December People Notes

George Behrakis, a medical school overseer, received the Dean's Medal at a dinner hosted by Tufts President Lawrence S. Bacow on October 24. Behrakis has been involved with the medical school for years, most recently providing an extraordinarily generous gift to support the Jaharis Family Center for Biomedical and Nutrition Research. The building's auditorium will be named in his honor.

Dr. Robert Bridges, professor of biomedical sciences at the School of Veterinary Medicine, has received a prestigious MERIT award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH)Ñthe first MERIT award received by a veterinary school faculty member. The award means that the five-year grant Bridges just received from the NIH will be extended for four more years.

Madeline H. Caviness, Mary Richardson Professor and professor of art history, had a busy and productive year during her sabbatical leave in 2000-01. Her main activity was to see three books through final revisions. Two of these are the culmination of 10 years of research. As president of the International Academic Union (UAI), a federation of 50 national academies of humanities and social sciences, Caviness attended meetings in Buenos Aires, Paris and Beijing. Her recently published books are Visualizing Women in the Middle Ages: Sight, Spectacle and Scopic Economy (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001); Medieval Art in the West and Its Audience (Aldershot, Hampshire: Variorum reprints, 2001) and Tufts University's first electronic book, Reframing Medieval Art: Difference, Margins, Boundaries, which can be found on the web at www.nils.lib.tufts.edu/Caviness top

Sarah Conlon has joined the Development Division as director of the Tufts Fund for Arts, Sciences and Engineering. Conlon, who replaces O'Neil Outar, previously was associate director for annual giving at Wellesley College and director of donor relations at Milton Academy. top

Anabel Perez Crescenzi has joined the Fletcher Office of Development and Alumni Relations as associate director of major gifts. She earned her undergraduate degree from Tufts with a dual major in international relations and Latin American studies. She also has a law degree Boston College Law School. She speaks Spanish and Italian and some French. Most recently, Crescenzi worked at Wellesley College in the Development and Alumnae Office. top

Daniel C. Dennett, University Professor and Fletcher Professor of Philosophy, was awarded the Jean-Nicod Prize for 2001 during ceremonies in Paris on November 7. As the prize recipient, he also delivered four Jean-Nicod Lectures, given annually in Paris by a leading philosopher of the mind or philosophically oriented cognitive scientist. The 1993 inaugural lectures marked the centenary of the birth of the French philosopher and logician Jean Nicod (1893-1931). The lectures are organized by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique as part of its effort to develop the interdisciplinary field of cognitive science in France. The topics of Dennett's four Jean-Nicod Lectures were "Can There Be a ÔFirst-Person' Science of Consciousness?," "The Hard Question, Not the Hard Problem: How to Model an Uninhabited Mind," "Are Qualia What Make Life Worth Living?" and "If You Make Yourself Really Small, You Can Externalize Virtually Everything." While in Europe, Dennett also lectured in Frankfurt and Milan. On December 12, he will be giving an inaugural address, "Evolution, Culture and Truth," at Tufts in celebration of his appointment as University Professor. top

Deborah Digges, associate professor of English, had her new book, The Stardust Lounge: Stories from a Boy's Adolescence (Nan Talese/Doubleday, June 2001), celebrated by The New Yorker October 29 at the Housing Works Bookstore in New York City. Other celebrated authors included poet Evon Boland and short story writer Alice Munro. top

Dr. Richard Fister, assistant professor of biomedical sciences at the veterinary school, was awarded a $70,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control to study anti-microbial resistance in swine. top

Barbara W. Grossman, associate professor of drama, received the American Repertory Theatre's first annual Leadership Award in recognition of her longtime involvement with the A.R.T. and her enduring leadership in the arts. In accepting the award, Grossman emphasized the importance of theater in the community and expressed concern over recent cutbacks in funding for the arts. "We know that art and artists matter, that theater opens minds and transforms lives," she said. top

Steven Hirsch, associate professor of classics, has been elected to the Arts & Sciences faculty Grievance Panel for a term that ends in 2004. top

Siobhan Houton has joined the university as assistant director of public relations. Prior to coming to Tufts, she was media relations manager for Student Advantage Inc. and assistant director of public relations at Northeastern University. She also has worked as a publicist for the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Houghton Mifflin Co., Genzyme Corp. and the U.S. Department of Commerce. She holds a bachelor's degree from Clark University. After graduation, Houton was a reporter for the Nantucket Beacon and a free-lance writer for the Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Mass. top

Ronna Johnson, lecturer in English, gave a lecture on "From Silent to Beat to Revolutionary: Women Writing Beat" at the Naropa Institute Summer Writing Program in Boulder, Colo. top

Roni Khardon, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science, has been awarded a National Science Foundation Career Grant for $276,488 for his project, "Learning and Reasoning with Relational Structures." top

Richard Lafleur, associate director of development at the School of Dental Medicine for two years, left Tufts November 9 to begin a new career at his alma mater, Bryant College. top

Craig LeMoult, a 1998 Tufts graduate, has returned to the university as a public relations specialist. After receiving his bachelor's degree in English, he joined the staff of Boston public relations agency Agnew Carter/MS&L, where he represented business-to-business, health care and consumer clients, including The Boston Globe and the Energy Star Program, a utility-sponsored project that promotes energy-efficient homes, lighting and appliances. He does volunteer media relations work for Special Olympics Massachusetts. top

Gary P. Leupp, associate professor of history, gave a talk on "Japanese Women, European Men: The Official Regulation of International Sex and Marriage in Japan, ca. 1550-1850" at the New England conference of the Association for Asian Studies, which took place October 13 at Williams College. His book, Interracial Intimacy in Japan: Western Men and Japanese Women, 1543-1900, will be published by Continuum Press in 2002. Leupp's paper, "Capitalism and Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan," will be published in a special issue of Eighteenth-Century Life in February and also in Homosexuality in the Eighteenth Century, edited by Lynn Hunt and Bryant Ragan. top

Dr. Nicolaos Madias, executive academic dean at the School of Medicine, gave the opening address, "Medical Education: Changes and Challenges," at the Congress of the Balkan Cities Association of Nephrology, Dialysis, Transplantation and Artificial Organs, held in Thessaloniki, Greece. top

Beatrice Manz, associate professor of history, has been elected to the Arts & Sciences faculty Budget and University Priorities Committee for a term that ends in 2006. top

Boyd Martin, C.J. Thomas and Noe Mora, all members of the Class of 2004 at the School of Dental Medicine, have received $2,500 scholarships from the American Dental Association (ADA). Martin and Thomas are among 35 students winning ADA Endowment and Assistance Fund student scholarships this year, but Tufts is the only school to have two winners. Mora is among 25 students chosen by the ADA for minority student scholarships; he also received one last year. top

Klaus Miczek, Moses Hunt Professor of Psychology, has been elected to the Arts & Sciences Committee on Tenure and Promotion for a term that expires in 2004. top

Bruce Morgan, editor of Tufts Medicine, the medical school's alumni magazine, received the American Association of Medical Colleges' highest honor, an Award of Excellence, for the cover story he wrote for the magazine's winter 2000 issue. The story, "Jail Time," reported on a visionary program in a Massachusetts prison that has reduced illness, saved public money and kept people out of jailÑall through better medical care of prisoners. top

Joseph Noonan, professor of electrical engineering, has been elected to the Arts & Sciences faculty Budget and University Priorities Committee for a term that ends in 2006. top

Jessica Papatolicas has returned to the Development Office for Arts, Sciences & Engineering as an associate director of development for major gifts. She worked as an assistant director of the Tufts Fund for Arts & Sciences a few years back. Since then, she has been director of the annual fund at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and senior manager for major gifts at the New York Botanical Garden. A graduate of St. Anselm College, she also volunteers for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Boston. top

John A. Powell, an internationally recognized authority in civil rights, civil liberties and issues relating to race, poverty and the law, has joined the Institute for Global Leadership as its 2001 inaugural scholar-in-residence. Powell is executive director and founder of the Institute on Race & Poverty and the Marvin J. Sonosky Chair in Law and Public Policy at the University of Minnesota Law School. He is editor of Dividing the Nation: Housing and Desegregation and co-editor of The Rights of Racial Minorities. He is former national legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union, where he was instrumental in developing educational adequacy theory; former International Human Rights Fellow in southern Africa, where he served as a consultant to the government of Mozambique; and a delegate to the UN Summit Against Racism and Xenophobia in Durban, South Africa, in 2001. top

Sharon Ray, assistant professor in Boston School of Occupational Therapy (BSOT), and Libby Zimmerman, senior early childhood associate with the Early Headstart National Research Center of Zero to Three, presented a workshop, "Strengths-Based Approaches to Supporting Infants and Toddlers and their Caregivers," October 17 at a conference sponsored by the Warwick, Rhode Island Coalition to Prevent Child Abuse. On September 17, Ray presented a workshop on "Consultative Models in an Inclusive Setting." The workshop was sponsored by the Malden, Mass., public schools and was a follow-up to a workshop presented last May for occupational therapists in the community who supervised BSOT students in their fieldwork placement. That workshop was on "Understanding IDEA in the Context of School-Based Practice." Ray presented another workshop, "Considering School-Based Practice in Light of IDEA 97," at the Massachusetts Occupational Therapy Association annual conference on November 1. The workshop explored the practical applications of providing occupational therapy services to children with learning challenges in the context of the public school. top

Dr. Stephen Rich, assistant professor of biomedical sciences at the School of Veterinary Medicine, has been selected as the Tufts University nominee for the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences. In addition, he has received a World Health Organization grant of $140,000 over the next two years. top

Jack Ridge, associate professor of geology, has been elected to the Arts & Sciences faculty Committee on Committees for a term that expires in 2006. top

Dr. Robert M. Russell, director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts and professor at the Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, gave a presentation on "Dietary Reference Intakes: A Closer Look at the Recent Report on Vitamins A and K and Trace Elements" at the American Dietetic Association Food & Nutrition Conference & Exhibition in St. Louis October 20-23. Other faculty who presented at the conference and their topics were Jeffrey Blumberg, associate director and chief of the Antioxidants Research Laboratory at the HNRCA and professor of nutrition, "Beyond CholesterolÑWhat Dietitians Need to Know About Heart Health;" Johanna Dwyer, senior scientist at the HNRCA and professor of nutrition, "Food Folklore, Fact and Fiction: Seeking the New Truths in Nutrition;" Dr. Ernest Schaefer, chief of the HNRCA's Lipid Metabolism Laboratory and professor of nutrition, "The Role of Plant Sterols in Cholesterol Reduction: From Research to Practice;" Kathleen L. Cappellano, nutrition information manager at the HNRCA and instructor in nutrition, "Advanced Internet Techniques: Enhancing Your Practice;" James Joseph, chief of the Neuroscience Laboratory at the HNRCA and associate professor of nutrition, "Fruits and Vegetables: Effects on Brain Aging; and Aviva Must, scientist at the HNRCA and associate professor of nutrition, "Menarcheal Timing in Relation to Obesity: Antecedent, Consequence or Both?" top

Dr. Grannum Sant, professor and chairman of urology, is president-elect of the Urological Association's New England Section. He also accepted a three-year term on the editorial board of The European Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology. top

Nancy Sardella has been hired as assistant director/Tufts University Alumni Association (TUAA) secretary in the Office of Alumni Relations. She succeeds Sandra Ciolfi, who retired in June after nearly 15 years as alumni secretary for TUAA and as associate director of alumni relations. Sardella most recently served as an MBA recruiter for Applied Value Corp., a management consulting firm in Lexington, Mass. She is a 1977 summa cum laude graduate of Boston College. top

Howard M. Solomon, professor of history, has been appointed scholar-in-residence of the Lesbian and Gay Archives of the Jean Byers Sampson Center on Diversity at the University of Southern Maine. On October 11, he presented a public lecture inaugurating the post titled "Coming Out: The History, and Future, of an Idea." top

Jan Swafford, lecturer in English, has completed three musical commissions this year for the Chamber Orchestra of Tennessee, the Skidmore College Orchestra and for the Peabody Trio. The first premiered in Tennessee in October; the other two are scheduled for premieres in April 2002. In November, he was a guest lecturer at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. Swafford is currently working on a biography of Beethoven for Houghton-Mifflin. top

Dr. Amy Tidwell, associate professor of radiology at the School of Veterinary Medicine, has been elected president of the national CT/MRI Society. top

David Walt, professor of chemistry, has been elected to the Arts & Sciences faculty Grievance Panel for a term that ends in 2004. top

Judith Wechsler, professor of art history, has been elected to the Arts & Sciences Faculty Advisory Board for Administration for a term that expires in 2006. top

Richard Weiss, professor of mathematics, has been elected to the Arts & Sciences faculty Advisory Panel on Salary Corollaries and Benefits for a term that ends in 2005. top

Dr. Frederick Wirth, associate clinical professor of pediatrics, has written a new book, Prenatal Parenting (Regan Books, 2001), in which he gives advice to expectant mothers on how to handle stress, anger and fear. To ensure a happy and healthy baby, Wirth advocates the use of prayer or meditation during pregnancy. top

Maryanne Wolf, professor of child development, has been elected to the Arts & Sciences faculty Grievance Panel for a term that ends in 2004. top