Rochester Review

July–August 2012, Volume 74, No. 6

Editor

Scott Hauser

Associate Editors

Karen McCally ’02 (PhD)

Kathleen McGarvey

Contributors

Valerie Alhart, Sharon Dickman, Adam Fenster, Melissa Greco Lopes, Susan Hagen, Heather Hare, Peter Iglinski, Leslie Orr, Tom Rickey, Leslie White, and Brandon Vick

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Published six times a year for alumni, students, their parents, and other friends of the University, Rochester Review is produced by University Communications.

Opinions expressed are those of the authors, the editors, or their subjects and do not necessarily represent official positions of the University of Rochester.

ISSN: 0035-7421

Copyright © 2012 University of Rochester

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Alumni photographs, courtesy of the subjects. Unless otherwise credited, all others are Rochester Review photos.

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Going National

By Joel Seligman

We are going national. On June 5 in San Francisco, we launched the first of our regional campaigns. More than 160 alumni, parents, friends, and academic leaders attended, making this the largest University event in San Francisco in our history.

The audience heard remarks by University Trustee Larry Bloch ’75, campaign vice chair for the West Coast; Joe Abrams ’74S (MBA), P’02 and Trustee Carol Karp ’74, P’11, cochairs of the San Francisco Bay regional campaign; and student Diana Pratt ’13. Diana, a recipient of the Dr. Nathaniel and Helen Wisch Endowed Scholarship, spoke from personal experience about the important opportunities that campaign support is already providing to our students. Joe and Carol announced the regional campaign goal of $45 million and at least 120 George Eastman Circle members. In my remarks about The Meliora Challenge, I encouraged everyone to “come home” to be reacquainted with the University and to explore how to help us be “ever better.”

This special dinner was possible because of the dedication of the members of the San Francisco Area Regional Cabinet. This is one of our first Cabinets—led by its inaugural Chair Dr. Charles Munnerlyn ’69 (PhD)—and is the first to launch a regional campaign. Regional Cabinet members are the University’s most visible leaders within their regions, and they will be instrumental in helping us increase the profile of the University outside western New York. Regional Cabinet members provide feedback on the University’s strategic direction and are engaged in a variety of activities, including corporate and foundation relations, admissions, alumni relations, and career services. But perhaps more than anything they are charged with enhancing the network of Rochester’s engaged alumni and friends.

A dozen Regional Cabinets are in the process of being formed, including those in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Chicago/Midwest, Texas, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Boston/New England. We are also establishing four Regional Cabinets in the New York City metropolitan area: New York City, Westchester- Fairfield Counties, Northern New Jersey, and a “New Leaders” group focused on younger alumni and friends.

As the San Francisco effort demonstrates, key volunteer groups are connecting alumni in creative ways. One example is the Lifelong Learning Advisory Committee, which helped us develop The Rochester Forum, a half-day symposium for alumni, who hear from faculty members on topics as diverse as global warming, musical improvisation, and healthy aging. In recent years we have also begun holding University events around major regional musical festivals, including Tanglewood in the Berkshires, Chicago’s Ravinia, and our own Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival.

Another creative new approach is our Faculty Ambassadors program, which is just under way with a core group of 48 faculty and academic leaders representing many different areas of the University. The Ambassadors will be traveling around the country to speak on a wide variety of topics at gatherings of alumni, parents, and friends.

I hope that you are able to take advantage of some of these opportunities to embrace and celebrate the University in your own community. When the regional campaigns reach your area, I hope that you will be able to join me to create what is sure to be a remarkable and engaging event. With your help, our progress will continue to accelerate.

Letters

lettersWHO WAS HORSING AROUND? Several readers, including those in the photo, were able to identify themselves and other members of a graduation party photographed in 1979. (Photo: University Libraries/Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation)

Who Were the Graduates . . . ?

In regard to the photo of four graduates with the mounted police (Class Notes, May-June), the picture was taken at graduation 1979 on Gibbs Street. Scott Daniels ’79 is on the left. Carol Kurke ’79 is next to him holding the horse reins. I don’t recall who is third. But I do know who is on the right. It is I.

David Skinner ’79

Rochester

I met three of the four (not including the officers and their horses) freshman year. Knowing them as I do, my first thought was they had attracted the attention of law enforcement upon being bounced from the bar in the distance. But Mugs Up wasn’t one of our downtown drinking establishments, so I suspect this is just before or after graduation ceremonies in May 1979. Scott Daniels ’79 (left) and David Skinner ’79 (right) were hallmates of mine on the notorious Gannett Four, where we endeared ourselves to the housing department by painting the ceiling black. Scott is now a research chemist in Northampton, Mass., and David (also a chem major) stayed in Rochester to build a considerable real estate empire that provides off-campus housing in the 19th Ward, what we used to call HIP, Housing for Independent People. Carol Kurke ’79 (Gilbert Two; history), whose career aspirations were heartlessly cut short by Sandra Day O’Connor, now practices law in Los Angeles.

The tall guy gazing into Carol’s eyes looks a lot like Angus Eaton ’79 (also of Gannett Four), but taller and better looking.

John Hayes ’80

Brooklyn, N.Y.

I shudder to tell you that the photo on page 50 of the May-June issue of Rochester Review includes me. Either those are really short horses, or I was really tall in 1979 when I graduated. I am the one in the topsiders (my uniform shoes for the first 24 years of my life), standing to the right of center in the pic. I have a lot less hair now. I’m afraid I have no idea who the other students are. We just came together in front of Eastman Theatre before the graduation ceremony to see the horses, I guess.

Thanks for the memory.

Andrew Eiseman ’79

Washington, D.C.

. . . and the Police Officers . . . ?

I don’t recognize the students in the photo but I believe the mounted officer on the left is Jack Richter. Jack was assigned to work with me for a year on our management training team at Kodak Park. We were tasked with developing customized training for various departments at Kodak by tapping the talents of the workers doing the jobs. Officer Richter took that skills training back to the Rochester Police Department in the early 1980s where he implemented a training program for the very first 911 emergency dispatch system in the Monroe County area.

Jan Catlin ’74

Brandon, Miss.

. . . and the Horses?

While reading my dad’s (Roger Friedlander ’56, University trustee) May-June issue of Rochester Review, I was pleasantly surprised to see four friends in the photo. Alas, they are probably not the subjects you are most interested in. The policeman on the left is Jack Richter on a horse named Champ. After retiring from the Rochester Police Department, Jack went on to become the Victor town supervisor and is now fully retired and living in Arizona. The policeman on the right is John (J. J.) Strong on a horse named Yankee. J. J. retired from the RPD and is currently in charge of health and safety at the B&L Wholesale Company and resides in Perinton, N.Y.

Sadly, both horses are deceased and buried at a farm in Penfield. I believe the date would have been 1978 or so and the group is at the corner of Gibbs and East Main streets near the Eastman Theatre.

As for the graduates, your guess is as good as mine.

David Friedlander

Monroe County Sheriff’s Mounted Patrol

Power of Peck

The March-April issue really brought back memories. I was in the poetry seminar Professor [Russell] Peck taught for Hyam Plutzik, and he was a bit nervous, being new to Rochester and standing in, but the classes were challenging and he was as at home with Robert Frost as he was with Chaucer. I have always wished I had been at Rochester later, to take advantage of his literary projects. I did study medieval lit at Brown U. for a while after graduating from Rochester but moved into contemporary poetry for my master’s thesis at Brown. Maybe some of Professor Peck’s versatility inspired me. I’m so glad he is still active and giving today’s students such enriching experiences.

Mary Rohr ’62, ’63W (MA)

Stowe, Vt.

What is clear from reading about Professor Russell Peck: I will most likely retire from teaching before he does, despite the fact that he is at least 40 years older than I am. As the article rightly noted, Russell is not only indefatigable but also supportive, encouraging, and interested. When I returned to Rochester in 2005, we sat at his kitchen table and had a fascinating discussion about Brokeback Mountain and Wyoming places. While we sipped Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice herbal tea (a favorite of his, I think), he recounted the time when Black Panthers arrived on campus for a rally during which they occupied Strong Auditorium with guns. I knew about Russell because he shared his lived experiences during moments like this, as well as in classes, at restaurants, and while traveling.

That Russell had possibly the greatest impact on my undergraduate life, as well as my scholarship and academic pursuits, is an understatement. Along with Paul Burgett, Karen Fields, Larry Hudson, and medievalists Tom Hahn, Richard Kaeuper, Alan Lupack, and David Walsh, I was able to, with Russell’s help, make my own way through UR. I took courses with Russell in Middle English literature, medievalism in film, Robin Hood and King Arthur in film, and Blaxploitation films of the 1970s. Russell was the first professor I had who regularly swore during class lectures—for which, strangely enough, he earned my admiration and respect. What I learned was that from Chaucer to Van Peebles and from Tennyson to Spielberg, Russell can teach it all.

I was also fortunate enough to travel with Russell and his wife, Ruth, to London for the Theater in England course. I remember that he and Ruth would tirelessly research and scout for new plays and restaurants (like the “soup kitchen” in the basement of the Tunisian embassy, I think) while the rest of the class went sightseeing. He regularly showed me kindness, such as when he reviewed my journal from the London course and gave me a B grade. I surely deserved much lower marks.

Ruth also had a tremendous impact on my life. She was present during trips to England, Canada, and elsewhere, as well as years later when I stayed in London at the Harlingford Hotel while I pursued research at the Public Records Office. She and Russell were there with students from the Theater in England course; she was supportive and encouraging and interested in my academic and personal lives.

I thank Russell for introducing me to dozens of faculty members at UR. His innovative curriculum for film courses exposed students like me to many different people and perspectives. For example, I met John Mueller, a now former political science professor and an expert in dance history who helped us to analyze Bill Bojangles Robinson’s famous tap performance on the staircase with Shirley Temple in The Little Colonel (1935). English professor George Grella helped students understand the background of the film The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings (1976), and of James Earl Jones’s portrayal of Jack Johnson in The Great White Hope (1970). In one memorable class, Russell had an intense intellectual argument with historian Richard Kaeuper regarding “historical accuracy” versus poet John Barbour’s 14th-century verse romance, The Bruce, in Mel Gibson’s depiction of William Wallace in the film Braveheart. I was able to make determinations about which faculty members I would like to take classes with because of those introductions.

Russell wrote recommendations for me to study abroad in Bath, England, and in support of my graduate school applications. He believed in me, despite the fact that I was not the best student. Russell helped me to craft my second major, medieval British culture and medievalism, so that I could continue to take courses in medieval literature, Robin Hood and King Arthur films, and modern depictions of medieval culture. With his encouragement, I completed a senior project that investigated medieval knights and the use all things medieval in early Boy Scout manuals. That I had planned to pursue a master’s degree in medieval history at the University of Glasgow in Scotland was in part because of Russell’s enthusiasm and example.

In fact, I owe a debt of gratitude to Russell for all that he has done for me. There are obviously many other UR community members who feel the same. I will always remember the painting of Sir Galahad by George Frederick Watts, which still hangs in his office. It was easy to fashion myself as a knight-errant because of the various adventures and quests on which Russell took me. I hope that I can be as creative in my teaching and that I can be as inspiring and encouraging to my students.

Joel Helfrich ’98

Rochester

The writer teaches history at Monroe Community College in Rochester.

Like Riding a ‘Bicycle’

I may not be the first to point out that the “bicycle” (“Easier Rider,” May-June, page 13) is, in fact, a tricycle. I admit that this error does not subtract one whit from my enjoyment of the issue.

John Figueras ’49

Orleans, Mass.

Editor’s Note: We went back and forth on how to describe the three-wheeled vehicle that was retrofitted by engineering students to be operable with one hand. We used “bicycle” after hearing engineers explain an important technical point—at least from the standpoint of engineers. A “tricycle” is usually powered by transferring all the power of the pedals to a single, front, and much larger one of three wheels, while a “bicycle” is powered by transferring the power of the pedals through a drive-train to a back wheel that’s generally the same size as all the other wheels (admittedly, that’s usually two wheels). That, and tricycles are not normally thought of as an efficient means of locomotion, whereas as bicycles are. Perhaps a better term would have been to say a “three-wheeled cycle.”

A 50-Year Romance

Thank you for publishing the issue with the feature on “Rochester Romance” (January-February). On the very first page appeared the picture of Dr. Allan ’54M (MD) and Mrs. Helen Uebel Inglis ’49, dear friends for over 50 years. In addition to his romance with Helen, Allan had a romance with orthopaedic surgery that led to his becoming a professor of both orthopaedic surgery and anatomy at Cornell University’s medical center. Allan must have influenced 10,000 young orthopaedic surgeons during his long career at the Hospital for Special Surgery. He was revered by his students, residents, and young academic staff who enjoyed sharing his knowledge, enthusiasm, and love of an orthopaedic surgical career. If there were ever role models who could be truly enjoyed, it was Dr. Inglis, Helen Inglis, and their wonderful family of seven children.

I cannot tell you the wonderful feeling that I got upon opening the page and seeing a mentor and his wife whom I have known for many years as the lead photo for your article. Thank you for this experience. It only comes once in a while during a 50-year professional career, and I truly appreciate it.

Richard Braun ’58M (MD)

San Diego

Review welcomes letters and will print them as space permits. Letters may be edited for brevity and clarity. Unsigned letters cannot be used. Send letters to Rochester Review, 22 Wallis Hall, P.O. Box 270044, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627-0044; rochrev@rochester.edu.

UNIVERSITY LEADERSHIP

Provost Position Is Restructured

Peter Lennie is appointed provost and Rob Clark is named interim senior VP for research.

inrev_new_provostPROVOST: Peter Lennie, who has led Arts, Sciences & Engineering since 2006, will become Rochester’s new provost. (Photo: Adam Fenster)

inrev_new_provostNEW VP: Rob Clark, dean of the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, will become interim senior VP for research. (Photo: Adam Fenster)

On June 14, the Board of Trustees approved a restructuring of the provost’s position and two new appointments recommended by President Joel Seligman following Provost Ralph Kuncl’s appointment as president of the University of Redlands (see page 9).

Peter Lennie, currently Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Sciences & Engineering, will become provost and dean of the faculty of AS&E, and Rob Clark, currently dean of the Edmund A. Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, will become interim senior vice president for research, both appointments effective with Kuncl’s departure, Seligman said.

“This new structure will more effectively address the provost’s role in our decentralized university governance model as well as the ongoing expansion of the research side of the Office of the Provost,” Seligman said. “It will simplify and clarify responsibility, reduce an administrative level, and achieve some synergies by combining the provost’s academic functions and the position of dean of the faculty of Arts, Sciences & Engineering and by creating a senior vice president to oversee the expanding responsibilities for research.”

As provost and Robert L. and Mary L. Sproull Dean of the Faculty of AS&E, Lennie will oversee the School of Arts and Sciences, the Hajim School, the College, River Campus Libraries, the Memorial Art Gallery, the Office of University Graduate Studies, and the University of Rochester Press. He will also have responsibility for reaccreditation, institutional research, University Health Service, the University Intercessors, the Deans Council, academic and multidisciplinary awards, and the Deans Committee on Administrative Practices, and he will staff the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees.

“The definition of responsibilities recognizes that the redefined provost position amplifies the position of dean of the faculty of AS&E,” Seligman said.

Schools outside of AS&E that currently report to the provost on formal academic issues such as tenure and promotion (including the Eastman School of Music, Simon School of Business, and Warner School of Education) will continue to do so. The units will continue to report to the president or president, provost, and senior vice president for administration and finance on budget, strategy, and facilities. The Medical Center CEO will continue to report directly to the president.

In this new model, the deans of the School of Arts & Sciences and of the Hajim School will assume responsibility that had rested with the dean of the faculty of AS&E for tenure, promotion, leave, and related faculty issues in their schools as well as for student appeals.

The Office of Faculty Development and Diversity will continue to report to both the president and provost. “This is a University priority and an area where I have a strong personal commitment,” Seligman said.

Lennie has been dean of the faculty of AS&E since 2006, when he returned to Rochester after serving for seven years as dean for science and a professor of neuroscience at NYU. He is a professor of brain and cognitive sciences and during his previous time at Rochester served as director of the Center for Visual Science, dean of academic resources and planning, and chair of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. He received a PhD from the University of Cambridge.

As interim senior vice president for research, Clark will be responsible for the fastest growing segments of the current provost’s position, Seligman said.

Those responsibilities include the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, sponsored research, including the Sponsored University Research Group, Office of Research Projects Administration, University Information Technology, Health Science Center for Computational Innovation (HSCCI), Center for Entrepreneurship, Office of Research Alliances, Office of Human Subjects Protection/Research Subjects Review Board, Office of Technology Transfer, online initiatives, and staffing the Research and Innovation Committee of the Board of Trustees.

“Rob Clark’s efforts to bridge between University research and the corporate world through cross-school initiatives such as the TEAM program with Simon and the Center for Medical Technology Innovation with the School of Medicine and Dentistry made him a logical choice for the interim senior vice president’s role,” Seligman said.

“During Rob’s period as interim, I will expect him to make decisions as if he were the permanent senior vice president,” Seligman said. “We have time-sensitive projects under way that should not be delayed, including selection of a new director of Tech Transfer, our IBM project (HSCCI), and our online initiative.”

Clark will continue as dean of the Hajim School while serving as interim senior vice president for research. He has been dean since 2008, when he arrived from Duke University, where he had served as senior associate dean and dean of the Pratt School of Engineering. An expert in the science of acoustics and in bionanomanufacturing, he holds bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

Lennie’s term will run through June 30, 2016. There will be a national search for the senior vice president for research when the academic year begins, Seligman said.

“I have asked both Peter and Rob to begin the transition to their new positions effective July 1 to ensure an overlap period with Ralph before Ralph departs for California,” he said. “I greatly appreciate their willingness to assume these new responsibilities.”

ACADEMIC OFFICERS

From Provost to President

Rochester’s chief academic officer Ralph Kuncl is named president of the University of Redlands.

inrev_kunclMR. & MRS. PRESIDENT: New University of Redlands President Ralph Kuncl and his wife, Nancy, were introduced to the California university during an announcement this spring. (Photo: University of Redlands)

A California university will start the 2012–13 academic year with a new chief executive who has helped guide Rochester for the past five years. Ralph Kuncl, a neurologist and noted academic leader who has served as Rochester’s provost since 2007, was named president of the University of Redlands this spring.

“Ralph has long been ready to assume a significant university presidency,” said President Joel Seligman. “The University of Redlands is an exciting university on an upward trajectory, and all of us at Rochester are delighted that Ralph has been selected to lead Redlands at this important time. We wish him every success.”

As provost, Kuncl led or directed initiatives in high-performance computing, corporate research collaborations, multidisciplinary initiatives, diversity, and online education. He also was responsible for review of University deans, the University library, faculty promotion and tenure decisions, sustainability, and faculty-driven learning assessment initiatives. And he created and led the annual Celebration of the Book, which brings faculty authors from across the University together to celebrate and build community around their creative authorship in the arts and sciences.

Kuncl achieved international distinction as a scientist and an administrator during more than 20 years at Johns Hopkins University. While there, he and colleagues in his lab discovered the glutamate transporter defect in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease. The discovery changed the field and helped lead to the first effective treatment for the disease. He was also named the first vice provost for undergraduate education at Hopkins.

In 2002, he left Hopkins to become provost at Bryn Mawr College, where he helped create a variety of new interdisciplinary programs, diversified and hired a third of its faculty, and nearly tripled the institution’s federal research grant support.

Kuncl received his undergraduate degree at Occidental College in Los Angeles and his MD and PhD degrees from the University of Chicago. An accomplished musician, Kuncl performed in the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, one of the most respected professional arts groups in the mid-Atlantic region. In Rochester, he has been a member of the Eastman Rochester Chorus.

—Larry Arbeiter

COMMENCEMENT 2012

Spring Celebration

commencement (Photo: Adam Fenster)

CLASSMATES: Members of the Class of 2012 begin the procession, marking the start of the University’s 162nd commencement ceremony for Arts, Sciences & Engineering. The 1,200 graduates were joined on the Eastman Quadrangle by 5,000 family, friends, and other well-wishers. Outgoing Brown University President Ruth Simmons addressed the graduates, noting that they had a burden to use their education to help others. “Your education benefits society only if you are a drum major for human dignity.” Brown, the Most Rev. Matthew Clark, bishop of Rochester, Pulitzer Prize–winning composer George Walker ’56E (DMA), U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, and Rochester business and civic leader Robert Hurlbut received honorary degrees at this spring’s ceremonies. See more at www.rochester.edu/commencement/2012.

STUDENT LIFE

Slip, Slidin’ Away

waterslide (Photo: Adam Fenster)

SPLASHDOWN: Niki Holmes ’12, an anthropology major from New Woodstock, N.Y. (left) and Kayleigh Hogan ’13, a chemical engineering major from Geneva, N.Y., slide across a water-soaked tarp at the senior picnic for the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Engineering students organized the end-of-the-year picnic, celebrating with activities that included a giant, homemade “Slip ’n’ Slide,” Hula Hoop–sized bubbles, volleyball, and other games.

VIOLA CONGRESS

Instrumental Music

viola (Photo: Adam Fenster)

STRING SCENE: The Eastman School was the center of the viola universe this spring as several hundred acclaimed violists from around the world arrived for the 40th Viola Congress. Over five days, participants performed some 20 group and solo recitals, featuring eight world premieres, and presented or participated in more than 40 discussions, lectures, and master classes. Organizer Carol Rodland, associate professor of viola—whose 1791 viola made by Vincenzo Panormo is shown here—described the Congress as “an international music festival centered around the viola” that presents audiences with a rare opportunity to hear sought-after musicians from Asia, Europe, South Africa, Mexico, the United States, and Canada all in one place.

EASTMAN SCHOOL

Boxing Clever

boxing (Photo: Adam Fenster)

FIRST ROUND: A crew from the cable sports network ESPN films double bassist James VanDemark (right, center) and his Eastman School students at ROC Boxing & Fitness in Rochester this spring as part of a story on boxing’s effect on musical performance. A professor of double bass at the Eastman School, VanDemark introduced boxing to his students after taking up the sport three years ago and noticing the benefits that the training had for his performance as a musician. The boxing program is offered weekly during the academic year as part of Eastman’s wellness initiative for students. The TV crew was filming an episode of the network’s show E:60, which was scheduled to air later this year.

Study of 50 State Legislatures Finds Contributions Influence Public Policy

inrev_discovery (Photo: Corbis)

Although campaign contributions are widely viewed as a corrupting influence, for decades political scientists have failed to establish a direct connection between money and legislative outcomes. A new national analysis of state legislators by Lynda Powell, a professor of political science at Rochester, is providing strong evidence that donations directly influence the legislative process.

In her new book, The Influence of Campaign Contributions in State Legislatures (University of Michigan Press), Powell documents the subtle and not-so-subtle ways in which money buys influence–from setting a party’s agenda, to keeping bills off the floor, to adding earmarks and crafting key language in legislation.

“Other scholars have examined the relationship between campaign contributions and the floor votes an individual legislator casts, but this is the wrong way to approach the question,” says Powell. “On floor votes, most legislators vote with their party and constituency. Any influence of donations is likely to be limited to a small set of close votes that are not important to the legislator or to his or her party or constituents.”

Through formal models and statistical analysis, Powell teases out the personal, institutional, and political factors that make moneyed interests increasingly powerful in some states, but not others. For example, her data shows that political money carries more weight in states with more highly compensated legislators, larger chambers, and more professionalized leadership structures. Money is also more important in states whose majority party’s advantage is tightly contested and whose legislators are more likely to hold hopes of running for higher office.

By contrast, donors to campaign coffers wield less power in states with term limits and more highly educated voters.

—Susan Hagen

A New Target in Fighting Alzheimer’s Disease

Rochester researchers may have found an important clue as to why people with a gene that has a documented connection to Alzheimer’s disease are more prone to the debilitating illness. In a study published in the journal Nature, Rochester scientists say that the well-known genetic risk factor triggers a signaling cascade that results in leaky blood vessels in the brain, allowing toxic substances to enter brain tissue in large amounts.

Led by Robert Bell, a postdoctoral associate at Rochester who is first author of the paper, the researchers report that a gene called ApoE4 triggers a molecular cascade that weakens the blood-brain barrier. That network of tightly bound cells carefully regulates what substances are allowed to enter and exit brain tissue. People with two copies of the gene have roughly 8 to 10 times the risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease than people who do not. Bell notes the finding may help establish a new target to fight the disease.

—Tom Rickey

The Goldilocks Effect: Babies Learn from Experiences That Are ‘Just Right’

Long before babies understand the story of Goldilocks, they have more than mastered the fairy tale heroine’s method of making decisions. Infants ignore information that is too simple or too complex, focusing instead on situations that are “just right,” according to a University team that has dubbed the finding the “Goldilocks effect.”

Published in the open-access journal PLoS ONE, the study sheds light on how babies learn to make sense of a world full of complex sights, sounds, and movements. The findings could have broad implications for human learning at all ages and could lead to tools for earlier diagnosis of attention-related disabilities such as ADHD or autism, says Celeste Kidd, lead author on the paper and a doctoral candidate in brain and cognitive sciences at the University.

—Susan Hagen

Vaccine Aims to Give the Heaves the Heave-Ho

A Medical Center team is one of five groups across the nation testing the effectiveness of an experimental vaccine against a virus that inflicts gastrointestinal illness on more than 20 million Americans each year. Led by John Treanor, chief of the Infectious Diseases Division, the team will test whether the vaccine, developed by Montana-based LigoCyte Pharmaceuticals, is effective against norovirus, the leading cause of the abdominal cramping, diarrhea, and vomiting that most people describe as “the stomach flu.”

More than 70,000 people in the United States are hospitalized each year because of the infection, according to officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s also the cause of the majority of food-borne illnesses in the United States. The study is funded by LigoCyte.

—Tom Rickey

Volcanic ‘Plumbing’ Provides Clues to Eruptions, Earthquakes N

ew studies into the “plumbing systems” that lie beneath volcanoes could bring scientists closer to understanding plate ruptures and predicting eruptions—both of which are important steps for protecting people from earthquakes and volcanic hazards. Published in Nature Geoscience, the studies by international teams of researchers, including Cynthia Ebinger, professor of geophysics, and Manahloh Belachew, a postdoctoral associate in earth and environmental sciences, indicate that the ground beneath magma chambers and rift zones starts “uplifting” for months before an eruption. The team members hope that the models they developed for measuring such activity will indicate signals that are fundamental to predicting eruptions.

The teams studied the location and behavior of magma chambers on the Earth’s mid-ocean ridge system, a vast chain of volcanoes along which the Earth forms new crust. The team built and tested computer models to measure how the ground elevated as new magma increased pressure in underground chambers.

—Peter Iglinski

Study Links PTSD to Hidden Head Injuries Suffered in Combat

Even when brain injury is so subtle that it can only be detected by an ultra-sensitive imaging test, the injury might predispose soldiers in combat to post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a Medical Center study. Published online by the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, the research may help physicians who are caring for troops in the years following deployment, as doctors try to untangle the symptom overlap between PTSD and mild traumatic brain injury and provide the appropriate treatment. The nature of the interaction between mild brain injury and PTSD has been unclear, and Medical Center researchers believe they are the first to find an association that can be demonstrated with advanced imaging techniques.

“Most people believe that, to a large extent, chronic stress from intense combat experiences triggers PTSD,” says lead author Jeffrey Bazarian, associate professor of emergency medicine and a member of the 2007 Institute of Medicine committee that investigated brain injuries among war veterans. “Our study adds more information by suggesting that a physical force such as exposure to a bomb blast also may play a role in the genesis of the syndrome,” Bazarian says. By 2008 an estimated 320,000 troops suffered concussions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bazarian’s research involved 52 war veterans from western New York who served in combat areas between 2001 and 2008. —

Leslie Orr

Golisano Children’s Hospital Ranked Among Best

Golisano Children’s Hospital at the Medical Center has been listed among the nation’s best hospitals for four pediatric specialties—gastroenterology, neonatology, orthopaedics, and neurology and neurosurgery. The annual rankings, to be published in August in U.S. News & World Report’s Best Hospitals 2013 Guidebook, are based on data submitted by nearly 180 pediatric institutions nationwide. Each of the past four years, Golisano Children’s Hospital has added a specialty to the rankings, starting in 2009 with orthopaedics, which ranked No. 38 this year. Neonatology ranked No. 27; gastroenterology, which is new to the list this year, ranked No. 41, and neurology and neurosurgery ranked No. 44.

—Heather Hare

inrev_inbriefOVATION: The renovation of Kodak Hall earned accolades from a statewide preservation group. (Photo: Kurt Brownell for the Eastman School)

Eastman Renovation Honored

A $46.9 million project to renovate Eastman Theatre’s historic performance hall, now named Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre, as well as the addition of the Eastman East Wing has been recognized by a New York preservation group. The Preservation League of New York State presented the Eastman School with its Excellence in Historic Preservation Award for the multiyear project that was completed with the opening of the Eastman East Wing in December 2010. The award honors notable achievements in retaining, promoting, and reusing the state’s architectural heritage. Project architects Chaintreuil Jensen Stark Architects and contractors the Pike Company and A’Kustics were also recognized. The project received support from the state of New York as well as area businesses and community leaders.

—Helene Snihur

Surgeons Implant Upstate New York’s First Total Artificial Heart

A 49-year-old man became the first person in the region served by the Medical Center to receive a total artificial heart during an operation performed this spring by a Rochester cardiac transplant team. The procedure introduces a new, life-sustaining treatment option for the most critically ill patients with end-stage heart failure. “This is tremendous technology that can have a dramatic effect on patients who are experiencing advanced heart failure,” says H. Todd Massey, surgical director of the Medical Center’s Artificial Heart Program, who led the surgery.

The Medical Center is one of 30 sites in the country, and one of just two in New York, to offer the technology. The artificial heart is a bridge to transplant for patients who suffer from end-stage biventricular heart failure, a condition in which both sides of the heart become weakened and can’t pump blood adequately through the body.

—Leslie White

Board Elects Real Estate, Financial Services, and Optics Leaders as New Trustees

inrev_inbriefGabrellian (Photo: Adam Fenster)

inrev_inbriefLam (Photo: Courtesy of the subject)

inrev_inbriefRettner (Photo: Courtesy of the subject)

inrev_inbriefWyant (Photo: Courtesy of the subject)

Real estate developer Ani Nazerian Gabrellian ’84, financial services executive Evans Lam ’83, ’84S (MBA), real estate and investment company president Ronald Rettner, and optics entrepreneur and scientist James Wyant ’67 (MS), ’69 (PhD) have joined the University’s Board of Trustees.

Gabrellian is a principal in Gabrellian Associates, a commercial real estate and management company based in Paramus, N.J. After receiving her MBA from George Washington University, she held positions as a commercial and investment banker and as a financial analyst with the federal Office of Thrift Supervision. She and her husband, Mark ’79, endowed a multidisciplinary professorship in Arts, Sciences & Engineering to better understand political and economic issues, and they permanently endowed an innovation grant for outstanding incoming undergraduates.

Lam is senior vice president of investments and senior portfolio manager of The Lam Group, UBS Financial Services, Inc. in Pasadena, Calif. Previously, he was a senior vice president and wealth management advisor at Smith Barney. He and his wife, Susanna, have established a professorship at the Simon School of Business to help recruit global business scholars. Lam is also a vice president and major contributor to the Morning Light Foundation, which builds elementary boarding schools in remote areas of China stricken by poverty and provides 400 scholarships annually to underprivileged students among eight major Chinese universities.

A member of numerous civic and charitable boards, Rettner is president of Rettner Management Corporation and is managing partner of Baron Associates, a real estate investment, finance, and management company with national holdings. Earlier in his career, Rettner was a securities analyst and cofounded The Vitamin Shoppes. He earned his undergraduate degree in political science at Washington University in St. Louis and master’s degree in business administration and urban planning from Columbia University and attended the evening division at Fordham University Law School. Rettner’s recent leadership gift will support the new Ronald Rettner Hall for Media Arts and Innovation. He has served on the National Council of Arts and Sciences at Washington University since 1990 and was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009, Arts & Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award in 2007, and the New York Regional Cabinet’s Alumni of the Year Award in 2009 and has guest lectured on real estate topics.

An optical scientist with long associations with Rochester, Wyant is a former dean of the University of Arizona’s College of Optics. He is an expert in the fields of interference, diffraction, and optical testing, and is the cofounder and chairman of 4D Technology Corporation. Wyant endowed the M. Parker Givens Professorship in Optics in honor of one of his former professors at Rochester. A professor of optical sciences and of electrical and computer engineering at Arizona, Wyant has been a visiting professor at the University’s Institute of Optics since 1983 and has returned to Rochester annually to teach in the institute’s summer school for 29 of the past 30 years.

The new trustees are all members of the George Eastman Circle.

—Sharon Dickman

New Website Gathers Information about International Initiatives

The University has launched a new web portal, UR Global, that serves as a hub for learning about Rochester’s international activities. Intended for use by students and parents, researchers and faculty, and alumni and friends, the site provides information on global partnerships, research, and educational programs, as well as opportunities to be involved and stay connected around the world. The site serves as a clearinghouse for data, including facts like the number of alumni living outside the United States (10,748), the location of research projects across the globe, and details about travel alerts and other information for those going abroad. Visit the site at www.rochester.edu/global.

SINGER FAMILY PRIZES

Top Teachers

inrev_teachers (Photo: Adam Fenster)

During the academic year, graduating students are asked to nominate a teacher who had a profound impact on their lives before arriving at the University. From those nominations, four winners of the University’s Singer Family Prize for Excellence in Secondary School Teaching are chosen. Named in recognition of Paul Singer ’66, who initiated the prize, the awards are intended to acknowledge the role of devoted secondary school teachers in the intellectual development of their students and of society.

This year’s winners and their nominators were (left to right):

James Chrisfield, a global history and social studies teacher at Liverpool (N.Y.) High School, nominated by senior Maya Dukmasova ’12, a Take Five Scholar from Liverpool;

Carla Parkes, an Advanced Placement chemistry teacher at Niagara Falls (N.Y.) High School, nominated by senior Heather Carella ’12, a psychology and American Sign Language major from Niagara Falls;

Barbara Rowes, an English honors teacher at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City, nominated by Jonathan Grima ’12, a neuroscience major from Elmont, N.Y.;

Donald Rogers, a recently retired high school band director at Attica (N.Y.) Central Senior High School, nominated by Stephen Huber ’12, an economics major from Attica.

ARTS & HUMANITIES

And the Winners Are . . .

inrev_translation (Photo: Adam Fenster)

A translation of a volume of Japanese poetry, Spectacle & Pigsty, and a Polish novel, Stone Upon Stone, took this year’s awards for Best Translated Book, an honor organized by Three Percent. The award is the only prize of its kind to recognize the best original works of international literature and poetry published in the United States over the previous year.

The first full collection of verse by poet Kiwao Nomura to be published in English translation, Spectacle & Pigsty was translated by Kyoko Yoshida and Forrest Gander. Nomura is one of Japan’s leading contemporary poets and a prolific critic, translator, and essayist.

The Times Literary Supplement has called Stone Upon Stone, by Wieslaw Mysliwski, a “marvel of narrative seduction, a rare double masterpiece of storytelling and translation.” Bill Johnston, chair of the comparative literature department at Indiana University, translated the novel.

Amazon.com underwrote the award for the second year, providing a $10,000 prize for each of the two categories, to be distributed among the winning authors and translators.

Three Percent is a website that is part of the University’s literary translation program and part of Open Letter Books. More information about the award and the titles, as well as Open Letter Books’s fiction list, can be found at www.rochester.edu/College/translation/threepercent.

—Valerie Alhart

HIGHLIGHTS

Spring Sports Finish with NCAA Bids

By Dennis O’Donnell

sportswrapALL-AMERICAN: Frances Tseng ’13 earned All-America honors in women’s tennis and was ranked No. 20 nationally as a singles player in the final poll. Tseng is the fifth Rochester woman to earn All-America honors in tennis. (Photo: Athletics & Recreation)

Four spring sports were represented in the NCAA Division III national championships and a fifth sport battled its way into the Liberty League playoffs with a strong finish.

Softball: The Yellowjackets returned to the NCAA playoffs for the first time in three years, receiving one of two Pool B bids (teams in leagues that do not have an automatic bid) into the 61-team field. The Yellowjackets were seeded third of eight teams in a regional hosted by Eastern Connecticut State University. Rochester lost its opener to St. John Fisher, bounced back to defeat Salem State (Mass.) College, then lost to second-ranked Eastern Connecticut. The Yellowjackets finished 29–15. The win over Salem State was the 300th all-time softball victory in 15 years. Brittany Grage ’15 was named the MVP of the Liberty League championships. She earned two victories in the league championships. Nina Korn ’14 was named first team all–Liberty League and first team all–UAA. Korn hit two home runs at NCAAs and was named to the all-regional tournament team.

Men’s outdoor track and field: Frank Ramirez ’12 and James Vavra ’12 earned trips to the NCAA championships in California. Ramirez, running 55 miles from his California home, finished ninth in the 800-meter run. Vavra finished 16th in the 10,000 meters. Ramirez finished second in the 800 at the ECAC championships and broke his own school record in the process. Rochester finished fifth at the New York State championships, which the Yellowjackets hosted in early May.

Women’s tennis: First singles player Frances Tseng ’13 was chosen for the NCAA championships in North Carolina, her first NCAA appearance and the second straight year that Rochester was represented. (Lia Weiner ’11 competed in 2011.) Tseng was ranked No. 7 in the Northeast and was paired against Mackenzie Knoop of Trinity (Texas), the third-ranked player in the West Region. Tseng lost 6–4, 6–7 (5), 3–6. She finished with a 24–5 singles mark this year.

Golf: Nick Palladino ’14 made his second straight appearance at the NCAA golf championships, this time in Florida. He fired a 36-hole total of 152 (74–78), leaving him eight over par. Palladino, the top-ranked singles player in the Northeast region, was named to the Golf Coaches Association of America/PING All-America team for the second straight year.

Baseball: Rochester won 10 of its last 11 and grabbed the No. 4 seed in the Liberty League playoffs. The Yellowjackets finished 18–21 overall. Jon Menke ’13 was named the Liberty League Pitcher of the Year.

Women’s outdoor track and field: The 4-by-400-meter relay of Brittany Porter ’15, Claire Crowther ’13, Abby Zabrodsky ’14, and Becky Galasso ’14 broke the school record at the ECAC championships after coming close on two other occasions. Rochester finished 22nd at the ECAC championships and third at the New York State championships.

Men’s tennis: Rochester posted back-to-back dominating wins over Ithaca (8–1) and Nazareth (9–0) in late March and earned all six wins against New York State opposition.

Women’s lacrosse: Ten of the 12 returning players from this year’s team finished their freshman or sophomore year, giving the Yellowjackets a nucleus around which to build.

Women’s rowing: Strong performances in the spring season catapulted the Yellowjackets into the NCAA rankings. The Varsity 8 defeated 11th-ranked WPI in a meet involving Holy Cross and four nationally ranked Division III programs. Rochester followed that with a Varsity 8 win over Ithaca while the Second V-8 and Novice 8 both finished second in their races.

O’Donnell is director of communications for the Department of Athletics and Recreation.

What Are You Doing this Summer?

Students spend the summer months taking part in academic, performance, and service initiatives in the Rochester community and around the world.

By Maya Dukmasova ’12 (T5)

summerJoe Lanning ’00, ’07 (MA) is leading a group of undergraduates to Gowa, Malawi, where they will work with local villagers on projects involving energy use and other issues. (Photo: Courtesy of Joe Lanning ’00, ’07 (MA))

It’s summer time . . . and the living is not exactly easy. But the season does offer students the opportunity to engage in scholarly, performance, and service projects. Here are a few examples. Doing

Fieldwork in Malawi

For the past 10 years, Rochester graduate Joe Lanning ’00, ’07 (MA) has been taking students to Malawi to

spend a month in the village of Gowa. There, students learn about Malawian culture, language, economics, and political life while living with local villagers.

“My parents instilled in me a love of travel at a young age,” says Alison Hamlin ’13, a chemistry major from Ipswich, Mass., who participated in the Malawi Immersion Seminar for the first time after her freshman year. “Having the opportunity to go to a place like Malawi and even get credit for it, that seemed like a no-brainer.”

Hamlin returned to Malawi this summer, after studying abroad in Kenya, to continue learning about the villagers’ energy use. Other student projects have focused on exploring folk tales in the region, the rituals surrounding agricultural activities, and the local bartering system.

In addition to giving students an opportunity to practice applied anthropology, Lanning says, “the program that we run is about challenging a lot of misconceptions that people have about going to Africa.”

“I had started to look at a lot of things differently after Malawi,” says Hamlin. “I read a lot on international development. I was really able to relate what I was reading to what I had seen and learned. I also talked a lot about my experiences with my friends. People have a lot of incorrect perceptions about Africa.”

Besides the research component, the program is also service-oriented, but Lanning emphasizes that the service work is directed by the needs and desires of the members of the community. The students help where their help is needed.

Malawians are “capable of building schools, they make bricks and have carpenters, and they don’t need us to do that. What they may need is better access to resources,” he says. The cooperation between the locals and the student visitors makes the program a sustainable, two-way learning experience.

summerLauren Wolfe ’15, Matias Piva ’14, and Drue Sokol ’13 are spending their days traveling to Monkey Island (behind them) to study the behavior of rhesus macaques. (Photo: Kelly Hughes)

Studying Primates in Puerto Rico

This summer, Drue Sokol ’13 is spending a month searching for monkeys in the tropical forests on an island near Puerto Rico.

Her days start early, with a boat ride to tiny Cayo Santiago, home to around 1,000 free-ranging rhesus macaques. She, Matias Piva ’14, and Lauren Wolfe ’15, will spend hours each day approaching the monkeys in the hope of showing them a variety of objects to test their ability to count, evaluate size, and make choices.

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” says Sokol, a psychology major from Albany, N.Y. “Hands-on experience in the real world—in the jungle really, having research opportunities there—that sounded super cool to me.”

The students are taking part in research projects organized by Benjamin Hayden and Jessica Cantlon, assistant professors in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and with Andrew Elliot, professor in the Department of Clinical and Social Psychology, who are collaborating on a project that is aimed at studying the decision-making process of primates. The undergraduates will be led and supervised by postdoctoral fellow Kelly Hughes.

One goal is to help understand the evolution of human cognition.

“A lot of developmental hypotheses that people come up with for why children do certain things at certain ages [are] tied to language or other things that would have a heavy cultural component, or a heavy experiential component that’s uniquely human,” says Hughes. However, research has shown that monkeys, who diverged from an ancestor common to humans about 25 million years ago, exhibit the same sorts of attractions and aversions that people do.

The students will have opportunities to test hypotheses and analyze results, working directly with the primate inhabitants of Cayo Santiago, who are so used to humans that they willingly approach them. “Students get a lot more experience with the scientific method than you do in most other brain research that you would do here or anywhere else,” says Hayden.

The opportunity to conduct research on the island is unique not only because of the undergraduates’ involvement. Getting access to Cayo Santiago is extremely difficult. Currently, research groups from Harvard, Yale, Chicago, and Duke vote on who can join them.

“We’re joining a very elite club,” Hayden says.

summerLuke Slipski ’13 talks with Secretary Angmo of the Leh Women’s Alliance as part of a public health project on smoking intervention programs for the youth of Ladakh, India. (Photo: Anupa Gewali ’12)

Analyzing Tobacco Use in India

Nestled in the Himalayas, Ladakh, India, is home to a population that has, until recently, been fairly isolated from the rest of India and the world.

But an influx of tourism has brought new wealth as well as a looming public health crisis. Smoking, especially among young people, has skyrocketed, and India is poised to lose more lives to smoking in the next generation than any other country.

Last year, three undergraduates, led by Nancy Chin, professor of community and preventive medicine, traveled to Ladakh, a district in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, to research tobacco use among the local youth.

Chin and Rochester undergraduates are collaborating with health organizations and advocacy groups in Ladakh to research the patterns of tobacco use and design intervention strategies for the community.

“We had an idea of what our skills were and what our interests were, but we kind of left it to the community to tell us what they needed from us,” says Anupa Gewali ’12, a public health major from Henderson, Nev., who has since landed a job with GlobeMed, a Chicago-based global health and social justice organization. She returned to Ladakh to help lead a new group of students this summer.

The research experience and “actually impacting the health of a living, breathing community” helped her to decide to pursue employment in the field. Afterward, it was “easy to see how a public health major translates into a public health career,” says Gewali. The members of last summer’s group—Gewali, Emma Caldwell ’13, and Karishma Dara ’12—presented their research at national conferences and were teaching assistants in Chin’s Public Health 101.

The public health major is “highly theoretical,” says Luke Slipski ’13, who is traveling to Ladakh for the first time after hearing about the project from his TAs. “This hands-on research that I’m getting this summer is going to be really beneficial.” A native of Canfield, Ohio, he’s also planning for a career in public health and wants to travel around the world to work on such intervention projects.

Chin hopes that she and the students will help the Ladakhis establish a long-term project to curb smoking in the community, especially among youth. The intervention has to target individuals as well as groups through peer education, institutional health education, and public policy. But a lot of preliminary data collection and analysis has to happen first.

“Students were such an important part of this work,” says Chin “They were so enthusiastic, so hardworking. I could not have gotten the scope of work that I did without them.” In the span of a month, “they made it possible to do a year’s worth of work.”

summerSaxophonist Alexa Tarantino ’13E and members of Eastman’s Chamber Jazz Orchestra are scheduled to perform six concerts of newly discovered music by Gil Evans at the Umbria Jazz Festival. (Photo: Gelfand-Piper Photography for the Eastman School)

Playing Jazz in Italy

Saxophonist Alexa Tarantino ’13E has spent part of the spring honing her skills with the flute, clarinet, bass flute, bass clarinet, oboe, and bassoon. The expanded repertoire is part of an effort undertaken by members of the Eastman School’s Chamber Jazz Orchestra to bring to life a previously unrecorded collection of music by legendary jazz composer and arranger Gil Evans.

The ensemble first played some of the music in March 2011 at St. Peter’s Church in New York City. This summer, they will perform at the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival in June and at Italy’s Umbria Jazz Festival in July.

Because Evans composed for an unusual array of instruments, the ensemble’s musicians have had to extend their typical range.

“It’s definitely challenging,” says Tarantino, a jazz saxophone performance and music education double major from West Hartford, Conn. “I’ve always played clarinet, and flute since high school. Oboe and bassoon were a totally different world for me.”

The music and the performances have grown out of a scholarly initiative that has put the Eastman School at the epicenter of a remarkable discovery in the world of jazz. About three years ago, Ryan Truesdell, a young composer and assistant to Grammy Award winner Maria Schneider ’85E (MM), was granted access to the archives of Evans, where he discovered more than 40 never before recorded or released works, a true gold mine from a composer who arranged for the likes of Miles Davis and Astrud Gilberto.

When it came time to decide who would have the privilege of playing the music for the first time, Truesdell contacted Dave Rivello, an old acquaintance, a fan of Evans, and an assistant professor of jazz studies and contemporary media at Eastman.

“For me, as a conductor, to be rehearsing this music—it’s just incredible,” said Rivello. “The first rehearsal that I conducted, I gave the downbeat and it was like Gil was in the room. I got goosebumps, and I’ll never forget that feeling for the rest of my life.”

The Chamber Jazz Orchestra is scheduled to play six concerts at the Umbria festival.

“The whole Gil Evans project has been and probably will be the most amazing project that I’ve been a part of,” says Tarantino. “To do that overseas, at one of the biggest jazz festivals in the world is just like a surreal thing that I think we’re all so grateful to be a part of.”

Exploring Cultural Issues in Rochester

For some students, it does not take a trip to the other side of the globe to discover communities in need of their skills and resources. Sometimes all they have to do is cross the Genesee River.

Summer Session Is In

Need a course in Russian? Check. Video production? Got it. Organic chemistry? Of course. Summer academic sessions are not what they used to be, says Tom Dipiero, dean for humanities and interdisciplinary studies who oversees summer academic offerings for Arts, Sciences & Engineering.

The College has added more courses to the six- and four-week sessions offered each summer as part of an effort to give students more flexibility in planning their overall academic goals.

“We’re tying to make the summer look more like a regular semester,” says DiPiero, who notes that students are increasingly enrolling for courses over the summer so they can take advantage of other opportunities in the fall and spring, such as study abroad or other initiatives.

—Scott Hauser

The Urban Fellows program provides students with the opportunity for civic engagement, while they educate themselves on urban and cross-cultural issues in the city of Rochester. During the 10-week program, each student interns with a local nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing needs of the community, from health care, to housing, to education. The students also spend time connecting with the local culture through weekly social outings in the city. The third component of the fellowship is a weekly seminar devoted to exploring the wider sociopolitical and economic context of the issues students encounter through their internships.

“I had grown up in Canandaigua [N.Y.] all my life and technically had been into Rochester, and I feel like I’ve learned so much and discovered so much about the city that I’d never known before,” says Elizabeth Riedman ’13, an anthropology major.

An Urban Fellow last summer, she’s returning to the program, helping lead and plan activities for new students. She describes her first internship as an eye-opening experience.

“Even going to school here, I feel like we don’t get a lot of opportunities to get off campus and see the city. [The program] is a really great way to give back to the city.”

“I feel a lot more connected,” she says, noting that the program has made her consider staying in the area for at least a few years after graduation.

Glenn Cerosaletti, director of the Rochester Center for Community Leadership, says many students find the program changes their perspectives about the communities in which they live and go to school. Students from across the University take part and often leave thinking about ways they can help the community.

“The Urban Fellows program has proved to be a transformative experience for many students,” he says.

Learning Latin in Class

Many students seize the opportunity provided by the summer to hunker down in the classroom, studying one subject with a focus hard to achieve during the regular academic year.

A case in point: the students enrolled this summer in Intensive Introduction to Classical and Medieval Latin. Noun declensions and Pliny the Younger might not be what most people associate with summer, but for Honggang Lai ’15 and his classmates, the time is ripe. “It’s intense, but since I’m only taking one course, I have the time,”

says Lai, who’s from Changchun, China, and who plans to double major in classics and in archaeology, technology, and historical structures.

Meeting for two hours each weekday for six weeks, the students learn the basics of grammar, syntax, and vocabulary, and in the last two weeks, concentrate on reading.

“I like to think Latin is accessible for everybody,” says Nicholas Gresens, a lecturer in the Department of Religion and Classics, who developed and introduced the course last year. Concentrated summer study “allows students unadulterated, uninterrupted time,” he says. “I call it boot camp.”

Lai and Gresens agree that one of the best things about the course is the speed with which students achieve reading knowledge of Latin. As they delve into the words of Catullus, Ovid, and Virgil, they move beyond the study of language to an “exploration of humanity,” Gresens says.

“I love the material, and he does, too,” Lai says of Gresens. “His passion is contagious.”

—Kathleen McGarvey

summerTaylor Hubble ’15 and Olivia Morgan ’13 are helping study a stand of old-growth forest on the University’s South Campus as part of a research project on the forest ecology of the area. (Photo: Adam Fenster)

Studying Sustainability at UR

Taylor Hubble ’15 is discovering that the University is home to an ecological laboratory—one that most students, faculty, and staff take for granted, if they notice it at all. Hubble, who plans to major in environmental sciences or in evolutionary biology, is helping identify and catalog vegetation and tree species in a stand of old-growth forest on the South Campus.

“There are things you don’t expect around here,” says the native of Lawrenceburg, Ind., of her introduction to the area near Whipple Park. “But once you get on the trails, you’re like, ‘This is a completely different place.’” One of six interns chosen under a College program that provides sustainability-related summer research opportunities for Rochester undergraduates, Hubble and the other interns spend the months of June and July working with faculty and staff on projects that range from research on biofuels to tracking how the University can improve its recycling efforts to developing new sustainability curricula. The intern program “grew out of an effort to expand sustainability related offerings for UR undergraduates,” says Randall Curren, professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy, who oversees the summer program. “We were looking for ways to enrich sustainability opportunities for students.”

Currently in its third summer, the program selects six students from as many as 40 candidates. Faculty, along with administrators from campus offices, agree to sponsor interns for projects.

Hubble is working with Justin Ramsey, assistant professor of biology, and his wife, Tara Ramsey, a research associate in the biology department. Together, the Ramseys have been working for the past several years on a project to study, catalog, and preserve the forest ecology of the South Campus, which includes about 15 acres of old-growth forest, and to share information about the area. The stand of red oak, sugar maple, beech, hickory, and other species has been largely untouched through generations of settlement, one of several small “urban forests” in the area.

Hubble and fellow student Olivia Morgan ’13, a participant in the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, are helping to maintain and develop the area’s trail system to improve access for visitors, removing invasive species, and working on other aspects of the project.

Hubble says the work has increased her interest in making sustainability a key part of her future.

“Being here has definitely made me delve into it academically—in my life as well.”

—Scott Hauser

Digging History in Bermuda

summerQuarin Bey-Muhammad ’13 is taking part in an archaeological dig in Bermuda, a history project to explore some of the oldest settlements on the Atlantic island. (Photo: Michael Jarvis)

For students of history, research experience is usually confined to books and archives. A new archaeology field school in Bermuda is allowing a group of undergraduates to work in a veritable history lab.

In a project that combines history, archaeology, and anthropology, Michael Jarvis, associate professor of history, is leading a dig to explore settlements dating to the 17th century on the Atlantic island.

“It’s really kind of a history field school as much as an archaeology field school,” Jarvis says. By digging for one of the earliest Bermudan settlements, exploring local culture and architecture, and researching in the Bermuda archives, students will have “interdisciplinary training in three broad approaches and sets of sources for studying the past.”

Quarin Bey-Muhammad ’13, a history and philosophy major from Syracuse, hopes the experience will set her history background apart.

“I’ve never done anything like that before—that’s something that sounded extremely interesting to me,” says Bey-Muhammad. “It just seemed like a new challenge.”

Jarvis and the five students are keeping a blog (http://smithsislandarchaeology.blogspot.com) to track their progress at the dig site and to document their travels in the town of St. George’s, a place Jarvis describes as a living “museum, and a wonderful laboratory of history.”

Maya Dukmasova ’12 (T5) begins graduate degree work at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom this fall.

The ‘Spaces Between’

Researchers across disciplines have worked to make Rochester a nationally recognized site for autism treatment and research.

By Karen McCally ’02 (PhD)

autismON THE GREEN: The Hiltons play golf as a family weekly. “We’re a team,” says Chris Hilton of herself, her husband, Rob (left), Peyton (right), and 10-year-old Ryan. (Photo: Adam Fenster)

When her daughter, Gabby, was diagnosed 12 years ago with autism, Betsy Davis Brugg ’89 says, “All I knew about autism was from the movie Rain Man.”

When Americans were flocking to cinemas to see Dustin Hoffman star as Raymond Babbitt, a middle-aged man whose anxious, repetitive soliloquies confined him to the fictional Walbrook Institute, Betsy was a senior at Rochester dating junior Marc Brugg ’90, ’95S (MBA).

“I was a year ahead of him. And I’m still a year ahead of him,” she quips, looking over at Marc, who’s seated beside her, smiling.

After their graduations, Betsy and Marc parted ways for law school—she to Georgetown and he to Temple. In 1993 they married and returned to Rochester to be close to Betsy’s family. In 1998, Betsy gave birth to Gabby, their first child.

“If you look back,” says Betsy, “there were always challenges with her. She was a hard baby.”

All babies, of course, are to some extent hard. Like many babies, for example, Gabby didn’t sleep well. But over time, she displayed more telling signs of a problem. At the age when most babies begin to show interest in faces, Gabby didn’t make a lot of eye contact. Around the time when most babies begin to babble, Gabby uttered at most a word or two.

And whereas other babies cried, Gabby screamed. “She used to cry and scream any time we went to social gatherings. We’d go to somebody’s house for a party, and I would spend the evening in the kitchen or in the back bedroom with a screaming child,” Betsy says. “We learned she had sensitivity to noise.”

“People would say, ‘Oh, she’ll grow out of it,’” says Marc. “But we were concerned.” The Bruggs took Gabby to the Andrew J. Kirch Developmental Services Center at the University’s Golisano Children’s Hospital, where she was diagnosed with autism at age 17 months.

Like the Bruggs, Rob ’93S (MBA) and Christina (Chris) Walker Hilton ’93S (MBA) grew concerned about their firstborn child early on. At age 7 months, their son, Peyton, began making unusual and increasingly repetitive gestures and movements. “I thought, ‘Something’s wrong,’” Chris says. “But people would say to me, ‘You’re a first-time mother. Babies do strange things.’”

Peyton, too, would be diagnosed with autism at the Kirch Center, though his route to that diagnosis would prove more complicated than Gabby’s. Now 14, Peyton was diagnosed first with epilepsy—as up to a quarter of children with autism are. At 19 months, he underwent a partial hemispherectomy at the University’s Strong Memorial Hospital.

“The operation stopped his seizures, but we knew he was going to have developmental issues,” Chris says. At their pediatrician’s recommendation, the Hiltons took Peyton to the Kirch Center, where he was diagnosed with autism at age 2.

Autism is a complex disorder, but symptoms are clustered in three areas in the most recent edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: impaired social interaction, as displayed through eye contact, facial expressions, or appropriate body language; impaired oral communication, which can mean either the failure to speak or the ability to speak, but not to hold a conversation; and an insistence on repetitive behaviors and restricted routines. These symptoms can range in severity, and the intellectual abilities of some people with autism may be average or higher, while others may have significant disabilities. For those reasons, in clinical settings at least, autism is often referred to as Autism Spectrum Disorder, or ASD.

One misconception about people with autism that remains frustratingly pervasive, say the Bruggs, is the idea that people with autism are not interested in making connections with others. That doesn’t describe Gabby, who at 13 is a teenager deeply attached to her parents and to her younger sister, Samantha. She likes to snuggle. And she’s kind—someone who will approach a child who is crying to ask if he’s OK.

What’s missing is not the desire for connection, says Betsy, but the understanding of reciprocity. To describe Gabby’s struggle, Betsy uses the analogy of “the spaces between.” The spaces between, say, marbles in a cup.

“I always say, ‘Every time you teach her something, you put the marble in the cup.’ But it’s the little spaces between the marbles that’s missing. You can teach her this rule, that rule, and the next rule,” says Betsy, slapping her hand on the wooden table. “But to connect the dots? To understand the gray areas? That’s not something that’s easy to teach.”

The percentage of children who are diagnosed with autism has been increasing at a steady rate for at least the past two decades. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, has been keeping statistics on the rate of diagnosis among eight-year-olds since 2000. In that year, 1 in 150 children had received an autism diagnosis by age eight. In 2006, it was 1 in 110. And this past March, the center released a report, using data from 2008, showing the prevalence had risen to 1 in 88. For boys, who are nearly five times as likely to be diagnosed with autism as girls are, the figure was 1 in 54.

autismCOINVESTIGATORS: Smith (left) and Hyman have helped the Medical Center’s Division of Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Pediatrics become a national leader in autism treatment and research. (Photo: Adam Fenster)

On the evening of the day of the study’s release, CDC director Thomas Frieden was joined by Susan Hyman, chief of the division of neurodevelopmental and behavioral pediatrics at the Medical Center, on the PBS NewsHour to shed light on the findings.

A nationally recognized clinician in the field of developmental disabilities, Hyman chairs the autism subcommittee of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Although many researchers and clinicians, including Hyman, don’t rule out the possibility that autism is becoming more common, she believes the increasing rates of autism are mostly due to better recognition of the condition.

“We’re better because we’re looking. We’re better because we have more tools, and we’re better because parents and teachers are more informed about identifying concerning symptoms earlier,” she said on the program.

In the Golisano Children’s Hospital’s neurodevelopmental and behavioral pediatrics division, where she’s been since 1995, Hyman oversees a staff of more than 80 health care providers, researchers, and trainers. In the division’s Kirch Center, clinicians diagnose and treat children with many developmental disabilities in addition to autism. But of the approximately 3,000 patients seen in the Kirch Center per year, the largest single group—about 1,200—is children with autism, making the center the state’s largest provider of autism diagnoses and treatment outside of New York City.

Until recently, treatment for autism has been a mix of judgment calls and trial-and-error approaches that left many parents feeling rudderless. Chris Hilton recalls how, following Peyton’s epilepsy diagnosis, she and Rob “went through a year of pretty much black and white decisions. When you’re dealing with a more well known ailment, there’s a protocol.” But when Peyton was diagnosed with autism, she says, “there were just tons of different ways you could go and people to see. It was overwhelming.”

Gradually, researchers and clinicians are coalescing around an evidence-based standard of care for the condition. In 2008, Rochester received funding from the nonprofit Autism Speaks and the Department of Health and Human Services to become part of the Autism Treatment Network, a group of 17 medical centers in the United States and Canada working together to develop that standard of care.

Their goal is to develop a model of treatment that’s uniform, evidence-based, and reflective of the overall physical health of patients, and not just their neurology. “Autism isn’t one disorder,” says Hyman. “It turns out that people with autism often have other medical problems that may be related to the underlying biology.” About a quarter of patients, for example, suffer from seizures. Gastrointestinal problems are also common, as are sleep disorders. The network’s ultimate goal, Hyman says, is to leverage the resources of large medical centers such as Rochester’s so that “primary care doctors who are practicing away from academic centers know what they need to do to provide the optimal care.”

autismBUSY LIVES: Both the Brugg and the Hilton families emphasize keeping their children active, including therapeutic horse rides for Peyton Hilton (above); Gabby and Betsy Brugg (below) play in the back yard of their home. (Photo: Adam Fenster)

The network includes families in the decision-making process through a family advisory committee of which Chris Hilton is a member. Following Peyton’s autism diagnosis, Hilton quit her job as a controller at Xerox to take care of Peyton and his younger brother, Ryan, and to devote herself to patient advocacy. She’s a founder of the 1,000-plus member Upstate New York Families for Effective Autism Treatment, or UNYFEAT—an organization in which she, Betsy Brugg, and Hyman are all board members—that offers programs to people with autism and their families, to improve their quality of life together. She knows from her own experience and that of many other parents what patients and their families go through and the kinds of questions and dilemmas that arise. And as Hyman says, “These are people. We don’t talk for them. We talk with them.”

autism (Photo: Adam Fenster)

At the Medical Center, Hyman codirects Rochester’s Autism Treatment Network site with Tristram Smith, an associate professor of pediatrics and a psychologist. There are few people more recognized in the field of autism treatment than Smith, whom Hyman describes as “unassuming.”

“Many people around here don’t realize this,” says Hyman, “but if there were rock stars in autism research, Tristram Smith would be a rock star.”

Smith began his career as a graduate student of the late Ivar Lovaas, a psychologist at the University of California at Los Angeles who’s a household name among a sizeable sector of the autism community. In the mid-1980s, Smith was working with Lovaas on what became a landmark study on autism treatment. The study suggested that intensive behavioral therapy, up to 40 hours a week, could result in dramatic improvements in communication and functional skills among some of the youngest children with autism—those under 4. “There were earlier studies suggesting that one could teach specific skills to individuals with autism,” says Smith. “But this was the first to show that one could alter the course of the disorder.”

Lovaas was claiming dramatic results, and not everyone was convinced. But Smith, who has conducted many follow-up studies and kept a close watch on the many replication attempts conducted around the globe since 1987, says, “there have been some improvements in regard to these studies. I think we’ve shown that that finding is for real.”

Based on the study, Smith helped develop a model of the so-called Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention, or EIBI, that would be widely accessible. Ann Wagner, chief of the Autism Interventions Research Program at the National Institutes of Health, calls that work “critical.”

“He and his colleagues demonstrated that EIBI, which had previously been evaluated in a specialty clinic setting, could be effectively implemented in public school special education classrooms,” she says. And because EIBI has become the most widely recommended treatment for autism, “this is critical to the autism community.”

From his small office in Helen Wood Hall, Smith describes a typical regimen matter-of-factly, outlining each stage. “The child needs to understand that we’re going to ask him to do things, and that if he does them, he’s going to get rewarded for that,” he says of the first step. The therapist might ask the child to place a block in a bucket, for example. The child knows how to do that, Smith points out, but “what he doesn’t know is how to interact with the teacher and deal with an instructional situation.”

From there, the therapist will move into teaching new skills. “A key area at that point is imitation,” Smith says, which lays the foundation for learning a whole range of new skills. Once the child learns to imitate, she moves onto various levels of communication, with the ultimate goal of teaching the child to interact with another child.

There are many ways to perform behavioral therapies for kids with autism, Smith says, but the key is “we’re very systematic in trying to break down skills, and reinforce every little success. By working on a whole bunch of different skills in that way, we help the kids catch up to other kids by the time they’re ready for school.”

The University has extended its work with schools to include children of all ages. The division of neurodevelopmental and behavioral pediatrics has fostered close ties with local school districts, including the Rochester City School District, through a community consultation program. The relationship is reciprocal. Program staff train educators who teach children with autism in public schools, and they receive feedback from the districts about district priorities, in light of resources that are often limited.

The consultation program has also played a key role in placing the University on the forefront of autism research. Through the relationships the program’s directors have established with schools, Smith and Hyman have been able to recruit many local children with autism to participate in clinical studies. That participation is critical because, as Smith points out, in the nation as a whole, “nearly 90 percent of children with cancer are enrolled in clinical trials, contrasted with only 5 percent of children with autism.” That disparity is a major reason, says Smith, why researchers still know far less about autism than many other chronic conditions.

Smith came to Rochester from Washington State University in 2000. By that time, Rochester was already among a small number of sites the National Institutes of Health (NIH) had designated as a center for autism research. In 1997, the University had become one of 10 sites for the NIH’s Collaborative Programs of Excellence in Autism initiative to support research into the causes of autism.

The person most responsible for that designation was the late Patricia Rodier, an embryologist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology whose research proved pathbreaking, and who died this past spring at the age of 68. A lasting impact of her work has been the collaboration it encouraged. Her research into the causes of autism, itself a multidisciplinary enterprise, led directly to the work on autism treatment that has brought together Hyman, Smith, other colleagues at the Medical Center, and faculty from the Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology in the School of Arts and Sciences.

autismRESEARCHERS: Bennetto (above), a psychologist, and Rodier, an embryologist, formed one of Rochester’s many crossdisciplinary collaborations to study autism’s origins and potential treatments. (Photo: University Communications)

autism (Photo: University Communications)

Because autism affects higher functions such as social and communication skills, it was long assumed that it must originate in late gestation or early infancy and childhood, when significant brain development is taking place. Rodier demonstrated that autism’s roots appears to be much earlier—in fact, in the earliest period of gestation, when the central nervous system is just beginning to take shape.

Christopher Stodgell, research associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, who came to Rochester in 1996, says, “At that point, in the mid-1990s, no was talking about the embryology of autism.”

But two insights that Rodier had gleaned from other studies directed her attention to early embryonic development. One study, conducted in Sweden, found a far higher than normal rate of autism among a group exposed to thalidomide—the popular morning-sickness remedy in the 1960s that had been linked directly to multiple physical birth defects—very early in gestation, as the brain stem was forming.

Later, Rodier examined a preserved brain stem of a woman who’d had autism. She discovered the brain stem lacked two components, both arising from the same part of the neural tube, which gives rise to the central nervous system. Rodier had seen brain stems like this one before—in mice, in which researchers had deliberately blocked the expression of a gene called HOXA1 to study its role in brain development.

Rodier had decided to test the hypothesis that toxins, in combination with genes, caused autism. She devised a study using rats. She exposed an experimental group of pregnant rats to valproic acid—an anticonvulsant used in treating epilepsy and long known to lead to birth defects in both humans and rodents and suspected of a role in autism—during precisely the time HOXA1 would have been forming the brain stem.

It was that study that attracted Stodgell, then just out of graduate school in pharmacology at the University of Kansas, to come to Rochester. To pursue this research through the NIH’s Collaborative Programs for Excellence in Autism, Rodier brought together experts at Rochester, Cornell, Delaware, and elsewhere.

Stodgell recalls it as a heady experience. “Through my initial training, I was working with embryologists, pediatricians, psychologists, cancer biologists, neurologists,” he says. “And all of us were asking the same question: What causes autism? But we were all coming at it from different angles.”

The rat study proved groundbreaking. And in the February 2000 issue of Scientific American magazine, Rodier wrote a feature article explaining the findings. HOXA1 was a developmental gene; that is, it controlled the development of the brain by guiding the activity of other genes. A search for gene variants of HOXA1 using DNA samples from people with autism and a control group yielded two variant genes, she explained.

But from there, the mystery grew more complicated, as it invariably does in the search for the origins of autism. Presence of the gene variant increased the likelihood of autism, but didn’t guarantee it. And many people with autism did not have the gene variant. More than one factor, and more than one gene, were clearly involved.

Stodgell followed up with a study on the interaction of valproic acid and HOXA1 gene expression, in which he found that not only did exposure to valproic acid have a significant effect on HOXA1 gene expression, but the timing of exposure, down to the hour, also played a role in how the gene behaved. It affected for example, whether HOXA1 was “turned on”—the colloquial phrase referring to when a gene expresses itself—or turned off, and if turned on, how high.

“From there, we’ve gone on to looking at other genes and that’s some of the work that’s going on now,” he says. He adds that researchers in the global effort to identify relevant genes have identified more than 250 that play a role in autism.

As researchers try to pinpoint both genetic and environmental factors, Stodgell indicates that researchers are looking at two kinds of genetic mutations: inherited mutations, which are mutations that have survived and proliferated over time; and de novo mutations, which are spontaneous mutations that aren’t inherited but show up during DNA replication. “There are some studies that have just come out that show that there’s a higher rate of de novo mutations than we thought,” Stodgell says. “And we don’t know why that is.”

An expert in neurotoxicology in addition to genetics, he suspects the reasons may be environmental. He points to a 2011 Stanford-led twin study that made a big impact in the research community by suggesting the environment inside the womb has “a much greater impact than previously thought,” he says.

In that study, researchers looked at nearly 200 sets of twins in which at least one of the twins had autism. The subjects included identical twins, who share 100 percent of their genes, and fraternal twins, who share 50 percent of their genes. Far more often than researchers expected, if one fraternal twin had autism, the other did as well.

The quest to determine which environmental factors come into play, however, is as complicated as the quest to identify relevant genes. To date, only five environmental exposures have been shown to increase risk for autism, and in each case, only when the exposure was in utero: thalidomide; valproic acid; the rubella virus; alcohol at a level high enough to induce fetal alcohol syndrome; and the anti-inflammatory misoprostol, used for a range of purposes, from preventing ulcers to inducing labor.

“A lot of the funding right now is going back into treatment and phenotyping and characterizing, and to tell you the truth, that’s not a bad thing,” Stodgell says.

Parents and schools have immediate concerns to deal with. And, he adds, “no one treatment works for everybody.”

In 2003, the NIH awarded Rochester a Studies to Advance Autism Research and Treatment grant, one of only eight such grants in the United States, making the University one of eight “STAART centers” in the nation.

Under the STAART grant, the University accelerated its work on an additional dimension of autism treatment. Stodgell notes that when researchers have studied the genetic makeup of individuals diagnosed with autism, they’ve grouped together a pretty heterogeneous population.

“Not all socialization deficits or repetitive, restrictive behaviors are the same, even though they get lumped into a number in the diagnostic algorithm,” he says.

To understand the genetic roots of autism, he says a better approach is to study subjects who share particular behaviors that are correlated with autism—behaviors such as restrictive eating habits, or sensitivity to certain textures and sounds—and to study the genetics of the particular traits.

Loisa Bennetto, associate professor of psychology and now the chair of the Department of Clinical and Social Sciences in Psychology, leads several studies on autistic behaviors from her lab on the River Campus. She and Stodgell are married, and they met at Rochester, collaborating on autism research.

She says that when she arrived at Rochester in 1998, she met Rodier. They discovered they were both conducting studies of the facial nerve.

“She was studying cranial nerve dysfunction in autism,” Bennetto says of Rodier. Rodier was focused on the facial nerve, which controls the muscles used in facial expressions, because many people with autism have abnormalities in the nerve, which develops from the brain stem very early in gestation.

“I was studying nonverbal communication in autism including gestures and facial expressions,” says Bennetto. “I started collaborating with them,” she says of Rodier, Stodgell, and others in the lab “and it turned out to be a great collaboration.”

Bennetto has led multiple studies on sensory processing, particularly the processing of taste and smell. Restrictive eating habits, as well as unusual responses to tastes and smells—either hypersensitivity or hyposensitivity—are among the most common traits of people with autism.

She works on characterizing these traits—or what’s called the phenotype of the study participants—while Stodgell studies the genotype of participants and their families, looking for gene variants that might be associated with particular traits.

Building on an earlier finding that children with autism process taste and smell differently from their typically developing peers, the two are looking at restrictive eating behaviors among children with autism and asking: To what degree are restrictive eating habits due to the patient’s processing of sensory information such as taste and smell? To what extent are they merely another instance of the patient’s general insistence on rigid, predictable routines? Do the traits run in families or are they particular to autism?

Bennetto notes that eating involves many senses. Smell contributes to our sense of taste, but so too does visual information, such as color, and tactile information, such as texture. “If children with autism have trouble integrating that information, it’s going to affect their food preferences.”

“The big question is, how do these underlying sensory difficulties drive our ideas about treatment?” she adds.

That’s a project for Smith and Hyman, who are looking to develop new treatment regimens based on the preliminary findings of Bennetto’s and Stodgell’s and other similar studies.

For Hyman, the key to progress has been collaboration— collaboration among researchers, with parents and caregivers, and with schools.

These relationships, says Hyman, “have really opened up dialogues that are not present at a lot of other places. It’s a true example of how translational research occurs.”

Hilton agrees. She says there are many issues that remain to be addressed, both in the research, and in terms of access to what the research has provided. But looking back 12 years, she also sees the progress. “We hear it all the time,” she says. “Parents feel much better prepared.”

“You don’t want that diagnosis. But at least once you get it, now you know, ‘Ok, I can move forward, rather than running in place.’ ”

Ring Tones

The bells of the carillon are pealing with renewed vigor as the University’s Carillon Society brings a new generation of students to the keyboard.

By Kathleen McGarvey

carillonPREPARATION: The bells are permanently tuned, but require daily adjustments. Jeff Kabel ’12 and Emily Sumner ’15 modify the turnbuckles while Rachel Stuart ’14 watches. (Photo: Adam Fenster)

The sounds of the Hopeman Memorial Carillon waft over the Eastman Quadrangle with an almost ethereal prettiness.

But behind those gentle tones is a machinery anything but delicate.

Suspended in the dome of Rush Rhees Library is a wooden box the size of a very small room. This is where the carillonneur plays the music that fills the River Campus. She—in this case, physics graduate student Bethany Little—sits on a bench before a large keyboard and pedalboard that ring the massive bells that hang high above her, in the lantern of the dome.

Playing the sweet sounds of a carillon is an intensely physical task. The 48 keys are in fact “batons,” wooden levers that must be depressed with the force of the whole arm. Little’s leg muscles visibly tense and relax as she exerts pressure from her thigh to her foot to push some of the 24 pedals down.

“You really have to throw yourself into it,” says Kelly Guerrieri ’14. “You use your whole body and your whole concentration, and you get lost in it. And then you walk out onto the quad and realize everybody heard you.”

It’s a paradox that has bewitched players since bells were installed in 1930, first as a chime and then, in the 1970s, as a carillon.

“You’re anonymous—but everyone can hear you play,” remembers David Caldwell ’75, the only official carillonneur the University has ever had. “It’s a wonderful instrument to play if you’re young and strong.”

For Guerrieri, an archaeology, technology, and historical structures major from Pittsburgh, the appeal was so strong that—after first hearing a portable carillon at a Renaissance festival—she applied only to colleges that had a carillon. “I wanted to learn to play it,” she says.

Guerrieri’s not alone. There is fresh appreciation for—and student interest in—the carillon these days, sparked in great part by Jeffrey Le ’08 (KEY), then a music major from Henrietta, N.Y. He earned a Kaufmann Entrepreneurial Year grant to bring back a student carillon society, a successor to the Bellman Society that flourished at Rochester in the mid 20th century.

“Student interest was already there. There just wasn’t an outlet for it,” says Le, who is now working as a clinical research coordinator at the Center of Resuscitation Science at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He’ll start medical school in the fall.

Le visited other campuses—including Cornell, Berkeley, and Alfred University in nearby Alfred, N.Y.—where students play their school’s bells, to investigate teaching models that would fit well at Rochester. He became a proficient player, thanks to mentoring by Tiffany Ng ’08E (MM), a graduate of the Royal Carillon School “Jef Denyn” in Belgium, who worked to promote the carillon while a student.

Le’s primary way of publicizing the carillon was simply to play it, to make it a familiar sound of the campus and let listeners know the bells could do much more than play quarterly chimes each hour. He gave noontime concerts weekly, and arranged his own music—especially music that he knew would resonate with fellow students. A YouTube video of Le playing the theme music from the Harry Potter movies became a minor web sensation, picked up by outlets such as the Huffington Post.

“It brought about an awareness of what could be for the carillon. I would tip my hat to him—he was the spark,” says Josef Hanson, manager of music performance programs in the Department of Music in the College.

Since Le’s graduation, Doris Aman has taken up his work. An adjunct instructor of the carillon, she’s bringing students to the carillon, organizing the University Carillon Society, and providing lessons to any interested pupil of the instrument. While the number of players is growing, most people experience the carillon, of course, as a listener.

It’s a consequential role. “Part of the secret of a good chime is in the foundry, part is in the tune, and part is in the wind, but most is in the imagination of the listener,” English professor and bell player John Slater once wrote of the Hopeman Memorial Chime, the carillon’s predecessor.

Listeners are found well beyond the quadrangle. “Students increasingly recognize the carillon as a community instrument,” Hanson says, “and not just the campus community. Its sounds reach listeners on the grounds of the Medical Center, in the 19th Ward, in Genesee Valley Park, Mt. Hope Cemetery, and other areas nearby.”

The bells also reach across years. They were born at the birth of the River Campus, when the music of bells was enjoying a revival after the metal industry was freed from the constrictions of wartime production for World War I.

Those planning the new campus imagined installing a carillon when, in 1926, they contemplated what had been Oak Hill golf course. But costs were high—import charges, for example, increased the cost of bells bought in Europe by 40 percent—and Rochester’s ambitions were scaled back, and back again. Plans for a carillon—which must have 23 or more bells—became plans for a chime, which has fewer than 23 bells. At one point cost-conscious supporters discussed the possibility of buying just one bell.

To the rescue came the Hopeman family. A native of the Netherlands, where bells have long been popular, Arendt Hopeman arrived in the United States in 1868. One year later, he founded the construction company—later incorporated as A. W. Hopeman and Sons, General Contractors—that oversaw construction of the River Campus, the Eastman Theatre, and the Eastman School. He died in 1928, and to honor his memory and his Dutch heritage, his children—Margaret Hopeman, Class of 1903, who earned a master’s degree in 1906, Albert, and Bertram Cornelius—made a gift of a 17-bell chime forged by Meneely & Co. In the bell business since 1826, Meneely’s foundry branch of Watervliet, N.Y., had already created bells for locations such as Valley Forge, Pa., and Cornell University.

The bell lantern atop the dome of Rush Rhees library was added specifically to house the chime. The bells were so immense that they required additional heavy steel girders for the dome, a cost that the Hopeman family bore. The original bells installed in the library weighed more than 17 tons. Two more bells came in 1956, adding six more tons to the weight and giving players a greater range of tones. The largest of the bells—the second largest ever cast at the Meneely foundry—weighed 7,500 pounds. It was said to be one of the deepest-toned bells made outside Europe at the time.

The chime was played first by Slater, who served as University bellman from 1930 to 1940, during which time he arranged 200 tunes for performance. He was succeeded by Robert Metzdorf ’33, ’39 (PhD), later an honorary trustee and curator in the Department of Rare Books in the 1930s and ’40s. When Metzdorf, who earned the first PhD granted by the English department, stepped down in 1949, students took on the role as members of the newly established Bellman Society.

It wasn’t an entirely glamorous service. So as not to disturb students working in the library, the bells were sealed off from the body of the library. Consequently, players had to open a window to hear the notes they struck. In the already less than toasty dome, an open window in the small chamber that housed the chime’s keyboard made for sometimes frigid conditions for the players.

That hardship didn’t meet with much sympathy. Minutes of a 1959 meeting note: “Professor Canning and Dr. McCambridge severely chided all the bellmen for complaining about playing with cold hands. They pointed out how down through the ages bellmen have played with cold hands and their complaints have gotten them nowhere. Dr. McCambridge also pointed out that the chime at Cornell is not heated.”

Members and former members of the Bellman Society numbered almost 100 by the time the chime was decommissioned after 40 years, due to deterioration. An inspector of the chime, James Lawson, carillonneur at Riverside Church in New York City, advised in 1966 that the University should replace the chime with a lightweight carillon—a suggestion acted on with the help of an endowment for the maintenance of the bells given by the Hopemans.

None of the chime bells was incorporated into the carillon because of limited space—and out of consideration for students at work in the library or sleeping in nearby residence halls who would be disrupted by too loud an instrument, says Aman.

Six of the 19 chime bells moved to Christ Church on East Avenue in Rochester. The others were sent to Europe to be melted down so their metal could be re-used.

The bells for the new, 50-bell carillon were also cast in Europe, at the Royal Eijsbouts Bellfoundry in the Netherlands. They were installed in November 1973 and dedicated, at a gala celebration, that December.

While Rochester’s chime relied on electricity running from the keyboard to the bells, the carillon is completely mechanical, says Aman. “It’s rung entirely by the player.”

Those players come from across the University. “Doris has done a remarkable job in creating interdisciplinarity,” says Hanson, drawing students from science departments and the medical school, as well as music and other majors. “If you don’t read music, it’s going to be an uphill battle. But it’s open to anybody.”

carillonLESSON TIME: Jeff Kabel ’12 and Rachel Stuart ’14 train in the carillon cabin under Doris Aman’s watchful eye as fellow students Kelly Guerrieri ’14 and Emily Sumner ’15 look on. (Photo: Adam Fenster)

Emily Sumner ’15, a brain and cognitive sciences major from Bedford, Mass., heard the music playing on campus and wanted to try it. A singer who plays the piano and is also learning mandolin, she’s been studying with Aman since early in her freshman year.

The hardest thing, she says, is moving from the fine motor control used for other instruments to the large motions needed for playing the carillon. But she smiles at the payoff: “It’s this powerful instrument, and you’re controlling it.”

In the carillon cabin with physics graduate student Bethany Little, Aman coaches her to adjust how high above the batons she holds her hands—the further the drop, the greater the force, and the louder and longer the bells sound.

“One of the first skills I teach students is to listen to their bells,” says Aman, who learned to play on the Davis Memorial Carillon at Alfred University—one of just seven carillons in the state. She often brings two students at a time up to the dome, or to the practice keyboard in Spurrier, which is attached to something like a xylophone, so that they can distinguish the tones they strike from those of their partner.

Bells may seem fairly indestructible, but players need to stay attentive. If a clapper slams a bell and doesn’t release, it makes a clunking sound. Playing the bells in temperatures below 32 degrees may crack or tear the original leather straps. And if a carillonneur forgets to turn off the automatic chime—a Westminster Chimes mechanism was a gift from the Class of 1951 and was designed and constructed by the University’s chief electrician, Arthur Hughston, then replaced by a Verdin electronic chime—the bell can be damaged by the simultaneous striking of the player’s interior clapper and the chime’s exterior hammer.

“We’re performing every time we’re up here,” says Aman, “so one of the first skills carillon students learn is to keep going when you make a mistake. You want to keep the beat and the melody going.”

“She’s training you from the beginning to teach other people what you know,” says Guerrieri, who has recently become a mentor. Le recommended, and Aman is working to foster, a system by which students reach a certain level of proficiency and then begin instructing others.

The bells ring as students take lessons and practice; there are performances at commencement ceremonies and other celebratory or solemn occasions through the year; and on various July evenings, carillon fans spread out across the Eastman Quad to enjoy the performances of visiting carillonneurs.

That tradition flourished in the 1980s, when picnickers would compete for best costumes, best menus, and other honors. It was serious battle: one group recreated the final luncheon served aboard the Titanic; a Middle Eastern feast featured a belly dancer. “Picnics on the Quad” produced two cookbooks and, say those who were there, a host of happy memories.

“Those were the glory days,” remembers Andrew Stalder ’48, who sponsored the guest artists. A violin major at the Eastman School until he left to serve in World War II, he joined the Foreign Service after his graduation and never returned to the violin.

“Music was to be my career, but the interruption of the war changed my focus,” he says.

But after returning to Rochester in 1979, he saw a photo in the paper of David Caldwell performing at the carillon keyboard, and an old love took a new form. Stalder—a lifelong student of the piano who studies still at the Eastman Community Music School—took lessons from Caldwell and ultimately became a carillonneur qualified by the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America. He performed on the Rochester instrument until 1992, when he decided at age 70 to retire from the vigorous performances and from the then rather treacherous trip to the carillon, which was reached by a catwalk in the dome.

“It was terrifying,” Caldwell, too, recalls. The space has since been renovated to make it safer and easier to navigate.

Caldwell first became involved as a freshman, as a member of the Bellman Society. He played the chime in its final years, and the carillon after its installation. Trained by visiting professional Arie Abbenes, a Dutch carillonneur, at the time of the installation, Caldwell left after graduation for business school. He returned as the official carillonneur in 1978, thinking it “would be fun to play the carillon for a year.”

It was more than fun, it seems—he stayed not one year but 11, working part time to maintain the carillon, teach students, and perform while also working in computing at the Eastman School.

Because Rochester’s carillon is light, the sound is not as loud on the ground as that of other carillons, he says. “A lot of people don’t have any idea where it comes from. My favorite memory was hearing a parent, walking across campus with a small child, telling the child that the music was the wind blowing through the bells.”

So much for the carillonneurs’ hard work. But newly minted biochemistry graduate Rachel Blomberg ’12, from Denver, Colo., faced similar confusion before she began her lessons. “I’d been fascinated with the bells from the very first time I heard them playing, but it took me two years to realize that it was actually people up there and then to find out who to contact to get involved.”

For Jim Fackenthal ’83, playing the carillon at Rochester “began what is now a big part of my life.” A cancer researcher at the University of Chicago, he plays the carillon professionally, maintaining an active role in the Guild of Carillonneurs in North America, performing and teaching at the University of Chicago and in the greater Chicago area, and playing at international festivals and on concert tours. “The carillon is central to my creative life and artistic identity. I owe a lot to my time with David and the Hopeman Memorial Carillon.”

Fackenthal’s story is exceptional, but Hanson hopes that all will find the carillon central in some, perhaps ineffable, way to their time on campus.

“My personal goal,” he says, “is to integrate the carillon into campus life in such a way that when students leave here, they think of the bells as part of being at Rochester.”

“There’s a strong visual element to what people remember about being on campus”—the library dome, the quad, and other sights, says Le. “This is an acoustic side.”

An exhibition, The Builder’s Bells: The Hopeman Memorial Chime and Carillon, is on display in the Great Hall at Rush Rhees Library through September 30. To learn more about this July’s schedule of concerts, visit www.rochester.edu/College/ MUR/concerts.

Home on the Fringe

London theater producer Erica Fee ’99 spearheads the City of Rochester’s first Fringe Festival.

By Karen McCally ’02 (PhD)

feeSTAND OR FALL: Fee says the fringe format invites experimentation and freedom—“a chance to succeed and a chance to fail,” for emerging artists and veterans alike. “That’s what sets it apart.” (Photo: Adam Fenster)

Talking with Erica Fee ’99—at Java’s on Gibbs Street, adjacent to the Eastman School and in the heart of Rochester’s East End—can seem a bit like talking to someone who has just launched a political campaign.

She knows this.

The producer of a major arts festival, Fee says, “There’s a lot of politics in theater and theater in politics. Staging a campaign, producing a festival or a show—they’re more similar than they are different.”

With the help of a “working board” of 20-some members, Fee (who majored in political science and minored in theater) will be bringing the Rochester Fringe Festival to fruition over five days in September. Taking place at venues throughout the city, supplemented by outdoor performances clustered in the Gibbs Street neighborhood, the festival will include performances of comedy, drama, music, dance, and displays of visual arts.

It’s a venture that has brought together the University, multiple theaters, restaurants, the George Eastman House, neighboring colleges, and big financial supporters, which is why community members will also see the festival billed as the First Niagara Rochester Fringe Festival.

In her mid-30s, Fee has energy and presence. Nonetheless, she says she initially experienced some “pushback” among a few members of the community who wondered about the new face—the woman from “out of town” who would be running the show.

Which is why Fee is quick to note that she is not, in fact, from out of town.

Raised in the nearby town of Victor, she traces her family’s roots in the area to the early 19th century. But for the past 11 years, she’s been making her way in the theater scene in London’s West End. It was in the UK that she became acquainted with fringe festivals—a unique kind of arts event with a storied history.

The first fringe festival took place in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1947. Entirely unplanned, it was essentially a shadow festival to the much larger, grander Edinburgh International Festival, a juried festival in which multiple theater groups were not invited to participate. They held their own festival—performing at pubs and at rented space at the University of Edinburgh.

Today, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which remains unjuried, is the largest arts festival in the world and has spawned the new genre. In 2012, there will be approximately 200 fringe festivals around the world, with 20 in the United States.

“What’s exciting about a fringe festival is the structure,” says Fee. “Unlike a traditional performing arts festival, or even the jazz festival here, where there’s a central artistic board” she says, referring to the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival held in the city each June, “the venues all decide their own programming.” It’s a structure that allows risk taking by new artists or established talents, by up-and-coming venues, or long-standing community standard-bearers. “They’re really given a chance to succeed and a chance to fail,” she says.

Fee acquired her knowledge of fringe festivals on the job—as both a performer and a producer of shows in the flagship Edinburgh festival. After graduating from Rochester, Fee moved to London to study acting at Arts Educational Schools London, a nearly century-old school that counts among its graduates Julie Andrews and Jane Seymour. In 2001, she won a role in I Am Star Trek, a comedy by Rick Vorndran about the life of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, as Roddenberry’s wife, Majel. It was that show that brought her to the Edinburgh Fringe.

“I just couldn’t believe how fantastic the Edinburgh Fringe was,” says Fee, who returned to London to continue to work with the producers of the show, the Skullduggery Theatre Company, who became her first mentors. By 2004, she was ensconced in London’s West End with a sole proprietorship, Erica Fee Productions, focused on bringing new works to stage. In 2006, she achieved another breakthrough when she won—for the first time—the Society of London Theatre’s prestigious honor for new producers, the Stage One Award. The award, which she won again in 2007, placed her in a course, gave her funding for productions, and put her and other award winners under the mentorship of veteran London producer Paul Elliott.

All of which meant that Fee’s credentials were irresistible when informal discussions began among community and University leaders about creating a Rochester performing arts festival. Among those participating in those conversations were Joel Seligman, University president, Douglas Lowry, the Joan and Martin Messinger Dean of the Eastman School, and Nigel Maister, director of the University’s International Theatre Program. Fee, who was visiting Rochester in the summer of 2009, attended a few meetings of the then infant effort at Maister’s suggestion.

“They started talking about the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and, of course, I had to open my fat mouth and say that I had a lot of experience with the Edinburgh Fringe,” Fee says, laughing.

By 2010, the momentum was gunning for a genuine “fringe,” and Fee had moved back to Rochester to spearhead the effort.

According to Maister, “there wasn’t a lot of focus” in the early discussions about a Rochester arts festival. “What Erica brought from her experience in the UK crucially helped define the kind of festival we would have. And that’s a major achievement.”

As for Erica Fee Productions of London, Fee says, “I’m not producing anything else right now because this is my morning, noon, and night. I still have my fingers in pies. I still have interests. But right now, all my focus is on the Rochester Fringe.”

The Next Weave

What you can’t Google today, you’ll Weave tomorrow, says Georges Grinstein ’76 (PhD), technical director of a “game-shifting” data visualization tool.

By Karen McCally ’02 (PhD)

grinsteinLET’S SEE THE DATA: Grinstein predicts the data visualization program Weave will help democratize the use of data. The program’s interactivity “can spark debate,” he says. “You might find some patterns that people haven’t noticed.” (Photo: Bizuayehu Tesfaye/AP Images for Rochester Review)

Imagine, says Georges Grinstein ’76 (PhD), that you’ve graduated from Rochester with your bachelor’s degree and you want to move to San Diego—a sensible proposition, perhaps, after four years of lake-effect snowstorms.

Then imagine you’re in the market for a place to live. You want to be somewhere safe, and you want to be close to work.

“Right now, if you start searching in Wikipedia or Google, you’ll get documents that are somewhat related to what you’re looking for,” says Grinstein.

But imagine that instead of entering key terms into an existing search engine, you entered them on a web page that would produce for you a customized map—as fast as Google might now serve you up a long list of links. And that map would show you exactly where you might look for your apartment or your house, to meet all of the criteria you’ve named in your search.

In the next two to four years, you’ll be able to do exactly that, says Grinstein. And the program that will allow you to do it is a free, open source application called Weave.

Grinstein earned his doctorate from Rochester in mathematics and is now a professor of computer science at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell. He’s also the director of the university’s Institute for Visualization and Perception Research, where the Weave project is centered.

Weave is already making an impact among community-based nonprofits that partnered with social scientists at Lowell and with Grinstein—and his team of more than 20 computer science graduate students—to develop the program. Over four years, the project that started with a few stakeholders grew to include nearly 20 nonprofits around the country—from the Boston Foundation to Metro Seattle to the South Florida Regional Planning Council—that now comprise the Open Indicators Consortium. The consortium members, the Barr Foundation, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation are the chief funders of the project.

Charlotte Kahn, the senior director of the Boston Foundation’s Boston Indicators Project, calls Weave “a game-shifting technology.”

“When people can see it, they can see how valuable it is for their work—especially people who want to use data to drive social change.”

The Boston Indicators Project website features an expanding “visualization gallery” of Weave-generated maps, scatterplots, and other visual aids that use a vast array of data sets to answer specific questions about the region: To what extent is public transportation serving the most populous census tracts? Has the population in your census tract been getting older, younger, or staying about the same?

The most exciting aspect of Weave, Grinstein says, is its interactivity.

“It can spark debate,” he says. “You might find some patterns that people haven’t noticed.” In other words, once Weave becomes widely accessible, it’s possible that entities such as governments, corporations, universities, and nonprofits will determine to a lesser degree the uses of data.

“Georges and his team are working, it seems, around the clock,” says Kahn, with users “all over the country, whose needs are really different.” And by developing the program in partnership with organizations whose needs vary, Kahn says, Weave “literally becomes better every day.”

Private companies are starting to notice, says Grinstein, as are entities such as the United Nations, the Census Bureau, the Department of Commerce, the Centers for Disease Control, and the National Endowment for the Arts, all of whom have approached Grinstein about Weave.

But these are organizations with information technologists on staff. When will Weave be accessible to the ordinary person on the street? By the end of the summer, Grinstein says, the installation of the program will be simplified to the extent that anyone with some data to share should be able to set up a web page using Weave without the assistance of an IT administrator. Grinstein expects it will take another two to four years before the program will reach its ultimate goal of enabling general queries.

The whole project is detailed at www.iweave.org. And although you’ll read there that Weave is an acronym for Web-based Analysis and Visualization Environment, Grinstein confides a more poignant origin of the program’s name.

It’s named for his late wife, Janet Coutu ’76.

“She was a weaver,” says Grinstein. After earning her degree in geology, she turned to art. “Throughout her career, she did lots of weaving and fiberwork.”

After meeting at Rochester, the couple traveled all over the world, spending two summers in China, where Georges was teaching computer graphics to college students, before they returned to the States and raised four children.

In the coming years, Grinstein expects to hear a lot more about weaving. Already, he says, among the nonprofit users, “Just like people say, ‘I’m going to Google it,’ they say, ‘I’m going to Weave it.’”

Commencement Honorees

As it does each year, the commencement season offered the chance to honor extraordinary achievements and service among the University’s extended family. Five Rochester alumni—honorary as well as degree holding—were recognized in 2012.

Roger Friedlander ’56: Charles Force Hutchison and Marjorie Smith Hutchison Medal

A retired vice president of Staples and a University trustee, Friedlander was the cofounder of Spectrum Office Products, one of the largest office supply businesses in the Northeast before it was sold to Staples in 1994. From 1996 to 2000, he chaired the board of the Golisano Children's Hospital, and from 2000 to 2004, he chaired the board of the Medical Center. He’s been a trustee since 1997, and also serves on the executive advisory committee of the Simon School and the Eastman Dental Center Foundation Board.

Robert Hurlbut: Honorary Doctor of Science Degree

The president of the Hurlbut Trust and a University life trustee, Hurlbut is a leader in the business of providing dignified elder care. In 1968, he founded Vari-Care, which oversaw 24 long-term health care facilities and retirement complexes in several states. In 1994, he created the Hurlbut Trust, which offers financial and consulting services for health care facilities and rental properties. Hurlbut has served as the chair of the board of the Medical Center, vice chair of the Eastman Dental Center Foundation Board, and an inaugural member of the School of Nursing National Council.

Arthur Moss ’62M (Res): Eastman Medal

A professor of medicine at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, Moss is one of the nation's most influential cardiologists. His clinical and scientific research focuses on the treatment and prevention of cardiac arrhythmias (irregular heart beats), heart failure, and long QT syndrome, a rare, genetic disorder that makes the heart particularly susceptible to arrhythmias. He led the first large study proving implantable defibrillators saved the lives of patients who suffered a heart attack and were prone to arrhythmias. His discovery of three genes involved in the disease led to the creation of a diagnostic blood test.

George Walker ’56E (DMA): Honorary Doctor of Music Degree

A Pulitzer Prize–winning composer, Walker has published more than 90 works that have been performed by virtually every major orchestra in the United States and by many abroad. In 1996, he won the Pulitzer Prize in music for Lilacs for Voice and Orchestra, which was premiered by the Boston Symphony under conductor Seiji Ozawa. Walker’s most recent work, Sinfonia No. 4, premiered in March. He’s a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Classical Music Hall of Fame.

Glenn Watkins ’53E (PhD): Rochester Distinguished Scholar Award

The Earl V. Moore Professor Emeritus of Music History and Musicology at the University of Michigan, Watkins is a distinguished musicologist whose scholarly impact ranges from his pioneering studies of Renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo to his influential books on musical modernism and its postmodern consequences. Watkins’s book Gesualdo: The Man and His Music, with a preface by Igor Stravinsky, was a 1974 National Book Award nominee.

Sound Advice

What’s the difference between a CD and an MP3? An AAC file and one that’s “Mastered for iTunes”?

By Karen McCally ’02 (PhD)

ludwigTHE MASTER: Grammy Award–winning mastering engineer Ludwig says Apple’s “Mastered for iTunes” format is “a big step forward.” (Photo: Kevin Brusie for Rochester Review)

Vinyl records have become vintage items, and with the proliferation of downloadable music files, many think compact discs are headed in the same direction.

Arguably, only one thing has prevented the extinction of CDs: Many a music aficionado has claimed that the sound quality of downloadable music is inferior.

Apple has begun offering an upgraded version of its downloadable files on iTunes. The new format—“Mastered for iTunes”—is billed by the company as “Music as the Artist and Sound Engineer Intended.”

All of which leads us to ask: How is sound produced on these various formats, and what does it mean for sound quality?

We asked Bob Ludwig ’66E, ’01E (MM)—winner of a 2012 Grammy Award for his role as mastering engineer on the Super Deluxe Edition of Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (Polydor) by Derek and the Dominoes and mastering engineer for the “Mastered for iTunes” version of Mylo Xyloto (Capitol Records), the latest album by Coldplay—to help us sort it out.

Vinyl

How sound is produced . . .

“Sound is produced from vinyl records as a mechanical stylus—attached to some magnets or coils, generating a faint amount of electricity—moves through the grooves in the vinyl. That sound is greatly amplified through your speakers.”

. . . and what it means for sound quality.

“The record player has evolved for more than 125 years and delivers superb sound when everything is clean and the vinyl pressings are good. In fact, it can reproduce sounds beyond the range of our hearing. However, every play deteriorates the grooves slightly, and scratches and pops accumulate easily.”

Compact Discs

How sound is produced . . .

“Compact discs store music in the form of data. That is, they contain digital representations of sound waves. The digital information stored on a CD results from sound wave samplings taken at a rate of approximately 44,000 times per second, measured in more than 65,000 gradations. The CD player contains a digital-to-analog converter and amplifier, which allow us to ‘hear’ the data as sound.”

. . . and what it means for sound quality.

“CDs offer a pretty high-fidelity representation of analog. They record a very wide dynamic range, reproducing sounds that are very loud, to sounds so soft you can barely hear them. And unlike vinyl records, CDs don’t deteriorate with every play.”

Downloadable Files

The MP3 and Apple’s AAC (Advanced Audio Coding)

How sound is produced . . .

“The MP3 and AAC digital music files that you download onto your computer, MP3 player, or iPod are called ‘lossy files.’ This means that the files lose much of the data contained in a CD. The advantage is that this makes them easily downloadable and makes it possible to carry an entire music library on a single device.”

. . . and what it means for sound quality.

“Because of the loss of data, most MP3 and AAC files have subtle distortions in them.”

AAC ‘Mastered for iTunes’

Downloadable files

How sound is produced . . .

“ ‘Mastered for iTunes’ files are made from higher fidelity sources than CDs. In addition, the distortions that you hear on traditional MP3 and AAC files are measurable and removed on the new format.”

. . . and what it means for sound quality.

“ ‘Mastered for iTunes’ is a big step forward. Even when you listen to pop music—music that’s loud, where dynamic range isn’t nearly as important as it is in classical music, for example—you can hear the difference even on small computer speakers.”

In the News

Ilene Busch-Vishniac ’76 Named President of University of Saskatchewan

newsIlene Busch-Vishniac ’76 (Photo: McMaster University)

Ilene Busch-Vishniac ’76 has been named the ninth president of the University of Saskatchewan and is the first woman to hold that job at the Canadian university. A mechanical engineer, Busch-Vishniac has held key administrative posts at several top research universities. Most recently, she was the provost and academic vice president at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Prior to that role, she served as dean of the school of engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Her term begins July 1.

Former Ambassador to Libya Nominated as U.S. Ambassador to Ghana

In April, President Obama nominated Gene Cretz ’72 as U.S. ambassador to Ghana. From December 2008 until December 2010, Cretz, a career diplomat, served as U.S. ambassador to Libya, the first American ambassador to the north African nation in 36 years. In September 2011, following the late president Muammar Qaddafi’s flight from Tripoli and the installation of a new interim Libyan government, Cretz returned to Libya as an envoy. He held that post until May.

Carrie Johnson Adelman ’97: a ‘Future Leader’ in Cancer Research

Carrie Johnson Adelman ’97 has helped identify the role of a tumor suppressor gene, HelQ, in the development of some inherited cancers, including ovarian cancer. Her discovery won her a Future Leaders of Basic Cancer Research Award from the American Association of Cancer Research. Adelman, a postdoctoral fellow at the London Research Institute of Cancer Research UK, and three other winners received the international award in April.

Amit Goyal ’91 (PhD) Named Fellow of Materials Research Society

Amit Goyal ’91 (PhD), a materials scientist at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, has been named a 2012 fellow of the Materials Research Society. The society, which has more than 16,000 members worldwide, is an interdisciplinary professional alliance to promote materials research. A specialist in high-temperature superconductivity and one of 28 fellows selected this year from around the globe, Goyal was cited for “seminal and sustained contributions to the field of small-scale mechanical behavior of materials” as well as professional leadership in materials science.

Bernard Ferrari ’70, ’74M (MD) Named a Johns Hopkins Dean

Bernard Ferrari ’70, ’74M (MD), a surgeon-turned-business consultant who served as a partner at McKinsey & Company before establishing the Ferrari Consultancy, has been named dean of the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School. Ferrari, who is also a Rochester trustee, becomes the second dean of the business school, which was established in 2007.

Dinner with Coach

coach (Photo: Ria Casartelli for Rochester Review.)

For the seventh straight year, Yellowjackets who played under football coach Pat Stark gathered in the spring to honor their coach and to reconnect with one another.

In attendance were members of Stark’s early Rochester teams who played for him from 1969 to 1977.

(Front row) Mike Roulan ’71, Stark (seated), Frank Perillo ’73, and Bill Hammond ’73; (middle row) Bill Costello ’72, Jim Dunnigan ’73, Greg Conrad ’72, Rick Magere ’72, Tony Daniele ’71, Phil Chrys ’75, Paul Caputo ’73, Jim Juraska ’73, Mike Garritano ’76, Mark McAnaney ’75, Dave Cidale ’71, and Jim Mazur ’78; (back row) Kevin Maier ’78, Dave McNelis ’74, Ed Heffernan ’76, Dick Rasmussen ’72, ’79 (MS), ’97W (EdD), Quentin Call ’76, John Badowski ’77, Denny Hennigan ’75, Paul Macielak ’72, Joe Novek ’73, Bob Kulpinski ’71, ’73 (MS), ’86 (MS), and Len Champion ’73.

TRIBUTE

Zvi Zeitlin: Portrait of an Artist

tribute_zeitlinPROFESSOR & PERFORMER: A noted concert violinist, Zeitlin joined the Eastman School faculty in 1967. (Photo: Kurt Brownell for the Eastman School)

Zvi Zeitlin, who died in May at age 90, was among the finest violinists of the 20th century. Born in Russia, he emigrated with his parents to Israel when he was 2, and to the United States to study at Juilliard when he was 12. In 1951, he made his performance debut in New York City, followed by years of touring with almost every major orchestra in the world, and fostering friendships with fellow musical icons such as Igor Stravinsky and Itzhak Perlman. In 1967, he joined the Eastman School faculty, where in 1974 he become the school’s first Kilbourn Professor and in 1998 was named Distinguished Professor of Violin.

The following is based on an essay I wrote as a freshman in Mr. Zeitlin’s studio. The student described is not just me, but every student touched by Mr. Zeitlin.

—Gregory Perrin ’12, ’12E

Room 309, Eastman School of Music, is alive with creative fire. Imposing file cabinets burst with scores and handwritten letters from legendary composers and musicians. Near a towering bookcase of LPs, a poster announces a concert long ago: Raphael Kubelic conducts the devilishly difficult Schoenberg violin concerto, with soloist Zvi Zeitlin.

In his antique cushioned chair, wearing his dark blue sweater vest, Professor Zeitlin, now 87, regards a fresh-faced student.

“What do you have for me?”

The young man has seen Zeitlin walking slowly through the Eastman halls, smiling at all who catch his gaze. Yet the freshman now knows to expect the most demanding violin pedagogue, possibly in the world. A lesson may last two hours. Zeitlin gives as many lessons as he feels each student needs. Today is a Saturday. The student tightens his bow, tunes his fiddle, and begins an allemande by J. S. Bach. Zeitlin listens to the entire movement. “Bravo,” he says quietly. Then he elaborates, and his voice grows agitated.

“But you have no conception of the piece. Do you care what Bach intended?” The student says nothing.

Zeitlin rises and takes up a seasoned violin. “Bach melodies are the product of harmonies,” he says. “You must see the relationship of voices and always have a sense of harmonic direction.” He sings a few bars. Then he plays, emphasizing the harmonic changes within the melody.

“Now play!”

Visibly nervous, the freshman begins. Instantly Zeitlin interrupts, laughing.

“You speak the language, but you have no idea what you are saying!” Zeitlin demonstrates on his violin, and the student again begins.

“No!” shouts Zeitlin. “Don’t just copy me! But that is better. Use your imagination and phrase according to the harmony and what the composer wrote.”

All this criticism, distilled from a lifetime of performing and teaching at the highest levels, is painful to students. Yet any observer is likely to sense Zeitlin’s deep love—a ferocious love—for his students.

To conclude two hours of incisive instruction and commentary, Zeitlin says, calmly, “I am on your side. But I am preparing you for the people who aren’t.”

TRIBUTE

Ernest Del Monte: ‘Cut from a Different Cloth’

delmonteLEGACY: Del Monte hoped that “Alzheimer’s and stroke will go the way of polio.” (Photo: University Advancement)

My first encounter with Ernie Del Monte, University life trustee, was over lunch at the Pittsford Del Monte Lodge in May 2002. Ernie’s grandson, Lee Halligan, a premed student at Reed College, was curious about neuroscience and neurosurgery and had asked his grandfather to introduce him to a neurosurgeon at the U of R. I offered to have Lee observe an awake brain operation and Ernie graciously thanked me. Then he ordered a cup of coffee and started asking me questions. What does the brain look and feel like at surgery? What can be done to improve the care of patients in Rochester and what barriers need to be overcome? What is the status of research at the U of R that might lead to a cure for brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and stroke?

By the end of this first of many four-hour lunches with Ernie, I realized that I had encountered a man who was cut from a different cloth than most of us.

Ernie died in April at age 87. He had assembled an extraordinary legacy of success in business: first in assembling missile generators, later in real estate, and finally by assembling hotels around the world using a patented construction method that was the product of his creative mind. And now he was becoming interested in understanding how clinical care and scientific research could help patients with neurologic disease.

In the decade following my first lunch with Ernie, he immersed himself in a personal journey of discovery in neuromedicine. He came to the operating room to observe brain surgery. He toured our neuromedicine research laboratories. Over another four-hour lunch in Palm Springs in 2007, Ernie told me that he was inspired by the depth and breadth of talent in neuromedicine at Rochester and that he wanted to contribute. He said to me: “U of R neuromedicine is bigger than you think; and I want it to get even bigger.”

From that moment on, Ernie nurtured his passionate dream of bringing together talented physicians and scientists so that “some day, Alzheimer’s and stroke will go the way of polio through the discovery of new treatments.” In 2009, he provided significant support to establish the Medical Center’s Ernest J. Del Monte Neuromedicine Institute.

Sharing a personal friendship with Ernie, his beautiful wife, Thelma, and his wonderful family over these past 10 years has been a priceless gift that I will always treasure. Never one to abandon center stage, Ernie told me several times: “Webster, you have taught me a lot about neuromedicine but I still don’t think that I could do brain surgery; of course, I’m not sure that you could build a hotel either.”

Ernie will be missed. But his legacy of generosity to the Rochester community and his contributions to U of R neuromedicine will live on.

—Webster Pilcher ’83M (MD/PhD)

Pilcher is the Ernest and Thelma Del Monte Distinguished Professor in Neuromedicine.

TRIBUTE

David Craighead: ‘Gentle Giant’

craigheadPIPE DREAMER: In the organ world, Craighead’s influence was “like a tidal wave.” (Photo: Eastman School)

“A gentle giant.” That is how Michael Barone, host and producer of the nationally broadcast public radio program Pipedreams, characterized David Craighead in a program devoted to David’s life and art that aired in September 1997. Those three words exemplified, in a minimalist way, all that David embodied in his legendary career as a concert organist, as professor of organ at the Eastman School for 37 years, and as a dedicated church musician at Rochester’s St. Paul’s Episcopal Church for 48 years.

David died in March at age 88. As a performer, he’d been at the pinnacle of his profession. He possessed a prodigious technique, and could play the most demanding literature with ease and fluency. David Higgs, professor and chair of organ and historical keyboards at the Eastman School, noted upon David’s passing: “He was a virtuoso performer, able to make the most difficult technical passages seem easy; he was a tireless champion of new music for our instrument.”

David was geared in the most positive way possible toward helping his students achieve that same fluency, making his job obsolete—for them, at least. In 1974, the Eastman School awarded him its first Eisenhart Award for Teaching Excellence. As a mentor, he was always encouraging, but never directing, or suggesting a particular career path. At the same time, he had an uncanny way of asking the right questions to help students discern for themselves the relative merits of one possibility over another.

David’s influence on the organ world over the past seven decades is more than a ripple on a pond. It’s like a tidal wave spread far and wide through his unparalleled performances, his careful and disciplined teaching, and the weekly ministry of countless church musicians leading congregations and choirs in worship. In their playing and in their teaching, his legacy lives on.

—Peter DuBois

DuBois is an assistant professor of sacred music and director of the Sacred Music Diploma program at the Eastman School; director of music and organist at Third Presbyterian Church in Rochester, and host/producer of the nationally syndicated public radio program “With Heart and Voice.”

TRIBUTE

Robert Joynt: Icon in Modern Neurology

joyntLEADER: Under Joynt’s leadership, neurology earned international prestige. (Photo: Medical Center)

In 1966, Robert Joynt, a native of LeMars, Iowa, a radio operator in the Signal Corps in World War II, an MD and PhD recipient from the University of Iowa, left his faculty position at Iowa and founded the Department of Neurology at the Medical Center. In 1974, I was privileged to join the faculty, receive his mentorship, and become his colleague and friend. Under Bob’s leadership, his mentees thrived and created a department of international prestige. In his introductory remarks at the Medical Center–sponsored Joynt Colloquia in 1992, Bob said, “From the outset, I wanted to build a department that offered outstanding patient care, training, and research.”

He accomplished this goal through his unpretentious, powerful, “family style” leadership, nurtured by his wife, Margaret, and their six children. Bob was a wonderful bedside teacher. He was well known for his use of aphorisms in after-dinner speeches, in social settings, and on rounds in teaching residents. House staff affectionately called them “Joyntisms.”

For example: “If you have half an hour to spend with a patient, spend the first 29 minutes on the history,” he would say. To emphasize the need for hard work in correctly diagnosing and treating patients, he often said, “Even a blind hog in Iowa can find an occasional acorn, but not without sticking his nose in the mud and rooting.”

He wrote and edited with great skill, serving as editor of the Archives of Neurology, of the classic textbook Baker & Joynt’s Clinical Neurology, and coeditor of Presidential Disability, a book on presidential health and how the 25th amendment applies to presidential succession in the case of incapacitation. He held the top leadership positions in the American Academy of Neurology, the American Neurological Association, and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and in 1989 was elected to the Institute of Medicine.

At the School of Medicine and Dentistry, Bob served as dean from 1984 to 1989 and as vice provost for health affairs from 1985 to 1994. In 1997, he was named a Distinguished University Professor. Bob died in April at the age of 86.

The first recipient of the Robert J. Joynt Chair in Neurology, Karl Kieburtz, summarizes Bob well. “Bob was the first person to teach me neurology as a medical student, the editor of my first paper as a neurologist, and my foremost mentor and exemplar. He embodied everything good in a person.”

His two sons, Bob Jr. and Tom, remembered their father above all for his kindness, noting another Joyntism Bob lived by: “You can’t always be right, but you can always be kind.”

—Richard Moxley

Moxley is the Helen Aresty Fine and Irving Fine Professor of Neurology at the School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Books & Recordings

Books

Percussion Matters: Life at the Eastman School of Music

By John Beck ’55E, ’62E (MM)

University of Rochester Press, 2011

Beck, professor emeritus of percussion at the Eastman School, reflects on his 57 years with the school as a student, teacher, and performer.

Memory in Shakespeare’s Histories: Stages of Forgetting in Early Modern England

By Jonathan Baldo

Routledge, 2012

Baldo, professor of English in the humanities department at the Eastman School, explores the role of forgetting—whether active suppression or passive neglect of the past—in Shakespearean historical dramas.

The Influence of Campaign Contributions in State Legislatures: The Effects of Institutions and Politics

By Lynda W. Powell

University of Michigan Press, 2012

Powell, professor of political science at Rochester, demonstrates that campaign contributions have large effects in some state legislatures and minimal effects in others, and delineates reasons for the wide disparity.

Teaching Environmental Health to Children: An Interdisciplinary Approach

By David Hursh and Camille Martina

Springer, 2011

Hursh, associate professor of teaching and curriculum at the Warner School, and Martina, research assistant professor of community and preventive medicine at the School of Medicine and Dentistry, offer a guide to teaching K-12 students about exposures to environmental toxicants.

Leaders and International Conflict

By Giacomo Chiozza and Heins Goemans

Cambridge University Press, 2011

Through statistical analyses and case studies, Goemans, associate professor of political science at Rochester, and Chiozza explain why political leaders decide to initiate wars.

Metaphors of Depth in German Musical Thought: From E. T. A. Hoffmann to Arnold Schoenberg

By Holly Watkins

Cambridge University Press, 2011

Watkins, associate professor of musicology at the Eastman School, explores the variety and persistence of depth metaphors in German musicology and music theory, arguing for their historic role in articulating Germanic cultural values.

The Fate of the Species: Why the Human Race May Cause Its Own Extinction and How We Can Stop It

By Fred Guterl ’81

Bloomsbury, 2012

Guterl, the executive editor of Scientific American, surveys the mass extinction taking place in the 21st century—in which roughly 200 species are becoming extinct each day—and how technology might be harnessed to avoid its worst potential consequences.

Making Inclusion Work for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: An Evidence-Based Guide

By Tristram Smith

Guilford Press, 2011

Smith, associate professor of pediatrics at Rochester, offers a guide to research-based assessment and teaching methods for K-12 educators and autism specialists.

Fictional Presidential Films: A Comprehensive Filmography of Portrayals from 1930 to 2011

By Thomas and Sarah Miles Bolam ’56

Xlibris, 2012

Journalist Bolam and her husband, Thomas, offer a guide to more than 200 commercial films portraying fictional presidents. Organized by decade, the book places the films and their portrayal of the presidency in political, economic, and cultural context.

Deadly Monopolies: The Shocking Corporate Takeover of Life Itself and the Consequences for Your Health and Our Medical Future

By Harriet A. Washington ’76

Doubleday, 2011

Medical ethicist Washington explores the ways in which biomedical and pharmaceutical corporations may profit from patenting genes and tissues from living patients, often without patients’ knowledge or consent.

Mazurka in F Minor, Opus Posthumous by Frédéric Chopin

Edited by Kingsley Day ’75E (MA)

Hal Leonard Corporation, 2012

Day presents a new reconstruction of the sketch of Chopin’s posthumous Mazurka in F Minor. Day’s reconstruction offers alternate readings for individual passages and surveys reconstructions of the piece.

Things I Didn’t Learn in Medical School: Tough Lessons from a Lifetime of Practice

By Gary L. Fanning ’70M (Res)

Xlibris, 2012

Fanning, a retired anesthesiologist, offers a memoir of his life as a physician and the philosophies he developed regarding the ethical, moral, and humanistic dimensions of medical practice.

Poison Flower

By Thomas Perry ’74 (PhD)

Grove/Atlantic, 2012

Perry presents his seventh suspense novel featuring the fictional Seneca heroine Jane Whitefield.

Spring Wildflowers of the Northeast

By Carol Gracie ’63

Princeton University Press, 2012

Gracie, a naturalist, photographer, and former educator at the New York Botanical Garden, explores the history, cultural uses, and latest scientific research pertaining to more than 35 species of Northeastern wildflowers. The book includes more than 500 photographs.

Under the Surface: Fracking, Fortunes, and the Fate of the Marcellus Shale

By Tom Wilber ’83

Cornell University Press, 2012

Wilber, a reporter for the Binghamton Press and Sun-Bulletin, looks at shale gas development in the Finger Lakes region of New York and the controversies surrounding its health and environmental consequences.

El Tigre II

By John H. Manhold ’41

Sarah Book Publishing, 2012

Manhold introduces a sequel to his 2007 book about a young aristocrat, Johann Heinrich von Manfred, who makes his way to California during the Gold Rush of 1849. His 2008 book, The Elymais Coin (Cereb Press), has been released as an e-book under the title The Coin (BookBaby).

Catherine Cookson Country: On the Borders of Legitimacy, Fiction, and History

Edited by Julie Anne Taddeo ’87, ’97 (PhD)

Ashgate, 2012

Taddeo, visiting associate professor of history at the University of Maryland, edits a collection of essays about the works of Catherine Cookson, Britain’s most widely read late 20th-century author.

Alfalfa to Ivy: Memoir of a Harvard Medical School Dean

By Joseph B. Martin ’71M (MD), ’96 (Honorary)

University of Alberta Press, 2011

Martin, the Edward R. and Anne G. Lefler Professor of Neurobiology and former dean of the faculty at Harvard Medical School, reflects on his journey from a small village in Alberta, Canada, to his leadership role at Harvard.

The Carter Girls and the Battle of Frontenac Island

By Mike LaMontagne ’91

Ozbo Productions, 2012

In his second youth fantasy novel, LaMontagne recounts the adventures of two sisters, Therese and Jenna Carter, who find a medallion in a hidden cave.

Animal Lexicon

By Marian K. Coombs ’73

Marian K. Coombs, 2012

Coombs’s handmade and hand-illustrated book, available on Etsy, explores words and phrases derived from the animal kingdom in taxonomic order. The book is interspersed with essays on such topics as fables and animal symbols of the nation-state.

Innopreneur: 101 Chronicles on How Circumstance, Preparation, and Brilliance Advance Innovation

Edited by Ton Langeler ’95S (MBA)

Channel V Books, 2012

Langeler, founder of the Dutch management consulting company pro-Actuate, compiles insights on innovation from multinational executives, political leaders, professors, and others.

Zoe Gets Ready

By Bethanie Deeney Murguia ’93

Arthur A. Levine Books, 2012

In her second book for preschoolers, Murguia presents Zoe, a girl with many choices to make as she gets ready to face the day.

Recordings

Van Gogh Letters

By Charles Pillow ’93E (MM)

ECLM, 2012

Jazz composer and performer Pillow presents a tone poem using melodies based on the words of Vincent Van Gogh to his brother, Theo. The recording features Pillow playing oboe, English horn, and bass clarinet, Gary Versace ’93E (MM), accordion, and Jim Ridl, synthesizer.

Forward Space

By Andre Canniere ’03E (MM)

Whirlwind Recordings, 2012

In his first UK recording, trumpeter and composer Canniere performs post-bop fusion with a band including percussionist Chris Vatala ’00E.

Amy Wurtz String Quartets

By the Chicago Q Ensemble

Chicago Q Ensemble, 2012

The Chicago Q Ensemble, including violinist Kathleen Carter ’05E (MM), performs string quartets by contemporary composer Amy Wurtz.

I

By Christina Custode ’10E

Christina Custode, 2012

Niagara Falls singer and songwriter Custode performs eight original tracks on her debut album.

Books & Recordings is a compilation of recent work by University alumni, faculty, and staff. For inclusion in an upcoming issue, send the work’s title, publisher information, author, and author’s class year, along with a brief description, to Books & Recordings, Rochester Review, 22 Wallis Hall, P. O. Box 270044, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627-0044; or by email to rochrev@rochester.edu.

Is It Love?

It can be, says market researcher Judith Ricker ’76E, ’81E (MM), ’91S (MBA), reflecting on what makes an iconic brand.

Interview by Karen McCally ’02 (PhD)

ricker (Illustration: David Cowles for Rochester Review)

When I graduated from the Eastman School, I auditioned for the third chair position in the Rochester Philharmonic and I won it. I played for the RPO for 15 years, and I taught at Hochstein—private lessons, chamber music, the whole bit.

In 1984, my husband, Ramon Ricker, produced a record for the RPO called My First Concert, which introduced children to classical music. The RPO didn’t have the bandwidth to market it. So I started doing it. I drove all over the place, placing it in toy stores around Rochester, and I found national distributors. It made the New York Times list of top Christmas gifts for children. I got interested in what I was doing. I started one class at the Simon School and decided to matriculate.

Any brand is a promise. What iconic brands such as Disney, Lego, and Apple have in common is that they keep to that core promise, and yet they evolve. And the really successful ones are excellent at anticipating the future. They get there before people know they want what they have.

Judith Ricker ’76E, ’81E (MM), ’91S (MBA)

Executive Vice President for Brand Research, Market Probe

Winner of 2012 “Great Minds Silver Innovation Award,” Advertising Research Foundation

First job after college: Third Oboist, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra

Hometown: Rochester

On the Eastman School brand: “It prepares you for life as it exists rather than as you would like it to exist.”

I worked at Kodak for seven years after I finished my MBA. I think George Eastman was the Steve Jobs of his day. He developed a product that there was a latent desire for and developed a marketing campaign around it: “You push the button, we do the rest.” People in the 1970s and early 1980s thought computers were scary and only experts used them, and what Steve Jobs tried to do was to say, “No, no. It’s a tool to let you do the things you want to do.”

When I was at Kodak, I did the forecast for what was the first commercial digital camera. Kodak, which was partnering with Apple, didn’t put its brand on it. It became the Apple QuickTake. I thought that was a big mistake. I think that they lost sight of what that brand promise was. I think Kodak at its core was about memories. It was about capturing something for the ages.

I’ve been thinking for a long time what makes up “brand passion.” There’s the emotional content—you love it, you hate it, or you have no feelings for it. There’s also what I call harmony, or the notion of personal fit. And there’s attachment. I can dislike a brand, not feel that it fits me very well, but still be attached to it because of inertia. In those cases, the brand I’m using is very vulnerable.

Brands have to be careful how they use social media. They need to look at it as another channel, but not as a replacement for other forms of media. Because you really do build brands across media. Television is an important way to build a brand. It just is. Because you can express things that you can’t easily express in many other media.

When I’m not doing market research, I do still play oboe. I’m part of a woodwind quintet called Antara Winds. We released a CD in 2010 called Antara Music. This is our 30th year.

CAMPUS LIFE

Tracking the Transit

backcover (Photo: Brandon Vick)

VIEW FINDERS: James Zavislan, associate professor of optics, adjusts a view finder as students gather outside Goergen Hall for Biomedical Engineering and Optics to view the transit of Venus. The rare celestial event, in which the orbit of Venus takes the planet on a path between the sun and Earth, was visible from Rochester in the early evening of June 5 as the sun began to set over campus.

FACULTY AND STUDENT HONORS 2012

Celebrating Distinction

The University of Rochester is proud to congratulate faculty and students who have earned national recognition and teaching awards during the past academic year.

honors_listACCOLADES: Eastman School tenor Matthew Grills was one of five winners chosen from 1,500 opera singers at the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions. (Photo: )

National Faculty Awards

Advisory Committee on Human Research Protection

Member

Gary Chadwick, Associate Provost

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Fellowship

Ben Hayden, Assistant Professor of Brain & Cognitive Sciences

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Fellows

John H. Werren, Nathaniel and Helen Wisch Professor of Biology

American Academy of Family Physicians

Fellow

Mark Mirabelli, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics

American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine

President

Timothy E. Quill, Director of the Center For Ethics, Humanities, and Palliative Care; Professor of Medicine, of Psychiatry, and of Medical Humanities

American Academy of Nurse Practitioners

Fellow

Susan Groth, Assistant Professor of Nursing

American Academy of Nursing

Fellow

Margaret-Ann Carno, Assistant Professor of Clinical Nursing

American Academy of Pediatrics

President-Elect

Tom McInerny, Associate Chair for Clinical Affairs, Department of Pediatrics; Professor of Pediatrics

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Fellows

James Farrar, Professor of Chemistry

Richard Waugh, Professor and Chair of Biomedical Engineering

American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery

President-Elect

Judith F. Baumhauer, Professor and Associate Chair of Orthopaedics

American College of Cardiology

Member, Board of Governors

Leway Chen, Associate Professor of Medicine; Director of Heart Failure and Transplantation Program

American College of Clinical Pharmacy

President-Elect

Curtis Haas, Director of Pharmacy

American College of Mohs Surgery

President

Marc Brown, Professor of Dermatology; Professor, the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center

American Finance Association

Smith Breeden Prize for 2010 Best Paper in Journal of Finance

Robert Novy-Marx, Assistant Professor of Finance, Simon School of Business

American Institute for Medical and Biomedical Engineering

Fellowship

Duncan T. Moore, Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake Professor of Optical Engineering; Professor of Optics, of Biomedical Engineering, and of Business Administration; Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship

J. H. David Wu, Professor of Chemical Engineering

American Medical Association Foundation

Leadership Award

Jacob Moalem, Assistant Professor of Surgery

American Neuropsychiatric Association

Young Investigator Award

Feng (Vankee) Lin, Research Associate, School of Nursing

American Orthopaedic Association

Chair, Critical Issues Committee

Regis O’Keefe, Wehle Professor and Chair, Department of Orthopaedics

American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society

President

Judith F. Baumhauer, Professor of Orthopaedics

American Physical Society

Chair, Division of Laser Science

Carlos Stroud, Professor of Optics and of Physics

Fellow

Regina Demina, Professor of Physics & Astronomy

American Prosthodontic Society

First Place, Best Research Poster Award

Joonho Yoon, Visiting Scholar, Prosthodontics Division, Eastman Institute for Oral Health

American Psychiatric Association/American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law

Manfred S. Guttmacher Award

Michael R. Privitera, Associate Professor of Psychiatry

American Society for Clinical Pathology

Mastership

Thomas Bonfiglio, Professor Emeritus of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine

American Society of Microbiology

International Professorship Award

Luis Martinez Sobrido, Assistant Professor of Microbiology & Immunology

American Society of Precision Engineering

Director-at-Large

Jonathan Ellis, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering

American University Professors of Ophthalmology

President-Elect

Steven Feldon, Director of the Flaum Eye Institute; Professor of Ophthalmology

Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence

President

Henry Kautz, Professor and Chair of Computer Science

Association for Asian American Studies

Book Award (for Adopted Territory)

Eleana Kim, Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Association for Asian Studies

2012 James B. Palais Book Prize (for Adopted Territory)

Eleana Kim, Assistant Professor of Anthropology

Association for Computing Machinery

Networks-on-Chip Symposium Best Paper Finalist

Paul Ampadu, Assistant Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Association of Departments of Family Medicine

President

Thomas L. Campbell, Professor and Chair of Family Medicine

Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies

2011 Reginald Zelnik Book Prize in History (for The Kirov Murder and Soviet History)

Matthew Lenoe, Associate Professor of History

Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors

Lifetime Achievement Award

Allan J. Schwartz, Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology; Senior Staff Psychologist, University Counseling Center

Best American Poetry Series

2011 Selections

Jennifer Grotz, Assistant Professor of English (for “Poppies”)

James Longenbach, Joseph Henry Gilmore Professor of English (for “Snow”)

Brain and Behavior Research Foundation

Narsad Distinguished Investigator Award

Suzanne N. Haber, Professor of Pharmacology & Physiology

City University of New York Department of Biomedical Engineering

Sigma Kappa Tau Lectureship

Richard Waugh, Professor and Chair of Biomedical Engineering

Computing Research Association

Board Member, Committee on the Status of Women in Computing

Sandhya Dwarkadas, Professor of Computer Science

Council on Foreign Relations

Member

Randall Stone, Professor of Political Science; Director of the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies

Defense Threat Reduction Agency

Best Platform Talk

Robert Boyd, Professor of Optics and of Physics

The Endocrine Society

Clinical Research Fellowship Award

Suzan Saber, Fellow, Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology & Metabolism

Fulbright Program

Fellowship

Patrick L. Holland, Professor of Chemistry

Gail McKnight Beckman Trust

Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Award

Susan McDaniel, Professor of Family Medicine

Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers

2011 Award for Excellence in Specialty Entrepreneurship Education

M.S. Program in Technical Entrepreneurship Management

Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences

Best Paper Award: Decision Technology, Mobile Technologies and Service Science Mini-Track

David Tilson, Clinical Assistant Professor of Computers & Information Systems

IBM Center for Advanced Studies

Faculty Fellow

Chen Ding, Professor of Computer Science

Institut d’Optique Graduate School

Professor Invitee

Jannick Rolland, Brian J. Thompson Professor of Optical Engineering

Institute for Advanced Study

Residency Fellowship, 2012–13

Randall Curren, Professor and Chair of Philosophy

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Senior Member

Paul Ampadu, Assistant Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Circuits and Systems Society

Chair, PhD/Graduates of Last Decade Committee

Member, Board of Governors

Paul Ampadu, Assistant Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering

VLSI Transactions, Best Paper Award

Eby Friedman, Distinguished Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Institute of Medicine National Research Council

National Associate

Mark Utell, Professor of Medicine and of Pulmonary Diseases & Critical Care

Intel Corporation

Member, Pervasive Science and Technology Center

Henry Kautz, Professor and Chair of Computer Science

International Clinical Dental Research Organization (India)

Honorary Director, 2011–12

Georgios Romanos, Adjunct Professor of Periodontology

International Commission for Optics

President

Duncan T. Moore, Rudolf and Hilda Kingslake Professor of Optical Engineering; Professor of Optics, of Biomedical Engineering, and of Business Administration; Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship

International Double Reed Society

Honorary Member

Richard Killmer, Professor of Oboe, Eastman School of Music

International Geriatric Fracture Society

President

Stephen Kates, Professor of Orthopaedics

International Society for Diseases of the Esophagus

President-Elect

Jeffrey H. Peters, Seymour I. Schwartz Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery; Professor of Thoracic Surgery

International Studies Association

2011 Chadwick F. Alger Prize (for “Controlling Institutions: International Organizations and the Global Economy”)

Randall Stone, Professor of Political Science; Director of the Skalny Center for Polish and Central European Studies

International Transplant Skin Cancer Collaborative

President

Marc Brown, Professor of Dermatology; Professor, James P. Wilmot Cancer Center

International Trombone Association

Lifetime Achievement Award

Neill Humbeld Award for Excellence in Trombone Teaching

John Marcellus, Professor of Trombone, Eastman School of Music

Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities

Batsheya de Rothschild Fellow

Lynne E. Maquat, J. Lowell Orbison Chair; Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics

Latin American Studies Association

Best Book–Mexico Section (for Documents In Crisis)

Beth Jörgensen, Professor of Spanish

Marketing Science Institute

Young Scholar 2011

Paulo Albuquerque, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Simon School of Business

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Visiting Professor

Paul Ampadu, Assistant Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Moscow University

40th Honorary Professor

Xi-Cheng Zhang, Director of the Institute of Optics; M. Parker Givens Professor of Optics

Multidisciplinary International Rectal Cancer Society

President

John R. T. Monson, Chief of the Division of Colorectal Surgery; Professor of Surgery and of Oncology

National Academy of Engineering

Member

James R. Fienup, Robert E. Hopkins Professor of Optics

National Board of Medical Examiners

Edithe J. Levit Distinguished Service Award

Ralph F. Józefowicz, Professor of Neurology and Medicine

National Book Critics Circle

Awards Finalist

Karaoke Culture , By Dubravka Ugresic; Published by Open Letter Books

National Council for the Social Studies

Program Chair, College and University Faculty Assembly

Kevin Meuwissen, Assistant Professor of Teaching and Curriculum

National Endowment for the Humanities

Fellowship

Janet Berlo, Professor of Art & Art History

Summer Fellowship

Jennifer Kyker, Assistant Professor of Music

National Flute Association

2012 Lifetime Achievement Award

Bonita Boyd, Professor of Flute, Eastman School of Music

National Institutes of Health

Women’s Health and the Environment over the Entire Lifespan Program Award

Danielle Benoit, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Pathway to Independence Award

Regine Choe, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Recognition of Outstanding Scientific Accomplishment and Lectureship

Lynne E. Maquat, J. Lowell Orbison Chair; Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics

Eureka Award for Exceptionally Innovative Research

John H. Werren, Nathaniel and Helen Wisch Professor of Biology

National Public Radio

One of Top Five Poetry Books of 2011 (for The Needle)

Jennifer Grotz, Assistant Professor of English

National Science Foundation

Career Award

Jeffrey Bigham, Assistant Professor of Computer Science

Engin Ipek, Assistant Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Florian Jaeger, Assistant Professor of Brain & Cognitive Sciences

Azadeh Vosoughi, Assistant Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Program Award

Chen Ding, Professor of Computer Science

New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research

Outstanding Contribution to the University of Rochester Center for Emerging and Innovative Sciences New York State Economic Impact for 2010–11

Wendi Heinzelman, Dean of Graduate Studies; Associate Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Optical Society (OSA)

2012 Distinguished Service Award

Joseph H. Eberly, Andrew Carnegie Professor of Physics and Professor of Optics

Member, Board of Directors

Jannick Rolland, Brian J. Thompson Professor of Optical Engineering

Honorary Member, Rochester Section

Carlos Stroud, Professor of Optics and of Physics

2012 William F. Meggers Award

Xi-Cheng Zhang, Director of the Institute of Optics; M. Parker Givens Professor of Optics

Orthopaedic Research and Educational Foundation

Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation Fellow

Danielle Benoit, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering

Research in Nursing and Health

Editor-in-Chief

Margaret H. Kearney, Professor of Nursing; Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies

Royal College of Edinburgh

Fellowship

Bilal Ahmed, Professor of Clinical Medicine; Vice-Chief of Medicine, Highland Hospital

Society for Ancient Greek Philosophy

President

Deborah Modrak, Professor of Philosophy

Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine

Outstanding Achievement in Adolescent Medicine

Richard E. Kreipe, Dr. Elizabeth R. McAnarney Professorship in Pediatrics Funded by Roger and Carolyn Friedlander

Society of Behavioral Medicine

2012 Distinguished Research Mentor Award

Gary Morrow, Professor of Radiation Oncology and of Psychiatry

Society of General Physiologists

President

Robert T. Dirksen, Professor of Pharmacology & Physiology

Society of Interventional Radiology

Fellows

Steve Meyers, Professor of Imaging Sciences

David Waldman, Chair and Professor of Imaging Sciences

Society of Investigative Dermatology

Board of Directors

Lisa Beck, Professor of Dermatology, of Medicine, and of Allergy, Immunology & Rheumatology

Society of Nuclear Medicine Cardiovascular Council

President

Ronald Schwartz, Professor of Cardiology and of Imaging Sciences

Spanish Government

Research Fellowship

Roman Sobolewski, Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Technion-Israel Institute of Technology

Visiting Professor

Eby Friedman, Distinguished Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Triological Society

Career Scientist Award

Benjamin Crane, Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology

Uppsala Programming for Multicore Architectures Research Center

Member, Scientific Advisory Board

Sandhya Dwarkadas, Professor of Computer Science

USA Best Books 2011

Finalist–Business: Entrepreneurship & Small Business Category (For Lessons From a Street-Wise Professor: What You Won’t Learn at Most Music Schools)

Ramon Ricker, Senior Associate Dean for Professional Studies; Professor of Saxophone, Eastman School of Music

U.S. Bone and Joint Decade

Young Investigator Initiative Mentee

Danielle Benoit, Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering

U.S. Department of Energy

2011 Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award

Riccardo Betti, Helen F. and Fred H. Gowen Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Professor of Physics

Early Career Research Award

Aran Garcia-Bellido, Assistant Professor of Physics & Astronomy

Whitebox Advisors

Selected Research Prize (for “Is Momentum Really Momentum?”

Robert Novy-Marx, Assistant Professor of Finance, Simon School of Business

Yale School of Music

Ian Mininberg Distinguished Service Award

Richard Killmer, Professor of Oboe, Eastman School of Music

University Faculty Awards

Edmund A. Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences:

Lifetime Achievement Award

Kevin Parker, Hajim School Dean Emeritus; William F. May Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering

Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

Lane A. Hemaspaandra, Computer Science

Eisenhart Award for Excellence in Teaching (2010–11)

Natalya Antonova, Professor of Piano, Eastman School of Music

Furth Award for Junior Faculty

Hitomia Mukaibo, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering

G. Graydon Curtis and Jane W. Curtis Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Nontenured Member of the Faculty

Karen DeAngelis, Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership, Warner School of Education

Goergen Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2011)

Dan-Andrei Geba, Associate Professor of Mathematics

John Givens, Associate Professor of Russian

Joanna Scott, Roswell Smith Burrows Professor of English

Lillian Fairchild Award

Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Associate Professor of Composition, Eastman School of Music

Messinger Library Recognition Award (2011)

Judi Briden, Rush Rhees Librarian

Presidential Diversity Award (2012)

John Fetter, Assistant Professor of Music Education, Eastman School of Music

Center for Advocacy, Community Health, Education, and Diversity

Susan B. Anthony Center for Women’s Leadership:

Susan B. Anthony Lifetime Achievement Award (Given Posthumously)

Nora Bredes, Director, Anthony Center for Women’s Leadership

University Award for Lifetime Achievement in Graduate Education

Gautam Mitra, Professor of Geological Sciences

William H. Riker University Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching (2012)

Robert Wason, Professor of Music Theory, Eastman School of Music

Wilmot Cancer Research Fellowship

Hanan Dery, Assistant Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering

National Student Awards

All-American

Men’s Basketball

John DiBartolomeo ’13, Westport, Conn.; Financial Economics

Women’s Basketball

Jodie Luther ’12, Gibsonia, Pa.; Molecular Genetics and Economics

Men’s Cross Country

James Vavra ’12, Owego, N.Y.; Biology

Field Hockey

Allison Beardsley ’12, Weedsport, N.Y.; Health Policy

Anna Dobrynzski ’12, Pittsford, N.Y.; History

Football

Christopher Bickford ’12, Willits, Calif.; Archaeology, Technology & Historical Structures

Golf

Nicholas Palladino ’14, Highland Heights, Ohio; Psychology

Women’s Soccer

Ellen Coleman ’12, Wauwatosa, Wis.; Biomedical Engineering

Squash

Andres Duany ’13, Lima, Peru; Economics & Business Strategies

Benjamin Fischer ’12, Lucerne, Switzerland; Economics

American Chemical Society

Young Investigator Award–Inorganic Division

Ryan Cowley, Doctoral Student, Chemistry

Travel Award–Inorganic Division

Jonathan Goldberg ’12, North Chili, N.Y.; Chemistry

Zhiji Han, Graduate Student, Chemistry

Graduate Research Symposium Travel Award–Organic Division

Ruja Shrestha, Graduate Student, Chemistry

Eli Lilly Travel Award– Women Chemists Committee

Jessica Smith, Graduate Student, Chemistry

American Indian Science and Engineering Society

Travel Award, Honorable Mention for Oral Presentation at a National Conference

Naomi Lee, Graduate Student, Chemistry

American Peptide Society

Travel Award

John Dimaio, Graduate Student, Chemistry

Todd M. Doran, Doctoral Student, Chemistry

Second Place, Young Investigator Poster Competition

Todd M. Doran, Doctoral Student, Chemistry

Association of Fraternity/Sorority Advisors

Marlin Bradley Ally Scholarship

Tara Leigh Sands, Doctoral Student, Higher Education

Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship

Vincent Yu ’14, Hong Kong, China; Physics & Astronomy and Mathematics

Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholars

Spring 2012 Winners

Kiera Anderson ’13, Rochester; Psychology and English

Rachel Bierasinski ’13, Victor, N.Y.; Mechanical Engineering

Janise Carmichael ’13, Syracuse; Psychology and Spanish

Gabrielle Cornish ’13, Elmira, N.Y.; Music and Russian Studies

Allayna Dehond ’14, Bergen, N.Y.; Biomedical Engineering

Donias Doko ’12, Hartford, Conn.; Neuroscience and History

Shukri Dualeh ’13, Tonawanda, N.Y.; Health, Behavior & Society

Maxine Humphrey ’13, Rochester; International Relations

Marius Kothor ’13, Rochester; African & African-American Studies

Heather Owen ’13, Lockport, N.Y.; English and Mathematics

Zachary Palomo ’13, Hondo, Texas; International Relations and Russian

Yaritza Perez ’14, Bronx, N.Y.; Psychology

Kellen Tsai ’13, Flushing, N.Y.; Psychology

Fall 2011 Winners

Priscilla Alabi ’12, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Political Science

Ki Cheng ’13, Orlando, Fla.; Psychology

Meredith Doubleday ’13, Richfield Springs, N.Y.; Russian and Classics

Breanna Eng ’13, Holtsville, N.Y.; Chemistry

Ryan Gelfand ’13, Laytonsville, Md.; Archaeology, Technology & Historical Structures

Ashley Haluck-Kangas ’12, Greensburg, Pa.; Biology

Kindred Harris ’13/Take Five Scholar, Hermansville, Miss.; Evolutionary Biology & Ecology

Nathaly Luna ’13, Corona, N.Y.; Religion

Megan Roberts ’12/Take Five Scholar, Rochester; Health & Society

Madeline Skellie ’13, Greenwich, N.Y.; International Relations

College Squash Association

Skillman Award

Benjamin Fischer ’12, Lucerne, Switzerland; Economics

Critical Language Scholars

Lili Carter Sarayrah ’14E, Knoxville, Tenn.; Applied Music and Violin Gabrielle Cornish ’13, Elmira, N.Y.; Music and Russian Studies

DownBeat Magazine’s 35th Annual Student Music Awards

Jazz Arrangement (Undergraduate)

Levi Saelua ’12E, Sacramento, Calif.; Jazz Writing

Outstanding Performance (Graduate)

Karl Stabnau ’11E, Graduate Student, Music Education

Emerson National Hunger Fellow

Daniel Cohn ’12, Cleveland; Health, Behavior & Society

2011 Emory Remington Trombone Choir Competition

First Prize

Eastman Trombone Choir

Franco-American Fulbright Commission

Fellowship

Caitlyn Schrader, Graduate Student, Secondary French Education

Fulbright Program

Scholarship

Sorcha Dundas ’12, Rutland, Vt.; Anthropology

German Academic Exchange Service-Research Internships in Science and Engineering

DAAD-RISE Scholarship

Katie Bredbenner ’13, Millville, Pa.; Molecular Genetics and Philosophy

Amanda Chen ’14, Danville, Calif.; Biomedical Engineering

Justin Roncaioli ’13, Kensington, Conn.; Molecular Genetics

Maria Guano Zapata ’14, Caracas, Venezuela; Chemical Engineering

HEC Montreal

First Place, International Graduate Competition

Rajesh Chaudhary, Lingling Chen, Mahendra Goyal, and Irina Ivanova, MBA students, Simon School of Business

2012 Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions

Winner

Matthew Grills, Graduate Student, Tenor, Eastman School of Music

National Association for Pupil Transportation

2011 Distinguished Service Award

Peter Lawrence, Doctoral Student, Student Leadership

National Science Foundation

Graduate Research Fellowship

Michael Baranello, Doctoral Student, Chemical Engineering

Ellie Carrell, Doctoral Student, Pharmacology & Physiology

Jason Inzana, Doctoral Student, Biomedical Engineering

Vijay Jain, Doctoral Student, Physics

David Kaphan ’12, Exeter, N.H.; Chemistry

Sharese King ’12, Rochester; Linguistics

Mark Levin ’12, Edwardsville, Ill.; Chemistry

Kimberly Manbeck, Graduate Student, Chemistry

Susan Pratt ’12, Avon, N.Y.; Mathematics and Chemistry

Emilia Sola Gracia ’12, Caguas, Puerto Rico; Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

Optical Research Associates/Synopsis

Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition Winners

Bin Ma, Visiting Research Associate, Optics

Dustin Moore, Doctoral Student, Optics

Percussive Arts Society

50th Anniversary International Solo Competition

Tomasz Arnold ’13E, Krakow, Poland; Percussion

Princeton University

2012 Fellow, Public Policy and International Affairs Junior Summer Institute

Zachary Palomo ’13, Hondo, Texas; International Relations and Russian

Rotary International

Ambassadorial Scholar

Maya Dukmasova ’12/, Take Five Scholar Liverpool, N.Y.; , Religion and Philosophy

SPIE—International Society for Optics and Photonics

Michael Kidger Memorial Scholarship in Optical Design

Kyle Fuerschbach, Doctoral Student, Optics

2011 St. Albans International Organ Competition

First Prize,

Audience Prize

David Baskeyfield, Doctoral Student, Organ, Eastman School of Music

U.S. Navy

Legion of Valor

Michael Krestos ’12, Buffalo; Mechanical Engineering

Whitaker International Fellows and Scholars Program

Fellowship

Douglas Clift ’12, Jericho, Vt.; Biomedical Engineering

Catherine Marando ’12, Bellmore, N.Y.; Biomedical Engineering

Kelli Summers ’11, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Biomedical Engineering

University Student Awards

2012 Edward Peck Curtis Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student

Kyle Biegasiewicz, Chemistry

Kevin Dieter, Brain & Cognitive Sciences

Daniel Helm, College Writing Program and English

Martha Johnson-Olin, English

Bethany Little, Physics & Astronomy

Janet Howell Clark Prize

Emily Redman ’12, Webster, N.Y.; Chemistry

Undergraduate Writing Colloquium Contest Winner

Rachel Kelemen ’13, Merion Station, Pa.; Chemistry﻿

HONOREES

A Selection of Citations

Each academic year, dozens of Rochester faculty members are chosen by their peers and colleagues across the country for induction into some of the world’s leading academic, scientific, and scholarly societies and organizations. Also each year, Rochester students are selected for some of the nation’s most highly competitive and prestigious honors available to undergraduates and graduate students. Here’s a small sample of some of the notable achievements from the 2011–12 year.

Optical Society (oSA): Distinguished Service Award

Joseph Eberly, the Andrew Carnegie Professor of Physics and professor of optics, was selected to receive the Distinguished Service Award from the Optical Society (OSA). Honored for his service as the founding editor of the journal Optics Express, his leadership as a past president of the society, and his commitment to serving the society, Eberly is internationally recognized as a physicist in the fields of quantum optics and laser physics. He is also a fellow of the society and is a past recipient of the society’s Charles Townes Award and Frederick Ives Medal.

Optical Society (OSA): William F. Meggers Award

Xi-Cheng Zhang, director of the Institute of Optics and the M. Parker Givens Professor of Optics, was named the winner of the William F. Meggers Award from the Optical Society (OSA) in recognition of his work in spectroscopy, particularly in exploring the large portion of the electromagnetic spectrum between the infrared and microwave bands. He is a fellow of the society as well as a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the American Physical Society. Zhang became director of the Institute of Optics in January.

National Academy of Engineering

James Fienup, the Robert E. Hopkins Professor of Optics, was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, one the highest professional distinctions accorded to engineers. Recognized for his work in the development and application of phase retrieval algorithms, Fienup is highly regarded for his research in imaging sciences. He is also a fellow of the Optical Society (OSA) and the International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), and he is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Institute for Advanced Study

Randall Curren, professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy, was selected as a member of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J., for the 2012–13 year. Curren, whose research focuses on the philosophy and ethics of education, was the only philosopher among a group of 24 members selected to spend a year in residence at the institute’s School of Social Science. The institute, which provides visiting scholars the freedom to pursue theoretical research into fundamental problems in the sciences and humanities, has hosted some of the world’s most notable thinkers, including Albert Einstein, Kurt Gödel, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and George Kennan.

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

John Werren, the Nathaniel and Helen Wisch Professor of Biology, has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies. Founded in 1780, the honorary society has a broad membership that includes scientists, politicians, businesspeople, and artists. A leading expert in evolutionary genetics, Werren is widely respected for his research combining genetic, molecular, and population studies to investigate diverse topics in biology. He also received a EUREKA (Exceptional, Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration) grant from the NIH this spring.

Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship

Vincent Yu ’14, a double major in physics and astronomy and in mathematics, was selected as a Barry M. Goldwater Scholar. He is among the 275 recipients selected from a national pool of more than 1,100 candidates. Yu is the 23rd Rochester student to be named a Goldwater Scholar since 2002. Endowed by Congress in honor of the late Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, the scholarship is a competitive fellowship for undergraduate students in science, math, and engineering. A native of St. Louis, Yu is a resident of Hong Kong.

American Academy of Nursing

Margaret-Ann Carno, assistant professor of clinical nursing and pediatrics for the School of Nursing, was inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, one of the highest honors in the field of nursing. Specializing in sleep concerns in children and adolescents, Carno was recognized for her contributions to nursing and health care.

American Academy of Nurse Practitioners

Susan Groth, assistant professor of nursing, was selected as a fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. A clinician, educator, and scientist, Groth was honored for nearly two decades of work to improve women’s health, particularly in the area of pregnancy-related obesity. Established by the academy in 2000, the fellowship program recognizes nurse practitioners who have made outstanding contributions to health care through clinical practice, research, education, or policy.

Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions

Tenor Matthew Grills, a graduate student at the Eastman School, was one of five winners of the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions, considered the most prestigious in North America for singers seeking to launch an operatic career. He was selected as one of five winners among nine finalists chosen from the nearly 1,500 singers who entered. A few weeks later, he reprised one of the arias he performed at the Met—“Ah! Mes Amis!” from Donizetti’s opera La Fille du Regiment, an aria which, with nine high Cs, has been called “the Mount Everest for tenors”—to win first prize in the Lotte Lenya Competition at the Eastman School. Past winners of the Met’s competition include Renée Fleming ’83E (MM), Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Ben Heppner, Frederica von Stade, and Jessye Norman.

Fulbright Scholarship

Sorcha Dundas ’12, an anthropology major from Rutland, Vt., was awarded a 2012–13 Fulbright Scholarship to Nepal, the first Rochester student to be accepted into the Nepal program. Dundas will serve as an English teaching assistant during her time abroad. In the past five years, 35 Rochester students and alumni have received a Fulbright, which is among the most competitive fellowship programs.

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Benjamin Hayden, an assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences, was selected as a 2012 Sloan Research Fellow, an award given to early career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars. A neuroscientist, Hayden studies self-control and decision-making from diverse perspectives, including psychology, neuroscience, animal behavior, philosophy, and popular culture. He was one of 126 U.S. and Canadian researchers selected by the Sloan Foundation.

DownBeat Magazine’s 35th Annual Student Music Awards

Levi Saelua ’12E, a jazz writing major from Sacramento, Calif., and Karl Stabnau ’11E, a graduate student in jazz performance, were among the college students recognized this spring by the magazine known as the “bible of jazz.” Saelua was recognized in the Jazz Arrangement/Undergraduate College category for “Allegretto from Symphony No. 7,” his eight-minute arrangement of the second movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. Stabnau was recognized in the Outstanding Performance/Graduate College category for his baritone saxophone work on three songs. Entries for the annual awards are judged on musicianship, creativity, improvisation, technique, sound quality and other criteria. The judges include editors of DownBeat, professional musicians, and educators.

American Association for the Advancement of Science

James Farrar, professor of chemistry, and Richard Waugh, professor and chair of biomedical engineering, were elected as fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest general scientific society and the publisher of the journal Science. They are among 539 new members being honored for their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. Waugh’s laboratory has historically been one of the leading facilities for investigating red blood cell mechanical properties and the stability of biological membranes. Farrar was selected for his contributions to the understanding of the properties of ions and molecules in the gas phase.