September People Notes

Astier Almedom has been appointed the inaugural fellow of Tufts’ Institute of Global Leadership (IGL) and professor of the practice in humanitarian policy and global public health at the Fletcher School, following the completion of her tenure as the Henry R. Luce Professor in Science and Humanitarianism in the School of Arts & Sciences. Almedom will continue to advise her Ph.D. students in the biology department while also offering seminar courses through the Community Health Program in the School of Arts & Sciences and the Fletcher School. As the IGL fellow, Almedom will direct an applied interdisciplinary international resilience research and policy/practice program. The Institute for Global Leadership held its inaugural International Resilience Workshop at the Tufts European Center in Talloires, France, July 2-6. The workshop was organized by Almedom and co-moderated by Sherman Teichman, IGL director.

Nalini Ambady, professor of psychology, has received a $597,433 grant from the National Science Foundation for her project “Neural Substrates of Perceiving Status and Solidarity.”

Michael Baenen has joined the president’s office as chief of staff. For the past 11 years, he worked in the president’s office at MIT, most recently as the special assistant to the president, coordinating all presidential communications, serving as the senior staff for the Executive Committee of the MIT Corp. and representing the president in planning and coordinating major events, accreditation reviews and the development of major publications and reports. He earned an A.B. in history from Columbia and an A.M. at Harvard, while pursuing doctoral studies in American history. Prior to working at MIT, Baenen worked in the office of Moshe Safdie and Associates as assistant to the president.

Dr. David M. Barrett, professor of urology and president and CEO of the Tufts-affiliated Lahey Clinic, has been named Healthcare Executive of the Year by the American College of Healthcare Executives.

Charles Bralver, F75, F76, has been appointed executive director of the International Business Center at the Fletcher School, directing the school’s new master of international business degree program and the Center for Emerging Market Enterprises. A member of Fletcher’s Board of Overseers, he most recently led the strategic finance practice at Mercer Oliver Wyman.

Dr. Bari-Sue Brodsky, J86, clinical instructor in public health and family medicine at Tufts, has been appointed medical director of Cambridge Health Alliance’s Riverside Health Center in Cambridge, Mass. In addition to teaching at Tufts, she holds appointments at Harvard Medical School and Boston University School of Medicine. She received her medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania and completed her residency at the Abington Memorial Hospital Family Medicine Residency program in Jenkintown, Pa.

Don Button has been appointed the new administrator of the Fares Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies. His responsibilities include budgeting, conference planning, writing grant proposals, development, production of the center’s publications and communications. He comes to Tufts with more than 20 years of experience in the telecommunications business, where he supervised staff in the strategic development of new customer programs and software. The greater part of his experience was with MCI Worldcom, working in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and the western region of the United States. After moving to San Francisco in 1997, Button shifted his skills to the financial arena and was responsible for systems integration following a merger of two major national banking institutions. He has also managed a team of graphic designers, web developers, systems analysts and customer service representatives for an online greeting card company.

Dr. Elizabeth Byrnes, research assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the Cummings School, gave an invited presentation on “Neuroendocrine and Behavioral Alterations Following Reproductive Experience in the Female Rat” at the 2007 Parental Brain Conference held in Boston in early June.

Janine Calabro, V08, received the Veterinary Associates of the North Shore (VANS) Junior Award. The award recognizes a third-year veterinary student who has been a “good citizen” at the school and has demonstrated potential for success as a veterinarian. The recipient is nominated by the third-year class. Calabro has held leadership roles in several student organizations, including the Shelter Medicine Club and Wildlife, Aquatics, Zoo, Exotics (WAZE), the largest student organization at the Cummings School, that promotes veterinary education in exotic and aquatic animals, wildlife husbandry, conservation, pathology, therapeutics and surgery.

Diana K. Davis, V94, an assistant professor in the Department of Geography and the Environment at the University of Texas at Austin, has been awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship for her book-in-progress, Imperialism and Environmental History in the Middle East, which is under contract with Cambridge University Press. She is among 189 artists, scholars and scientists from 2,800 applicants selected for the fellowship for their distinguished scholarly achievement and exceptional promise for future accomplishment. She has also been awarded a Charles A. Ryskamp Fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies for this project. Davis teaches geography and Middle Eastern studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Her first book, Resurrecting the Granary of Rome: Environmental History and French Colonial Expansion in North Africa (Ohio University Press) was published earlier this year.

Danielle Diamond, V09, and Jessica Connolly, V09, were commissioned as second lieutenants in the U.S. Army at a ceremony in June. Diamond is enrolled in the Army’s Health Care Profession Scholarship (HPSP) program, which pays tuition, fees, books and living expenses of veterinary students in exchange for active and reserve duty. Connolly hopes to pursue a career with the Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Dr. Michael H. Entrup has been named chair of the Department of Anesthesiology at the School of Medicine and anesthesiologist-in-chief at Tufts-New England Medical Center. He joins Tufts from the Lahey Clinic, where he served as chair of the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative Medicine and Pain Management. Entrup succeeds W. Heinrich Wurm, who is leaving his position after more than 16 years as anesthesiologist-in-chief, but will continue his work at Tufts-NEMC as a clinician and teacher. Entrup is a graduate of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey Medical School. He completed his postgraduate training in anesthesia and pediatric anesthesia at Tufts-NEMC and the Floating Hospital for Children as well as a fellowship in cardiovascular anesthesia from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Nationally known in the field of anesthesiology, Entrup is a past president of the Massachusetts Society of Anesthesiologists.

Dr. Spencer Frankl, DG61, the longest-serving dean at any U.S. dental school, will step down as dean of Boston University’s School of Dental Medicine on July 1, 2008, or as soon as a successor is named. Frankl has been associated with BU’s dental school since 1964. He was an Abbe Francis Lawton Fellow in Pediatric Dentistry at Tufts School of Dental Medicine, where he received his M.Sc.D. in 1961. In 1964, he was recruited by Henry M. Goldman, BU dental school’s founding dean, to create a pediatric dentistry department there. He served as chairman of the department from 1964 to 1976. In 1970, Frankl was named assistant dean and in 1973, became the associate dean, during which time he initiated the D.M.D. program. He was appointed dean in 1977. During his three decades as dean, Frankl was a major proponent of experiential learning; strengthened the curriculum and the research mission of the school; developed an extensive community service program and mentored students from diverse backgrounds.

Kevin P. Gallagher, senior researcher at the Global Development and Environment Institute, has written a chapter on “Trade and Sustainable Development,” which appears in the newly released Handbook on Sustainable Development (Edward Elgar Publishing). His co-authored article, “China Matters: A Report on the Economic Impact of China on Latin America,” will be published by Latin American Research Review in early 2008. His co-authored article, “Missing Links: Foreign Investment and Industrial Development in Costa Rica and Mexico,” has been accepted by the journal Studies in Comparative International Development.

Christos Georgakis, professor of chemical engineering, was elected a 2007 fellow of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC). The award, which he received in Toulouse, France, in June, is for outstanding contributions in the field. He was cited “for seminal methodological contributions to chemical process control and for fostering highly productive industry/university research collaborations.” Georgakis is also a fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and the American Association of the Advancement of Science. He has held endowed professorships at the Polytechnic University, Lehigh University and MIT.

Douglas Glandon, A06, MPH07, participated in the inaugural International Resilience Workshop at the Tufts campus in Talloires, France, July 2-6. This workshop, organized by Tufts professor Astier Almedom and sponsored by the Henry R. Luce Program and the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts, brought together researchers, practitioners and policymakers from around the world to begin a dialogue on defining the concept of “resilience,” how to measure it and how it can be promoted within human communities and their socio-ecological contexts. At the workshop, Glandon participated in the group discussions and presented a summary of his recent research in New Orleans assessing psychosocial resilience among residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina. His participation in the workshop was sponsored by the Luce Program and the Public Health and Professional Degree Programs at Tufts School of Medicine.

Neva Goodwin, co-director of the Global Development and Environment Institute, gave a presentation at the recent conference of the International Confederation of Associations for Pluralism in Economics (ICAPE). Her talk is being serialized in four parts, written in Spanish, Portuguese and English, by Opinión Sur, a free online publication dedicated to finding new solutions to poverty in Latin America and to analyzing the impact of global processes on the region. The first of the four articles in Spanish can be found here: http://www.surnorte.org.ar/opinionsur/nota.php?id_nota=239

Dr. Joseph W. Gravel Jr., A82, M86, associate professor of public health and family medicine and program director of the Tufts University Family Medicine Residency at the Cambridge Health Alliance, received the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors’ (AFMRD) 2007 Gold Level Program Director Award on June 11 in Overland Park, Kan. The award honors accomplishments in training residents, program performance, tenure and legislative advocacy. At the same meeting, Gravel was re-elected for a two-year term as a member-at-large of the AFMRD Board of Directors after receiving the highest number of votes from his program director peers nationwide in a field of six candidates.

Robert J. Hannemann, the former executive vice president of Thermal Form & Function Inc. and founder and principal of Atlantic Technologies LLC, has been named the new director of the Tufts Gordon Institute (TGI), which offers a master of science degree, an undergraduate minor in engineering management and an undergraduate certificate program in entrepreneurial leadership. As the new director, Hannemann will continue to push TGI’s boundaries to produce top-notch engineering leaders who have far-reaching entrepreneurial vision. He will establish working relationships with the School of Engineering’s departments, other Tufts schools, including the Fletcher School and School of Medicine, and industry partners to enrich the TGI experience for students and to assist the School of Engineering in carrying out initiatives that would likely be beyond the reach of TGI alone. Hannemann also has a secondary appointment as a professor of the practice in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and will be part of a new school-wide initiative to bring hands-on engineering practice and expertise from industry into the curricular and research efforts of the school. Hannemann received an M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from New York University and a Sc.D. from MIT. He succeeds Arthur Winston, who served the Gordon Institute for more than 20 years.

Jonathan Harris, director of theory and education at the Global Development and Environment Institute, was interviewed by NPR’s “Marketplace Report” on June 20 about recent reports that China has surpassed the United States as the world’s leading emitter of greenhouse gases. In the interview, Harris stressed that U.S. per-capita emissions are four times those of China, so the main responsibility for reducing emissions still rests with the United States and other developed nations. The report can be heard at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11211908. An article by Harris and Anne-Marie Codur, research associate, on the economics of fisheries was featured on the homepage of the online Encyclopedia of Earth (www.eoearth.org), a project of the National Council for Science and the Environment. The Global Development and Environment Institute is a content partner of the encyclopedia.

Soha Hassoun, associate professor of computer science, received the 2007 Special Interest Group on Design Automation (SIGDA) Distinguished Service Award for the creation of the Ph.D. Forum at the annual Design Automation Conference. Since Hassoun established the forum 10 years ago, it is now one of the premier venues for students in design automation to get feedback on their research and for industry to see academic work in progress.

Ekaterina Heldwein, assistant professor of microbiology, is among the 20 members of the newest class of Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences. With support from a four-year, $240,000 grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts, she will study how herpes viruses enter human cells. A graduate of Oregon Health and Science University, she trained at Children’s Hospital in Boston and Harvard Medical School.

Justin Hollander, assistant professor of urban and environmental policy and planning, gave a talk on “Smart Growth? How about ‘Smart Decline’?” August 21, during a webcast sponsored by the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.

Robert Jacob, professor of computer science, has received a $444,620 grant from the National Science Foundation for his project “HCC: Human-computer Interaction and Brain Measurement Using fNIR Spectroscopy.”

Alice Lichtenstein, the Stanley N. Gershoff Professor of Nutrition Science and Policy, participated in a panel titled “You Are What You Eat: Eating and Supplements for Women’s Health” at a meeting of the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetrics and Neonatal Nurses in June in Orlando, Fla.

Phyllis Mann, assistant professor of biomedical sciences at the Cummings School, chaired a scientific session on “Neurosystems of Maternal Behavior” at the 2007 Parental Brain Conference in Boston in June.

Mitch McVey, assistant professor of biology, has received a $638,000 grant from the National Science Foundation for his project “Interactions between Error-prone and Error-free DNA Double-strand Break Repair Pathways in Drosophila Melanogaster.”

Julie Nelson, senior research associate at the Global Development and Environment Institute, had her article, “Economics for Humans: Conscience, Care and Commerce?," published in the July/August issue of Challenge: The Magazine of Economic Affairs. She has written a new book with Mark Maier titled Introducing Economics: A Critical Guide for Teaching (M.E. Sharpe Inc.) Nelson’s article, “Feminist Economics and Economic Sociology: Commonalities, Differences and Challenges,” appeared in Accounts, the newsletter of the American Sociological Association’s economic sociology section.

Dr. Benjamin Nephew, a NIH postdoctoral fellow in reproductive biology at the Cummings School, and Dr. Robert Bridges, professor of biomedical sciences, presented a poster titled “Vasopressin V1a Receptor Mediates Maternal Aggression in Rats” at the 2007 Parental Brain Conference held in Boston in June. At the same conference, Bridges and Vicky Scanlan, M10, presented a poster on “Phosphorylated Prolactin Mimic S179D-PRL, a Prolactin Receptor Antagonist, Increases Cell Proliferation and Reduces Neurogenesis in Pregnant Rats.”

Dr. Kenneth L. Noller, the Louis E. Phaneuf Professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology, has been named president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Noller is gynecologist-in-chief at Tufts-New England Medical Center. He earned his medical degree from Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.

Patricia Reilly, director of financial aid; Karen Pepper, senior investment accountant; Jillian Dubman, executive assistant to the dean of Arts & Sciences; and Emma-Kate Kallevik, administrative assistant to the dean, received the inaugural School of Arts & Sciences Stewardship Award. The award recognizes diligence, commitment and dedication regarding Tufts’ donors and the gifts these donors make. The award recipients have demonstrated continuity of internal support, always seeking to assist the Advancement Division in stewardship activities and donor relations. Stewardship is a critically important aspect of fund-raising because it fosters institutional accountability in the use of donors’ gifts and honors the donors’ rights to accurate information pertaining to the administration and impact of their gifts.

Dr. Barbara P. Rockett, M57, has been elected president of the American Medical Association Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the American Medical Association. The foundation supports a broad range of programs in medical education, research and public health. A former president of the Tufts Medical Alumni Association, she is a practicing surgeon in Newton, Mass. She has a long and distinguished history of service to the profession of medicine and has served on the AMA Foundation Board of Directors since January 2001. Her term runs through July 2009. Rockett served as a Tufts trustee from 1988 to 2002, and she is an overseer to the School of Medicine. She is on the medical staffs of Newton-Wellesley Hospital, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital and New England Baptist Hospital. Rockett chairs the Massachusetts AMA Delegation, and she is a past president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, a post she held for an unprecedented two years.

Jeswald W. Salacuse, the Henry J. Braker Professor of Law at the Fletcher School, spoke at the annual meeting of the American Bar Association in San Francisco on August 12 on the topic “Leading Leaders: The Challenge of Law Practice Leadership.”

Sharan L. Schwartzberg, professor of occupational therapy and adjunct professor of psychiatry; Mary A. Barnes, fieldwork coordinator in the Department of Occupational Therapy; and Jenni Guest, G07, of the Oxford and Buckinghamshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, conducted a workshop on “Making Groups Work Using a Functional Group Approach” at the annual meeting of the College of Occupational Therapists in Manchester, England, on June 20. They also exhibited a poster during the weeklong congress titled “Justification for Your Group Work Program: An Evidence-based Practice Approach.” On June 16, Schwartzberg and Barnes conducted a workshop on “Cognitive Functioning: Effects on Member Participation and Group Process” at the annual meeting of the Northeast Society for Group Psychotherapy at Wellesley College.

Ken Shadlen, senior research fellow with the Global Development and Environment Institute’s Globalization and Sustainable Development Program, presented a paper, “Power, Rules and Norms in the International Political Economy: The Politics of Development in the WTO,” at a conference on “World Trade Organization and Human Rights: Interdisciplinary Perspectives” at Monash University in Italy, June 21-22.

Enrico Spolaore, professor of economics, had his research on the diffusion of development featured in David Warsh’s economicprincipals.com (http://www.economicprincipals.com/issues/07.08.26.html).

Allen Taylor, professor of nutrition and chief of the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging, received the 2007 Denham Harmon Award from the American Aging Association for excellence in aging research.

Dawn Geronimo Terkla, associate provost for institutional research and evaluation, co-edited a volume in the New Directions for Institutional Research Series (Jossey Bass) on Advancing Sustainability in Higher Education (http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/86010818), which was published this summer. Several Tufts authors contributed articles to the book, including Tufts President Lawrence S. Bacow; William Moomaw, professor at the Fletcher School; Sarah Hammond Creighton, project manager of the Tufts Institute of Environment, and Terkla.

Pam Velez-Vega, director of research for the Social Science Library Project at the Global Development and Environmental Institute, attended a conference on “Mobilizing Common Wealth for the Common Good” June 25-27 in Tarrytown, N.Y.

Paul Waldau, assistant professor of environmental and population health at the Cummings School, gave the keynote address, “Animal Law—Has It Arrived? Where Is It Going?,” for the Animal Law Panel at the summer meeting of the Maine Bar Association on June 22. He gave a presentation on “Law, Religion and Other Animals” May 9 at a Harvard University panel on “Animal Crossings.”

Peter Walker, director of the Feinstein International Center and the Irwin H. Rosenberg Professor of Nutrition and Human Security at the Friedman School, is the winner of the 2007 Nutrition Humanitarian Award from the American College of Nutrition (ACN). He will receive the award on September 29 at the ACN annual meeting in Orlando, Fla.

Donald Wertlieb, professor of child development, is the recipient of the 2007 Lee Salk Distinguished Service Award from the American Psychological Association. The award recognizes service to the field of pediatric psychology.

Donald E. Wilson, M62, a member of the Board of Overseers to Tufts School of Medicine, has been appointed senior vice president for health sciences at Howard University in Washington, D.C. He is responsible for the overall management and leadership of the university’s health sciences clinical and research enterprise as well as Howard University Hospital, the College of Medicine, the College of Dentistry, the College of Pharmacy, Nursing and Allied Health and the Health Sciences Library. Wilson is the former vice president for medical affairs at the University of Maryland and dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Dr. Leslie Zide, D78, DG97, DG98, a clinical instructor in general dentistry, and Dr. David Leader, D85, assistant clinical professor of general dentistry, have been appointed practice coordinators in the Department of General Dentistry. Prior to coming to the School of Dental Medicine, Zide was dental director at the Caring Health Center in Springfield, Mass., and the Codman Square Health Center in Dorchester. She serves on the board of directors of Delta Dental of Massachusetts. Leader is the state chair of peer review for the Massachusetts Dental Society and serves on the medical advisory board of the New England chapter of the National Scleroderma Foundation.