July 2008 (Vol. 7, No. 7)
This Month's Top Stories . . .
$5 Million Gift to Fund Center on Aging at UVM (up^)
A $5 million gift from Burlington philanthropist Lois Howe McClure, along with $100,000 in funding from the State of Vermont, will support a new Center on Aging at the University of Vermont. UVM President Daniel Mark Fogel and Vermont Governor Jim Douglas joined McClure in announcing the new Center today. Its mission will be to coordinate and support collaborative education, policy-making activities, and research in the gerontology and geriatrics arena. The Center on Aging gift is the largest single gift ever donated by the McClure family. "This is a truly remarkable event for the University, the state and its citizens, and we are tremendously grateful for the support of this extraordinary Vermonter, Lois McClure, and for her ongoing vision and inspiration," said Fogel. "This gift presents an unprecedented opportunity for interdisciplinary work across our University, with our collaborators at the state level and with our community partners throughout Vermont. Together, we will lay a foundation for a Center that will serve as a national model of excellence and a tribute to the passion of Lois McClure." Full story at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=12498.
UVM Benefactor Stephen B. Rubenstein Dies at 69 (up^)
Stephen B. Rubenstein of New Vernon, N.J., an entrepreneur, real estate developer and philanthropist, died Monday, June 23, at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Rubenstein had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in April 2008. He was 69. Rubenstein was president of Rubenstein Properties of Little Falls, New Jersey, a firm he founded in 1961 after studying horticulture at the University of Vermont. He built it in the ensuing decades into a multi-million dollar conglomerate of real-estate development, construction, and defense-contracting companies. Rubenstein and his wife Beverly became the largest individual donors in University of Vermont history with a $15 million commitment to support environmental education and research announced in 2003. The gift resulted in the renaming of the university's School of Natural Resources to the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, the university's first named school and one of only a few named environment and natural resources program in the world. Full story at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=12461.
UVM's Costanza Featured in BBC Series (up^)
The University of Vermont's Robert Costanza is featured in a new BBC documentary series Nature, Inc, that explores the economic value of biodiversity. The first installments of the program began airing on BBC World News in June. Later installments will continue through 2010. Costanza, director of UVM's Gund Institute for Ecological Economics, achieved world fame for his 1997 paper in Nature that placed the total value of global "ecosystem services" — like pollination, soil formation and clean water — at about $33 trillion. The effort to place an economic value on what had previously been considered "beyond value" is at the heart of the new series, which showcases Costanza's pioneering and often controversial research. It's projected the series will reach 800 million homes worldwide. Video streaming and podcasts are available on a dedicated website: http://www.natureinc.org. More at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=12437.
EPA, UVM's Gund Institute Team Up (up^)
A new partnership between the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Office of Research and Development (ORD) and the Gund Institute for Ecological Economics at the University of Vermont will help decision makers more accurately determine the costs and benefits of actions that alter ecosystem services — the goods and services of nature such as clean air and water, erosion and flood control, soil enrichment, and food and fiber. "We are pleased to enter into this collaboration with the Gund Institute, a leader in ecosystem services research," said George Gray, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Research and Development. "Through partnerships such as this, we can work to better understand the relationships between our own actions and the impacts on life-sustaining services of nature." Gund Institute director Robert Costanza said, "This is a very important development for the field of ecological economics. "The collaboration will allow us to take the next big step forward in understanding, quantifying, and applying the concept of ecosystem services." More at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=12496.
Professor Wins Prestigious Book Award (up^)
Using the science behind more than 16 years of ongoing academic weight loss research, Jean Harvey-Berino, professor and chair of the department of nutrition and health sciences, has won the 2008 James Beard Foundation award for a book in the "Healthy Focus" category. The EatingWell Diet by Jean Harvey-Berino with Joyce Hendley and the editors of EatingWell (The Countryman Press) combines the magazine's healthful recipes with Harvey-Berino's behavioral modification program, Vtrim, funded by the National Institutes of Health. For celebrities in the world of food — from top chefs, restaurateurs, journalists, and cookbook writers — the Beard Foundation awards truly are the "Oscars"of the profession, spotlighting the best talent in the industry. More at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=12423.
UVM Offering Historic Tours of Campus (up^)
Founded in 1791, the University of Vermont is the fifth oldest university in New England, after Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, and Brown. Throughout the summer and early fall, the university is bringing its long and illustrious history to light with a weekly guided historic tour of its campus. The free tour, led by UVM emeritus professor William Averyt, will take place Saturdays through October 11 from 9 to 11 a.m. Highlighted on the tour are such architectural treasures as Old Mill, completed in 1829, whose cornerstone was laid by the Marquis de Lafayette, the 1885 Billings Library, designed by renowned 19th architect H.H. Richardson, and the magnificent Grasse Mount, built for a local merchant in 1806 and later the home of the governor. The tour also covers many of the important and colorful people animating UVM's history. "UVM not only has a physically striking campus full of historically significant architecture, but also a history replete with important and intriguing figures, some of whom helped shape modern America," said Daniel Mark Fogel, UVM president. "We hope the tour will be both an entertaining experience for visitors and a means for telling the important story of the University of Vermont." More at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=12473.
Fourth Consecutive America East Academic Cup for UVM (up^)
The University of Vermont has been awarded the America East Academic Cup for the fourth consecutive year and becomes the first institution in conference history to win the award five times (1996, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008). UVM student-athletes boasted a 3.14 cumulative grade-point average during the 2007-08 season, tying the record for the top GPA in the 12-year history of the award — also held by UVM student-athletes. "We are more than thrilled to receive the conference's highest academic award for the fourth consecutive year," said Athletic Director Robert Corran. "This is an honor earned by our exceptional student-athletes and shared by the many faculty and staff who support their efforts in the classroom and in their respective sports. It is also a reflection of the fine efforts of the student-athlete academic center staff." More at http://www.uvm.edu/~uvmpr/?Page=News&storyID=12459.
Campus Kudos (up^)
Christopher W. Allen, emeritus professor of Chemistry and interim director of the Vermont Advanced Computing Center, published an article on "The Mechanism of the Reaction of Alkali Metal Phenoxides with Hexahalocyclotrtiphosphazenes" in Phosphorus, Sulfur, Silicon and the Related Elements.
Dateline UVM Would Like to Hear from You: (up^)
Send comments, questions, and address changes to Dateline UVM Editor, Jay Goyette (jay.goyette@uvm.edu). |
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