate and study a receptor in this way.

She and her colleagues focused on a receptor they suspected was related to the way bacteria convert nitrogen gas from the atmosphere into a form — ammonium — that can be used by all organisms. This ability is called nitrogen fixation and while it is uniquely found in bacteria, it is critically important to all living organisms, as it is the only way nitrogen can eventually be incorporated into building blocks of cells.

The process is carried out by an enzyme which is damaged in the presence of high concentrations of oxygen, which presents a dilemma for the bacterium, as the energy needed for the process is usually acquired in the presence of oxygen.

When Alexandre and her team created mutant versions of the bacteria without the receptor, the mutant bacteria were unable to detect where the right position in oxygen concentration was, affecting the nitrogen fixation reaction. In other words, the mutant bacteria were somewhat “blind” and could not detect the right position, showing them their hunch was correct about the receptor’s purpose. But their curiosity expanded: if they were able to uncover the receptor’s purpose, would they be able to figure out exactly how it functioned?

For that, they enlisted the help of UT-Oak Ridge National Laboratory distinguished scientist Igor Jouline, an expert in carrying out complex computations of biological systems, such as the one governing the receptor at the heart of Alexandre’s research. Working with Alexandre’s data, Jouline was able to generate a model of the receptor’s structure and compare it to other structures on a nearly atom-by-atom basis.

This enabled them to predict which one of the more than 100 amino acids in the sensory part of the receptor is responsible for sensing the precise oxygen concentration that this bacterium needs for nitrogen fixation. It’s a process that, using normal genetic techniques, would have taken a substantial commitment of hours and resources, but was made simpler and less labor-intensive by using computing.

Alexandre hopes that other scientists and researchers can use a similar technique to look at receptor sites on other bacteria of interest. She noted that the ability to work with Jouline and with the resources available through UT Knoxville’s partnership with ORNL was key to her discovery.

“Partnering with Igor provided us great insight,” said Alexandre. “We would not have been able to fully understand how this receptor works without him.”

Alexandre says there’s good long-term potential for the knowledge gained in the study.

“We see now that bacteria are, in their way, big thinkers, and by knowing how they ‘feel’ about the environment around them, we can look at new and different ways to work with them.”

The paper, titled “A PAS-domain containing chemoreceptor couples dynamic changes in metabolism and chemotaxis,” will be published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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C O N T A C T :

Jay Mayfield (865-974-9409, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — State Tax Notes magazine recently printed a list of the most influential people in the state and local tax world during the past 10 years.

Bill Fox, director and professor of economics at the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is part of that all-decade team.

State Tax Notes is a product of Tax Analysts, the nonprofit publisher of other print and online tax publications.

To read the story about the all-decade team, go to Tax Analysts’ Web site.

Others on the list were Michael Mazerov, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities; Art Rosen, partner with McDermott, Will and Emery; Kendall Houghton, partner with Baker & McKenzie; Douglas L. Lindholm, president and executive director of the Council on State Taxation; June Summers Haas, partner with Honigman, Miller, Schwartz and Cohn LLP; Billy Hamilton, author of the State Tax Notes column “State Tax Merry-Go-Round”; Walter Hellerstein, the University of Georgia’s Francis Shackelford Distinguished Professor in Taxation Law; Nicholas Johnson, director of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ State Fiscal Project; Joan Youngman, senior fellow at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; Richard D. Pomp, the University of Connecticut’s Alva P. Loiselle Professor of Law; Paul H. Frankel, partner with Morrison & Foerster LLP; Robert Cline, Ernst & Young’s national director of state and local tax policy economics; Harley Duncan, managing director of Washington National Tax at KPMG LLP; and John A. Swain, associate professor with the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — The Len & Laura Berlik Foundation Inc., a private foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life in communities important to the Berlik family, has made a generous gift to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Business Administration to support technology in the college’s James A. Haslam II Business Building.

“The effective use of technology is critical if you want to compete in today’s global marketplace,” Berlik said. “The Haslam Business Building is a tremendous facility, and we hope that our gift will enable the college to remain on the leading edge.”

The Berlik gift is part of the Campaign for Tennessee, the university’s $1 billion fundraising effort.

Len Berlik has strong ties to the College of Business Administration. Graduating in 1969 with honors, he credits the college with jumpstarting his business career.

“The most vivid memory of my college experience is being a co-op student,” he said. “At that time, co-op was fairly common in engineering, but not in business. UT had one of the few co-op programs in the country for business students.

“For three years, I worked with Supermarkets General Corp. in New Jersey, alternating work quarters with study quarters. The business experience was great, but the real benefit was in the experience of living and working on my own. The program also extended my horizons beyond Tennessee, resulting in a career that took me and my family all around the world.”

After graduation, Berlik served in the U.S. Army Reserve before starting his 40-year career in the chemical industry. He worked for Monsanto, National Starch and Imperial Chemical Industries PLC, living and working throughout Europe and Asia. Since 2007, he has been a management consultant, primarily working with private equity firms that invest in the chemical industry.

Berlik has returned to campus as a guest lecturer in international business and global strategy classes and in the college’s Executive-In-Residence program, which provides business professionals the opportunity to interact with the college’s top undergraduate and graduate students.

“It is my strong belief that graduates who have enjoyed successful careers should share that success with the institution that provided the basic skills to launch their journey,” Berlik said. “This is particularly important in a time when public funding is declining. I hope that our gift will inspire students to broaden their horizons and consider international business and manufacturing as a very rewarding career choice.”

The Campaign for Tennessee — the most ambitious effort in the university’s 214-year history — places UT among the ranks of the nation’s largest public and private institutions that have sought this level of private support.

The campaign, which launched its silent phase in 2005, will secure private gifts that, in turn, will contribute substantially to the distinct, but linked, campuses in the UT system. Funds raised through the campaign will directly support the objectives of UT’s strategic plan. Among those objectives are improved student access and success, research and economic development, outreach and globalization.

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C O N T A C T :

Cindy Raines (865-974-4359, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — A $1 million grant to study the value of academic libraries to students, faculty, policymakers, funders and others has been awarded by Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in collaboration with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Libraries and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL).

Carol Tenopir, a professor in the School of Information Sciences, is the lead investigator on the project. Former UT Dean of Libraries Paula Kaufman, now university librarian and dean of libraries at the University of Illinois, is a co-principal investigator; and Martha Kyrillidou, senior director for statistics and service quality programs, is leading the project from ARL.

The three-year grant, entitled “Value, Outcomes, and Return on Investment of Academic Libraries (Lib-Value),” will work to enrich, expand, test and implement methodologies measuring the return on investment (ROI) in academic libraries.

“There is an increasing need for academic librarians to demonstrate the return on investment and value of the library to the various stakeholders of the institution and to guide library management in the redirection of library funds to important products and services for the future,” Tenopir said.

Academic libraries actively participate in the many changes in scholarship, such as the move to e-science, collaborative and participatory scholarship, and focus on new materials such as data, multimedia and born-digital assets, Tenopir said. To remain relevant and central to the academic mission in the future, academic librarians need to be able to demonstrate the value that the academic library provides to the campus community using proven methods of measurement that will allow librarians to determine where their efforts should be concentrated and how funding should be allocated.

The results of the study will provide evidence and a set of tested methodologies and tools to help academic librarians demonstrate how the academic library provides value to its constituents and ROI to its funders, and to measure which products and services are of most value to enhancing the university’s mission. This project will greatly expand upon earlier studies to consider multiple measures of value that the academic library brings to teaching/learning, research, and social/professional/public engagement functions of the academic institution.

To ensure that the process will be rigorous, realistic and highly visible in the academic library and university community, an experienced team of academic librarians and outstanding researchers will bring their leadership to the project. Two well-known researchers in the library field will serve as consultants: Bruce Kingma, an economist at Syracuse University, and Donald W. King, a statistician at the University of North Carolina at Chapel-Hill. Additional project participants include: Gayle Baker, Ken Wise, Rachel Fleming-May, Regina Mays, Crystal Sherline, and Andrea Baer of UT Knoxville; Tina Chrzastowski of the University of Illinois; and Henry Gross, Gary Roebuck and David Green of ARL.

The project is also engaging an advisory committee of noted information science researchers: José-Marie Griffiths of UNC-Chapel Hill, and Michael Koenig of Long Island University; academic library directors Carol Mandel of New York University, and Colleen Cook of Texas A&M; consultants Judy Luther and Joseph Matthews; and economists George Deltas of the University of Illinois, and Nicolas Flores of University of Colorado.

ARL is a nonprofit organization of 124 research libraries in North America. Its mission is to influence the changing environment of scholarly communication and the public policies that affect research libraries and the diverse communities they serve. ARL is on the Web at http://www.arl.org/.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has long ranked among the nation’s most distinguished teaching and research institutions. Its diverse, world-class programs reflect the mission of a comprehensive, land-grant university. The largest public university in Illinois, the campus was chartered by the state in 1867 as the Illinois Industrial University and opened its doors to students in 1868. For more information about the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, please visit http://www.illinois.edu.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Now more than ever, parents and students want strong academics at an affordable price when it comes to choosing a college education.

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, offers just that according to The Princeton Review’s “Best Value Colleges for 2010″ list released today, which ranks the university among the 50 best values in higher education in the country.

The Princeton Review ranks American colleges based on undergraduate academics, affordability and financial aid for the “best value” list. The 50 public and 50 private colleges and universities were selected from among more than 650 public and private colleges and universities.

“We are proud to be nationally recognized for the value that a UT Knoxville education provides to students,” said Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek. “From our merit and need-based scholarship programs to the support we give to help students maintain their scholarships and achieve, we deliver a first-rate academic and collegiate experience at a great value.”

The Princeton Review is a New York City-based education services company known for its test-prep courses, college and graduate school admission services, books and education programs. The company is also known for its annual college, business and law school rankings.

The Princeton Review describes UT Knoxville’s “dynamic campus” as having a “vibrant academic atmosphere located in one of the country’s best and most eclectic college towns.” Several of UT Knoxville’s nationally recognized programs are mentioned, including business administration and education. The profile also highlights the campus’ research facilities as being “among the best in the country” and that with such a diverse student life, “everyone is bound to find his or her own niche.”

UT Knoxville also is recognized for strong financial aid support.

The HOPE Scholarship is available to Tennessee high school graduates who earn at least a 21 on their ACT and have an overall weighted grade-point average of 3.0 or better. About 95 percent of UT Knoxville’s in-state freshmen received the HOPE Scholarship in 2009.

In recent years, UT Knoxville has created several need-based scholarship programs that supplement the HOPE Scholarship and help ensure that money isn’t a stumbling block for academically eligible students who want to attend.

The Tennessee Pledge scholarships help students from low-income families attend the university and allow those students to graduate debt-free by paying for mandatory college costs not covered by other federal or state aid. The Tennessee Promise scholarships target students from high schools that have not traditionally sent many of their graduates to UT Knoxville.

In addition, the university has launched the “Achieve the Dream” program that makes grant money available to Tennessee students from lower-middle-income families whose incomes are too high to qualify them for Pell grants or the Pledge scholarship, but who still need financial help with college costs.

Again this year, The Princeton Review teamed up with USA Today to present its “best value” colleges list. Previously, the list was reported on its Web site and in its book, “America’s Best Value Colleges.”

The Best Value Colleges for 2010 rankings are available online.

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C O N T A C T :

Kristi Hintz (865-974-3993, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE – A. Scott Pearson, author and University of Tennessee, Knoxville, alumnus, will be the featured speaker at an event sponsored by the UT Office of Alumni Affairs and the Alumni Association Knox County Chapter. The event will take place on Wednesday, February 3 at 7 p.m. in the Hodges Library Auditorium on UT’s campus.

Pearson will discuss his first novel, “Rupture,” a medical thriller set in Memphis. A book signing will take place after the event, and Pearson’s book will be on sale. The meeting is free and open to the public. Guests are responsible for their parking.

The fictional book tells the story of a doctor on the cusp of a groundbreaking discovery. While investigating the suspicious death of a patient, he uncovers a “web of lies spun by his late father, a longtime professor of anatomy at Mid-South Medical College in Memphis.”

A West Tennessee native, Pearson received his undergraduate degree from UT Knoxville before receiving his medical degree at UT Health Science Center. For the last 10 years, he has been a member of the surgical faculty at Vanderbilt University, specializing in cancer research and the clinical practice of surgery and teaching the importance of the patient’s narrative in medicine.

The visit is part of the Accomplished Alumni program, which brings noteworthy alumni back to campus to honor their accomplishments and gives them an opportunity to share their stories, talents and career experiences with students and other alumni.

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C O N T A C T :

Beth Gladden (865-974-9008, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Melanie Deaderick spent much of her career working in various kinds of science laboratories.

But after leaving that work and spending several years caring for aging parents, she was ready for a change.

“I wanted to use the other part of my brain,” she said. “I wanted to do something for me.”

After watching a chefs’ cook-off at the Market Square Farmer’s Market, she decided that cooking was her new recipe for life.

Deaderick is one of 19 students who will graduate tonight from the Culinary Institute at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. This is the institute’s sixth graduating class.

The graduation — which consists of the students cooking a gourmet dinner for 150 invited guests — will be held at 7 p.m. at the UT Visitors Center near the corner of Neyland Drive and Kingston Pike.

“This is no ordinary graduation, because the students have to prepare their ‘final exam,’” said John Antun, founding director of the Culinary Institute and assistant professor of hotel, restaurant and tourism management. Antun, a certified executive chef with a doctorate in higher education administration, has spent more than 40 years in the hospitality industry and opened and operated four successful restaurants in the New York metropolitan area.

“The 19 graduating students worked on designing an elaborate culinary experience for their guests of the graduation and their instructors. This gave them the opportunity to not only prepare a fine meal, but also to show off to their friends and families,” Antun said.

The Culinary Institute provides students with professional culinary instruction. Appealing to both food service professionals and epicureans like Deaderick, the 10-month program, offered by the Department of Retail, Hospitality and Tourism Management of the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, covers topics including safety and sanitation, the art of tasting, knife skills and ice sculpting.

Students who complete the program receive a credentialing Certificate in Culinary Arts and the ServSafe Food Service Sanitation certification, valid for five years.

Deaderick said attending the Culinary Institute has changed the way she looks at restaurants, at grocery stores and at food. She’s started up an Ethnic Restaurant Adventures group that tries out a new restaurant every month and she’s joined the “slow food movement,” a group dedicated to counteracting fast food and fast life.

“I want to become a better baker, a food teacher, a food writer,” she said.

Here are the students graduating from the Culinary Institute tonight:

• David Bird, Knoxville
• Cody Boring, Maryville
• Thomas Brackin, hometown not listed
• Robert E. Cook, Farragut
• Melanie Deaderick, Knoxville
• Kyle Korn, Vonore
• Megan Lochridge, Knoxville
• Melinda Moore, Knoxville
• Robert Morgan, Knoxville
• Amie Phillips, Caryville
• Paul J. Predhomme, Oak Ridge
• Justin Reese, Knoxville
• Lindsey Reynolds, Powell
• Robert E. Robinson, Knoxville
• Drew Rout, Knoxville
• Jenna Smith, Franklin, N.C.
• Daniel Thomason, Knoxville
• Robert B. Thompson, Knoxville
• Shannon F. Welch, Knoxville

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Did you resolve to read more in 2010?

If so, here are three books you might want to add to your list. These books will be featured in several upcoming events at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and in the Knoxville community.

“Justice as Fairness” by John Rawls

John Rawls’ work gives Americans a shared framework for public deliberation and reasoned judgment about the most pressing political issues that we face: guarding our basic constitutional liberties, creating and maintaining equal opportunity, and the interplay between economics and social cooperation for the common good. Without this shared framework, American citizens may find political life dominated by dogmatic fanaticism and apathetic resignation.

UT’s Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy, in partnership with the Knox County Public Library, will sponsor five group discussions of Rawls’ book. Led by UT faculty members, the sessions will meet from 6 to 8 p.m. on Mondays in the Toyota Auditorium at the Baker Center, 1640 Cumberland Ave., on the UT campus:

• Jan. 25, Part 1: Fundamental Ideas, led by Joe Cook, College of Law
• Feb. 1, Part 2: Principles of Justice, led by Otis Stephens, College of Law
• Feb. 8, Part 3: The Argument from the Original Position, led by Iris Goodwin, College of Law
• Feb. 15, Part 4: Institutions of a Just Basic Structure, led by Matt Deaton, Department of Philosophy
• Feb. 22, Part 5: The Question of Stability, led by David Reidy, Department of Philosophy

Then, on Feb. 26 and 27, the Baker Center will host a two-day symposium, “Rawlsian Liberalism in Context(s).”

“Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water” by Maude Barlow

An author and activist, Barlow is national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, as well as senior adviser on water to the United Nations where she provides counsel to Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockman, president of the General Assembly. She also chairs the board of Washington-based Food and Water Watch and is a councilor with the Hamburg-based World Future Council.

Barlow’s book will be the centerpiece in several activities being sponsored by UT’s Baker Center in partnership with The Tennessee Clean Water Network, the Knox County Public Library and the Institute for a Secure and Sustainable Environment.

On Jan. 31, a free showing of the award-winning film “Blue Gold: World Water Wars” begins at 4:30 p.m. in the Baker Center’s Toyota Auditorium. Barlow appears in the film.

On Feb. 2, the public is invited to the “Brown Bag, Green Book” series to discuss Barlow’s book, “Blue Covenant,” from noon to 1 p.m. in the auditorium of the East Tennessee History Center, 601 Gay St. The discussion will be led by Renee Hoyos from the Tennessee Clean Water Network; Joanne Logan from the UT’s Department of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science; and Tiffany Foster from the Tennessee Valley Authority.

On Feb. 3, Barlow will speak at 7 p.m. in the Baker Center’s Toyota Auditorium.

“Let Us Now Praise Famous Men” by James Agee and Walker Evans

In 1936, Agee, the author, and Evans, the photographer, were on an assignment for Fortune magazine to write about sharecroppers in the South. Their work culminated in this book of stories and photos that provides a picture of life in the 1930s.

The book will be used in the first of three mini-summits to be held this spring at UT to look at various aspects of poverty, as well as work being done at UT Knoxville in these areas. Ready for the World, UT’s international and intercultural initiative, has devoted this academic year to “Our World in Need” with a particular emphasis on the issue of poverty.

The first mini-summit — “Baldwin Lee, James Agee and Walker Evans: Photography, Poverty, Politics in the South and Abroad” — will be held Feb. 4 and 11. That summit will include a day of presentations and discussions regarding themes in “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men,” as well as a day looking at the photographs of UT Professor Baldwin Lee, who toured the South taking photographs in the 1980s.

This mini-summit is being sponsored by the Provost’s Office; Ready for the World; the Baker Center; UT Libraries; the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences; the Council on Academic Outreach and Engagement; the School of Art; and the Knox County Public Library.

For further information about each of these events, go to http://bakercenter.utk.edu, or e-mail Amy Gibson at

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — The Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is seeking high-achieving, rising juniors and seniors interested in public policy, politics, government and public service. Exceptional rising sophomores will be considered on a case by case basis with a very strong recommendation from a UT faculty member.

Baker Scholars attend Baker Center events throughout the year and assist with promotion of these events to peers and faculty. The scholars also complete a project, prepare an end-of-the-year summary of the project and participate in the end-of-the-year Baker Scholar Symposium and celebration dinner.

All applications are due at the Baker Center, 1640 Cumberland Ave., by 5 p.m. Feb. 1. Applications are available on the Baker Center website.

All new applicants must be enrolled at UT Knoxville for at least a full academic year (fall 2010 to spring 2011) and not enrolled in semester abroad, to be considered for this program. Successful applicants typically have a GPA of 3.35 or above.

This is a one-year appointment subject to renewal annually. The number of Baker Scholars is limited; selection is a competitive process. Baker Scholars will be chosen based on their application, academic history, UT faculty appraisal and an interview with the selection committee.

Interviews with finalists will be held between Feb. 17 and March 4.

Students chosen to be scholars will be notified on March 5. For more information, contact Gavin Luter at [email protected] or 974-1462.

C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Two instructors at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, College of Architecture and Design were honored recently by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) for their academic work.

Tricia Stuth, an associate professor, was one of only three architecture faculty in the country recognized by the ACSA and the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) with the 2009-2010 New Faculty Teaching Award. Avigail Sachs, an instructor in the School of Architecture, was recognized by the ACSA, along with the Journal of Architectural Education (JAE), with the 2009-2010 Journal of Architectural Education Best Scholarship of Design Article Award.

Stuth’s award is given annually to faculty who have demonstrated excellence in teaching performance during the formative years of their architectural teaching career.

“I am honored to receive this award and grateful to teach at a college and university that value teaching excellence,” Stuth said. “The award reflects the quality of our institution, and the faculty and students with whom I teach and research.”

Stuth, a registered architect in Tennessee, is a partner at the firm CURB and a member of Applied Research, with fellow faculty members Ted Shelton, Katherine Ambroziak and Brian Ambroziak. Her work, research and teaching focus on connections between design and context.

Sachs was recognized for her article “The Postwar Legacy of Architectural Research.” Each year, the ACSA and JAE honor an outstanding article published in the journal.

“For me this is not only an honor but also an indication that what I have to say matters to people, which was the reason I wrote it to begin with,” Sachs said of her article. “As someone who has just finished her Ph.D. and is in her first teaching job, it is a great encouragement to keep up with the career I have chosen.”

Sachs specializes in the history and theory of architecture and environmental design, architecture education and professional practice. She also focuses on project management and building supervision.

Recipients of the ACSA awards are recognized as important contributors to the architecture field, according to ACSA President Tom Fisher.

“The new faculty teaching award winners, as well as many of those who won design, creative achievement, collaborative practice, housing design and JAE article awards, exemplify the best young talent in our field,” Fisher said. “Their work demonstrates the degree to which our discipline remains responsive to and speculative about many of the major challenges of our time.”

Stuth and Sachs will attend the 98th ACSA Annual Meeting in March 2010 in New Orleans for the presentation of their awards. Their recognitions also will be featured in ACSA’s 2010 Architectural Education Awards Book. For more information on their awards, visit https://www.acsa-arch.org/Newsletters/view.aspx?ID=55.

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C O N T A C T :

Kristi Hintz (865-974-3993, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — For the second year in a row, the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has more new fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) than any other university in the South.

AAAS has named 11 UT Knoxville faculty members to the 2010 class of fellows. Ten of the new fellows hail from the College of Arts and Sciences and one from the College of Engineering.

In addition to once again besting all other regional universities, UT Knoxville has the second most new AAAS Fellows nationally, tied with Cornell University. Ohio State has the most new fellows with 17.

“These new fellows exemplify our campus’ leadership in research, science and engineering,” said UT Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek. “Their bodies of work and leadership in their respective fields have placed them among the nation’s best, and we’re proud of their accomplishments.”

AAAS is one of the largest scientific organizations in the world, serving more than 200 individual science societies with more than 10 million members. It also publishes the prestigious journal Science.

Fellows must be nominated to membership either by three current fellows, the CEO of AAAS, or by the leaders of their specific section of AAAS. Nominations are subject to approval by the AAAS Council. The first class of fellows was named in 1874.

The appointment of 11 new AAAS Fellows gives UT Knoxville a total of 28.

The newly honored fellows, and the citations on their awards, are:

– Robert Norman Compton, professor of chemistry: For distinguished contributions to the understanding of negative ions and nonlinear laser spectroscopy.

– Elbio R. Dagotto, distinguished professor of physics: For distinguished contributions to the field of theoretical and computational condensed matter physics.

– Narendra B. Dahotre, professor of materials science and engineering: For outstanding contributions to research and development and teaching of science and technology of laser materials processing and surface engineering.

– Carol P. Harden, professor of geography: For distinguished contributions to geographic understanding of land-use change and watershed processes, and as vice president and president of the Association of American Geographers.

– Suzanne Lenhart, professor of mathematics: For distinguished contributions to the field of optimal control and modeling of biological and physical applications and to education, service and outreach activities.

– Brent S. Mallinckrodt, professor of psychology: For distinguished contribution to the field of psychotherapy research and health psychology and as editor of the Journal of Counseling Psychology.

– Gary Frederick McCracken, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology and director of the Center for Environmental Biotechnology: For distinguished contributions to the fields of population biology, ecology and conservation biology with regard to the knowledge of bats.

– Witold Nazarewicz, professor of physics: For distinguished contributions to the field of theoretical nuclear structure.

– Cynthia B. Peterson, professor and department head, biochemistry and cellular and molecular biology: For promoting biophysical approaches to study the physiology of coagulation and fibrinolysis and for advancing interdisciplinary education at the interface of computational and biological sciences.

– Michael J. Sepaniak, professor of chemistry: For the advancement of the fundamental understanding and the practical implementation of diverse methods of microchemical analysis.

– Lawrence A. Taylor, professor of earth and planetary sciences: For distinguished contributions to the field of planetary geochemistry.

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C O N T A C T :

Jay Mayfield (865-974-9409, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, provides students one of the best values in public education according to the latest rankings from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.

The magazine’s annual “100 Best Values in Public Colleges” ranks American colleges based on academic quality and affordability. The Best Values program this year evaluated 120 public colleges and universities. UT was the only Tennessee public university to make the top 100, placing 58th overall, up six spots from last year.

Kiplinger’s considers characteristics including entrance exam scores, admissions and retention rates, graduation rates, student-faculty ratios, total cost for in-state students and average debt of students upon graduation. Academic quality measurements make up two-thirds of the total score, while costs and financial aid factors count for one-third of the scoring.

“We strive to make the University of Tennessee an affordable and accessible institution and are proud to be nationally recognized for our efforts,” said UT Knoxville Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek. “We have continued to increase access by creating need-based scholarship programs so that we can offer the best education possible for the best and brightest students.”

The HOPE Scholarship is available to Tennessee high school graduates who earn at least a 21 on their ACT and have an overall weighted grade-point average of 3.0 or better. About 95 percent of UT Knoxville’s in-state freshmen received the HOPE Scholarship in 2009.

In recent years, UT Knoxville has created several need-based scholarship programs that supplement the HOPE Scholarship and help ensure that money isn’t a stumbling block for academically eligible students who want to attend.

The Tennessee Pledge scholarships help students from low-income families attend the university and allows those students to graduate debt-free by paying for mandatory college costs not covered by other federal or state aid. The Tennessee Promise scholarships target students from high schools that have not traditionally sent many of their graduates to UT Knoxville.

In addition, the university has launched the “Achieve the Dream” program that makes grant money available to Tennessee students from lower-middle-income families whose incomes are too high to qualify them for Pell grants or the Pledge scholarship, but who still need financial help with college costs.

For more information about Kiplinger’s 2009-2010 Best Values in Public Colleges rankings, visit http://www.kiplinger.com/reports/best-college-values/.

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C O N T A C T :

Kristi Hintz (865-974-3993, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, full-time MBA program will host an information session for prospective MBA candidates on Wednesday, Jan 20.

The session will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. in the James A. Haslam II Business Building, Room 402. Registration will be at 5:45 p.m.

Representatives of this innovative 17-month program will present information on the structure of its integrated, team-based curriculum; the application/admissions process; financial aid; and career opportunities. Admission is free, and pre-registration is not required.

Parking is available in the University Center Parking Garage located on Phillip Fulmer Way. Bring your parking ticket to the information session for validation.

For more information, contact the UT MBA Program Office at 865-974-5033 or at [email protected].

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C O N T A C T :

Cindy Raines (865-974-4359, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — The Center for Educational Leadership, a collaborative venture between the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences and Knox County Schools, is being established at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, with funding from a private gift.

“The center will be the centerpiece of an innovative educational leadership development system that will purposefully and aggressively grow the next generation of outstanding leadership for our schools,” said Bob Rider, dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences.

The center will consist of five components: The Leadership Academy, which will prepare school principals; The Educational Leadership Institute, a summer institute for school leaders; The Executive Leadership Institute, a summer institute for district-level leaders; The Leadership Resource Center, providing a variety of professional development opportunities; and job-embedded support for current principals.

“The significant needs and challenges associated with a 21st-century education require a significant shift in the way we prepare school leaders,” Rider said. “Expectations and accountability are intense for schools and school leaders, and today’s leaders must recognize they no longer can rely on intuition, tradition or convenience in making decisions about the best practices and strategies to improve student academic performance.”

Vincent Anfara, chair of the college’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, which will oversee The Center for Educational Leadership, said a national search for a director to head up the center is now under way.

Anfara said he’s laying the groundwork for different components of the center, including talking to area school districts and other UT colleges about possible partnerships.

“This new way of preparing school leaders calls for a multidisciplinary approach involving not only the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences, but also school districts, and university faculty from the areas of business, law, social work, communication, information technology and others,” he said.

Principal Training Programs

Among the most visible aspect of The Center for Educational Leadership will be UT’s collaboration with the Knox County Schools to prepare new principals through a new full-time, intensive 18-month fellowship program.

“This partnership with The University of Tennessee is a key strategy to achieving our goal of ‘Excellence for All Children,’” said Knox County Schools Superintendent Jim McIntyre. “We know that leadership matters in any organization, but in public education strong, effective leadership has a tremendous impact on our ability to successfully educate our children.”

Knox County Schools and The Center for Educational Leadership will identify 10 to 12 talented aspiring principals for the program each year through a highly selective admissions process. The first cohort of students will begin in the summer of 2010.

Knox County Schools will pay the fellows — many of whom will already be employees in the district — a salary as they complete the principal training program.

“Candidates in the program will spend four days a week working in a school with an experienced and excellent mentor principal,” McIntyre said. “The fifth day will be spent in coursework and seminars with professors and expert practitioners. We believe this model will provide the Knox County Schools with an established pipeline of well-prepared, instructionally focused school leaders for many years to come.”

To conclude the program, students will participate in a project that will integrate their learning across the many curricular areas of the Academy, and will include an electronic portfolio documenting the student’s proficiency in school leadership, and a public presentation about the 18-month experience. Fellows will graduate from the program with a master’s or education specialist degree and state principal license.

“We are fortunate to currently enjoy solid principal leadership in our school district, but this partnership will help us to become more deliberate about identifying and developing the next generation of effective school leaders in the Knox County Schools,” McIntyre said. “Recognizing the incredible demands on today’s school principals, The Leadership Academy will assist us in condensing and abbreviating the learning curve for aspiring school principals so that they can focus from day one on being an effective educational leader.”

In addition to the fellowship program, the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies will continue to offer a “revised and retooled” two-year, graduate program for aspiring principals that typically caters to working teachers.

Rider said the college’s principal-training programs are going to be “a very unique approach to how principals are trained.”

In the past, principals often earned their posts through longevity; after working in a school district for many years they were “promoted” into administration. Now, Rider said, principals need a wide range of skills that aren’t learned by teaching alone.

The curricula of both the traditional and fellowship principal-training programs are being planned with those new needs in mind and in alignment with the standards of the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium, and the state of Tennessee’s Instructional Leadership (TILS) standards.

Coursework will include teaching, learning and assessment; teacher recruitment, training, retention and evaluation; conflict resolution; school law; data-driven leadership; issues related to equity and diversity in schools, school finance and budgeting; critical technology issues; and school security and media relations.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely, University of Tennessee (865-974-5034, [email protected])

Melissa Copelan, Knox County Schools (865-594-1905, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Former Knoxville mayor Victor Ashe, who recently completed five years as U.S. ambassador to Poland, will speak at two events this month sponsored by the Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

On Jan. 14, Ashe and his wife, Joan, will speak on “Five Years Later…Back From Poland” at a luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at The Foundry at the World’s Fair Park. Advanced reservations are required no later than Monday, Jan. 11, and can be made by calling 974-0931 or e-mailing Betsy Harrell at [email protected]. Cost of the luncheon is $15, payable at the door by cash or check made out to the University of Tennessee.

Then, on Jan. 26, as part of the Baker Center’s Ambassadorial Lecture Series, Victor Ashe will speak on “Eastern Europe’s Role in the 21st Century” in the Toyota Auditorium at the Baker Center, 1640 Cumberland Ave. The lecture, which begins at 7:30 p.m., is free and open to the public.

A Knoxville native, Ashe was elected to the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1968 at the age of 23. He was elected to the Tennessee State Senate in 1975. From 1985 to 1987, Ambassador Ashe served as executive director of the Americans Outdoors Commission. In 1987, he was elected mayor of Knoxville, a position he held for 16 years. On June 23, 2004, he was sworn in as U.S. ambassador to Poland.

Ashe was recently nominated by President Barack Obama to serve on the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which encompasses all U.S. civilian international broadcasting.

Ashe’s political papers are housed in the Baker Center’s Modern Political Archives.

The Baker Center is a nonpartisan center that develops educational programs and promotes research to further the public’s understanding and knowledge of our system of governance, critical public policy issues and the importance of public service and civic engagement. For more information about the Baker Center, see http://www.bakercenter.utk.edu.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Need help finding some great books for the youngsters on your holiday list? The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, might be able to help.

Miranda Clark, director of UT’s Center for Children’s & Young Adult Literature, suggests these five reads:

“Hello Baby!” written by Mem Fox and illustrated by Steve Jenkins.

“You can start a fun conversation with your little one by reading ‘Hello Baby!’” Clark said.

Illustrated with lifelike collages, the baby in the book meets a parade of young animals. In the end, the baby learns which of the creatures is the most special of all.

Mem Fox is Australia’s most highly regarded picture-book author.

The book is published by Beach Lane Books.

“What’s Coming for Christmas,” written by Kate Banks and illustrated by George Hallensleben.

“If you like surprises, you will love this book,” Clark said. “While a little boy and girl are getting ready for the holiday, something special is happening in the barn that turns out to be the best surprise of all.”

Published by Frances Foster Books, the book is written for children ages 3 to 8.

“Down, Down, Down: A Journey to the Bottom of the Sea,” written and illustrated by Steve Jenkins.

“This is a perfect book for the aspiring marine biologist on your list,” Clark said.

Written for children ages 5 to 8, the book explores the sea from top to bottom. Sidebars and endnotes provide additional details about the sea creatures. Illustrations are of cut paper.

“It beautifully captures the amazing sea creatures from the shallow coral reef to the Mariana’s Trench,” Clark said.

The book was published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children.

“Leviathan” written by Scott Westerfield and illustrated by Keith Thompson.

Written for young adults, this book is a fantasy set at the cusp of World War I.

Two unlikely young allies from opposite sides of the battlefield unite aboard the Leviathan, a massive biological British airship that resembles an enormous flying whale. They embark on a fantastic, around-the-world adventure that changes their lives forever.

The book was published by Simon Pulse.

“14 Cows for America,” written by Kewilson Kimeli Naiyomah and Carmen Deedy and illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez.

Written for children ages 4 to 8, this is a story of a young Kenyan who returns to his village after being in New York City and witnessing the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. He decides to give his cow — one of his most treasured possessions — to the Americans as an expression of condolence. His fellow villagers donate 13 more cows.

“To heal a sorrowing heart, give something that is dear to your own,” Naiyomah and Deedy write.

At the end of the book, Kenyan author Naiyomah explains that this was a real event and that he was the young man involved. They also explain what happened to the cows.

The book was published by Peachtree Publishers.

The Center for Children’s & Young Adult Literature is located in 434 Communications Building. With a noncirculating, examination book collection of the latest works in this genre, the center provides an academic and research resource for students and faculty, and also offers outreach to teachers, librarians, parents and children. The center is instrumental in bringing children’s and young adult authors to Knoxville to conduct workshops and speak.

The center is part of the School of Information Sciences, but has close ties with UT Libraries, the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences and Knox County Library. It is administered by a board of directors, which includes UT faculty, area librarians and local authors.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Two new ombudspersons will begin mediating disputes for faculty and staff at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, on Jan. 1.

The faculty ombudsperson will be Bill Nugent; the staff ombudsperson will be Elaine Wynn.

“I’m pleased to announce Bill and Elaine’s appointments,” Chancellor Jimmy G. Cheek said. “They are both very experienced mediators and can help diffuse situations that otherwise might go to the formal grievance or complaint processes. Using mediation to resolve issues before they reach a boiling point is cost-effective, time-saving and allows everyone to remain more productive.”

A professor in the College of Social Work, Nugent has been at UT since 1991. He has a doctorate in social work and, before coming to UT, worked as an assistant professor at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, as an adjunct professor at Florida State University, as an outpatient psychotherapist in Florida, and as a training director for a network of runaway shelters and family service agencies in Florida.

Wynn has 20 years of experience as a conflict resolution specialist, serving individuals, families, schools, churches and the courts. She currently works in Knoxville as an independent mediator and volunteers as a mediator for Knox County Juvenile Court. She has a bachelor’s degree in behavior science from Lesley College in Cambridge, Mass., and a master’s degree from Harvard Divinity School. She worked as the director of adult programs at Concord United Methodist Church, was the first director of Knoxville’s Community Mediation Center and has provided training and program design for a wide variety of organizations.

The ombudsperson program provides an informal mediator, and the process is an alternative to the university’s formal complaint and grievance procedure for staff and the administrative and Faculty Senate process for faculty. An ombudsperson does not serve as an advocate for the faculty or staff member or the university, but as a supporter of fair practices. If mediation doesn’t work, faculty and staff can turn to the formal grievance process.

When faculty or staff members are involved in disputes with colleagues, they are encouraged to schedule a meeting

with the ombudsperson to see if the issue can be resolved without using the university’s formal grievance process. Faculty and staff can self-refer or be referred by others in their department.

When one party contacts the ombudsperson, the ombudsperson then contacts the other parties involved.

To schedule an appointment with an ombudsperson, call 974-6481. Either Nugent or Wynn will return the call and set up the meetings.

In most cases, Nugent said, the ombudsperson first will meet with the individual parties separately. At some point, the two parties might meet together. If a resolution can’t be reached, the mediator will guide the parties into the formal grievance process.

Two offices in Greve Hall will be set up for the meetings.

“When a dispute goes to the formal process, it often becomes situation where someone wins and someone loses,” Nugent said. “Through mediation, we try to reach a resolution that makes it a win-win process.”

Wynn agreed.

“Helping people get along really strengthens the whole system,” she said.

For more information, see http://web.utk.edu/~senate/ombuds/index.html.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Our world has big problems and we need intelligent, educated people to solve them.

That was the message shared by Thom Mason, director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, who addressed approximately 1,000 University of Tennessee, Knoxville, undergraduate students who participated in fall commencement today at Thompson-Boling Arena.

“Some of you are headed to graduate school, others to new jobs and still others to military service,” he said. “And I expect some of you are still looking for jobs in a very tough economic climate. But history shows that your education provides you with an overwhelming advantage.”

History shows that an educated populace can turn hard times into better times. He cited a Harvard economist who looked at high school graduation rates before, during and after the Great Depression. The graduation rates rose between the 1920s and 1940s, and those skilled workers helped the U.S. win World War II and lead the country into a booming, postwar economy.

“In 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the first Sputnik satellite, the United States responded with a massive

investment in science, technology and education,” he continued. “The return on that investment includes the personal computer with its graphical user interface, global positioning systems, the laser printer, cell phones and a lot of other electronic gadgets that we use every day that underpin our economy.

“Today, we need a new set of skilled workers to tackle the challenge of transforming our energy system.”

Mason went on to detail a global energy problem, saying that economic development and population growth are causing increased energy demands. The solution, he said, is better use of sustainable energy sources and new technologies to harness that power.

“To fundamentally transform our global energy system, we need major breakthroughs in science and technology,” Mason said. “To take one obvious example, the Earth’s surface receives more solar energy in an hour than we are currently using in a year. But we don’t have the technology needed to capture, store and distribute solar energy at a cost that can compete with conventional grid-supplied energy.”

Mason encouraged graduates in all disciplines to work toward a solution to this problem, saying that everyone can help; from entrepreneurs who can take breakthroughs to the marketplace to communicators to spread the news about energy solutions to architects who can design energy-efficient buildings.

“Whatever you choose to do, I suggest that you look for challenging problems to solve,” he said. “Work that demands your best effort is a great deal more rewarding than something that is trivial or easy.”

On Friday, students receiving advanced degrees were recognized in a graduate hooding ceremony. There were 517 receiving master’s degrees and 68 receiving doctorate degrees.

During today’s commencement, six students received commissions as second lieutenants in the United States Army.

More than 2,800 students were eligible to participate in today’s commencement which combines graduates from the summer and fall terms. The graduate and undergraduate ceremonies can be viewed in an archived webcast.

Click here to listen to an audio report on Mason’s address.

View photos from the event.

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C O N T A C T :

Beth Gladden (865-974-9008, [email protected])

KNOXVILLE — Sally McMillan has been named vice provost for academic affairs at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Provost Susan Martin announced today.

McMillan is the associate dean for academic programs for the College of Communication and Information and a professor in the School of Advertising and Public Relations. She will begin her new role on Jan. 4.

As vice provost for academic affairs, McMillan will oversee undergraduate programs and curriculum, including general education, service learning, freshman seminars, learning communities and distance education. She also will oversee academic program review and will coordinate academic programs such as summer school, Life of the Mind and undergraduate research.

“Sally brings a broad range of administrative experience, as well as faculty leadership experience, to this new role,” Martin said. “She brings a wealth of experience from her work in communications both inside and external to the university. She understands the needs of our faculty, as well as those of our students, and will bring a broad strategic perspective to our academic programs and our efforts to help our students succeed.”

McMillan joined the UT Knoxville faculty in 1999 as an assistant professor. She has provided leadership for the college since 2005 by working closely with faculty and administration to develop strategic and curricular priorities for undergraduate and graduate programs. Prior to UT, McMillan taught at Boston University, the University of Oregon and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

“The students, faculty members and administrators at UT Knoxville are all top-notch,” McMillan said. “I welcome the challenge of working with the university community to identify ways to be more efficient and effective while promoting excellence in academic programs.”

McMillan has published more than 40 scholarly articles and has been honored for both her teaching and her research, which focuses primarily on health communication and the impact of new communication technologies on individuals, organizations and society. In 2003, her faculty colleagues elected her to the UT Knoxville Faculty Senate, where she chaired the budget and planning committee for two years.

McMillan has a bachelor’s degree in English from Southern Adventist University and a master’s degree in journalism and public relations from the University of Maryland. She has a doctorate in communication and society from the University of Oregon. Before entering the field of higher education, she worked for 15 years in the communication field including a job as a book editor in Washington, D.C., and as president of Delta Technology in Eau Claire, Wis.

McMillan is a member of the American Academy of Advertising, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, the Association of Internet Researchers and the International Communication Association. View McMillan’s biography on the College of Communication and Information Web site.

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C O N T A C T :

Rebekah Winkler (865-974-8304, [email protected])