April 2008

Congratulations to these members of the UT community!

Professor Sam Baker of the English Department was awarded a NEH Start-Up Grant in the Digital Humanities for his eCommentary Machine Project. The eComma Project is a web-based collaborate commentary and annotation tool.

Jennifer E. Miller (PhD Geography and the Environment) has been awarded a J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship for work in Botswana. The title of her project is "Managing for Conservation Goals Through Modeling Impala Movement."

Maria Elisa Paredes Ulcak (PhD Special Education) has been named a recipient of the newly created Dr. Linda Dulce Mora Limón Scholarship.

Amelia Winger-Bearskin (MFA Studio Art) performed for the second year in a row at Lincoln Center in New York City at the Scope Art Fair, Cinema Scope.

The Graduate Program in Social Work at The University of Texas is now ranked #6 in the nation for graduate social work programs.

Diana Fleischman (PhD Psychology) has been selected to receive a $2800 doctoral fellowship from the Austin Branch of the American Association of University Women for the 2008-2009 academic year.

Three University of Texas graduate students, Andrew Mills (PhD Computer Science), Barry Kahn (PhD Economics), and Jiten Dalvi (MBA May 2007), won Rice University's Business Plan Competition for their company called Qcue, which works with box office companies to prevent ticket scalping and affords companies more control over the price of and reselling of tickets. The three founds were awarded $327,500 to invest in Qcue.

Jean Lauer (PhD Radio, Television and Film) was a guest lecturer at Berkeley this past month. The title of her talk was "Crises of Faith, Crises of Nationalism: History and Identity in a Postmodern Mexico."

Alex Cho (MA Radio, Television and Film) has a story coming out later this month in The Advocate (The national gay and lesbian newsmagazine).

Juan F. Carrillo (PhD Cultural Studies in Education) has been awarded a 2008-2009 Spencer Dissertation Fellowship for research related to education.

Miguel Alvarez (MFA Radio, Television and Film) has been selected to screen his film "KID" at this year's Tribeca Film Festival in April. "KID" has also won a Directors' Guild of America Student Award as well as the Limelight Award at the Ojai Film Festival back in October - which included a $60,000 camera package from Panavision to be used toward a future project.

Joomi Lee (PhD Geography and the Environment) has received two specialty group awards for papers presented to the annual Association of American Geographers in April 2008 in Boston, MA. These awards include the 2008 Urban Geography Specialty Group Student Doctoral Fellowship, and the 2008 Recreation, Tourism, and Sports Specialty Group Student Paper Award (second place).

Message from the Dean

Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation week runs April 14-18 and provides an opportunity for each of you to interact with other graduate students beyond your department in both social and professional settings.

As a graduate student, you play an integral role at The University of Texas at Austin and make significant contributions to the university community. By investing your time and talent, you advance our research programs, enhance the undergraduate experience, and improve our society. Graduate students are true partners in the enterprise of building knowledge. I want to take this opportunity to thank you for all that you do for the university.

The Graduate School is pleased to support the Graduate Student Assembly in their efforts to provide opportunities for graduate students to share their work, connect socially, and enhance their professional skills through this week. Please visit http://www.utexas.edu/studentgov/gsa/gpaw.php for all the details about the events of this week. We hope to see you at the Open House and Coffee Hour on Tuesday, April 15 from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m., for breakfast tacos in the Graduate School Student Lounge (MAI 101).

Warm Regards,
Victoria E. Rodríguez
Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies

Everyday Excellence

Neely Mahapatra, a doctoral student in the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin, plans to use her degree to become an effective teacher and researcher who contributes to the knowledge base of interpersonal violence with a special focus on violence against minority women.
Read more >>

Spotlight on Faculty

When he retired from The University of Texas in 1990 after teaching for 44 years and serving 7 years as dean of the Cockrell School of Engineering, Dr. John J. McKetta, Jr. pledged a $1 million gift to the Department of Chemical Engineering. However, he did not stop there. He asked alumni to match the gift and raised over another $1 million. Five years later, on his 80th birthday, The University of Texas at Austin renamed the chemical engineering department "The John J. McKetta Center for Excellence in Chemical Engineering."
Read more > >

Graduate Research at Work

Engineering Day for Elementary School Girls Promotes Women in the Sciences

This spring The University of Texas hosted "Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day" on campus. More than 1,000 girls between first and eighth grade, including over 500 Girl Scouts, attended the event. Engineering students, professors, and representatives from Caterpillar, Chevron, PB and other companies taught girls and their families about engineering principles through activities such as constructing gliders and domed structures, simulating the driving of a Caterpillar truck, and using trusses and triangles to strengthen buildings.
http://www.engr.utexas.edu/news/articles/200802181417/index.cfm

Featured Graduate School Resource

Graduate Student Instructor Program: ASPECTS (Advancing Students' Professional Excellence with Certificates in Teaching Series)

ASPECTS courses, offered through the Division of Instructional Innovation and Assessment, encourage ongoing pedagogical, personal, and professional development through your career as a graduate student instructor. During each long semester, GSIs will have the opportunity to attend sessions presented by teaching, learning, assessment, and technology professionals. You may choose to complete sessions to earn one or more certificates, or to attend individual sessions as you wish.
http://www.utexas.edu/academic/diia/gsi/aspects/

Getting a Life

The Long Center, which was once the Palmer Auditorium, had its grand opening in March and is now full swing into performance mode. The Long Center, named in honor of a $20 million gift from Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long, provides a showcase venue for Austin's many performing arts organizations, both great and small. The Long Center venues include the Debra and Kevin Rollins Studio Theatre, designed to serve regional artists and community arts groups, and the Michael and Susan Dell Hall, a grand concert hall seating 2,400. Upcoming performances include "Love, Janis," "Video Games Live," "Mariachi Los Camperos de Nato Cano," and an assortment of others. Take the time to see a performance during the Long Center's inaugural season.
http://www.thelongcenter.org/default.aspx