December 15, 2010
Proud Moment
President Barack Obama presented a National Medal of Science to Esther Conwell, a professor of chemistry, during a White House ceremony Nov. 17. “It’s no exaggeration to say that the scientists and innovators in this room have saved lives, improved our health and well-being, helped unleash whole new industries and millions of jobs, and transformed the way we work and learn and communicate,” Obama said. “This incredible contribution serves as proof, not only of their incredible creativity and skill, but of the promise of science itself.”
Stem cell advance a step forward for brain disease treatment
Scientists have created a way to isolate neural stem cells—cells that give rise to all the cell types of the brain—from human brain tissue with unprecedented precision, an important step toward developing new treatments for conditions of the nervous system, like Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases and spinal cord injury.
University, George Eastman House form alliance
The University and George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film have entered into an alliance to further public engagement, research, and education in the arts and sciences, with a focus on the museum’s photography and motion-picture collections. It will be the most extensive museum and university alliance of this type in existence.
In Brief
A roundup of news.
Diwali delight
Students fill their plates with food from Thali of India during the fifth annual Diwali Dinner at Douglass Dining Center last month.
Eastman School’s Festival Week
Photos from the celebrations for the opening of the east wing.
Acclaimed psychiatrist, author to give MLK address
Harvard University psychiatrist and noted author Alvin Poussaint will deliver this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Address on Friday, Jan. 21.
Ying Quartet, alumnus Bill Cunliffe nominated for Grammys
The Ying Quartet, quartet in residence at the Eastman School, has received a Grammy nomination for Autumn: In Moving Pictures, a chamber jazz album from the Billy Childs Ensemble on which the quartet is featured. And, Eastman School alumnus Bill Cunliffe, who received a Grammy Award last year for Best Instrumental Arrangement, is a nominee for Best Instrumental Composition.
Robert Goergen awarded Dean’s Medal
The first Dean’s Medal given by Arts, Sciences, and Engineering has been awarded to businessman and philanthropist and University trustee Robert Goergen.
Public computers will soon require login
To ensure access to resources on public computers, you will first need to initialize your NetID for the new service.
Winter weather safety tips
In Research
Office of Undergraduate Research grooms future researchers, scientists
“These programs nurture and mentor the next generation of researchers,” says Steven Manly, a physics professor and the director of the Office of Undergraduate Research
Budding scholar
Ten-year-old Magdalen Hamilton got a unique history lesson last month—from the words of a 14-year-old in 1858.
Scrapping the egg in flu vaccine
Only the fragile chicken egg stands between Americans and a flu pandemic that would claim tens of thousands more lives than are usually lost to the flu each year.
Forum focuses on challenges of urban adolescent girls
Panelists representing researchers, teachers, and community-based service providers, shared the challenges urban adolescent girls face and the impact that schools, families, and communities can have on the well-being of girls.