FULBRIGHT SCHOLARS

UC Davis sits at the top of the list of U.S. research institutions recognized as “top producers” of Fulbright Scholars for 2012-13 — academics chosen to go abroad to teach and do research in the U.S. government’s flagship program for international educational exchange.

Only two other research institutions matched UC Davis with six scholars each: UC Berkeley and Pennsylvania State University at University Park.

The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program for this academic year includes the following UC Davis participants: Mark Mascal, chemistry; Richard Mines, research economist; Pamela Ronald, plant pathology; Henry Spiller, music; Ruxandra Vidu, chemical engineering and materials science; and Yin Yeh, applied science. Mascal and Ronald received awards in the Fulbright Distinguished Chairs Program, appointments that are viewed as among the most prestigious in the Fulbright Scholar Program.

Read more.

The 2-year-old National Academy of Inventors has named its first class of fellows, and Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi is among them. She is an electrical engineer whose cell phone, radar and antenna circuits are used in signal transmitting, receiving and processing.

The 101 honorees hold more than 3,200 U.S. patents. Katehi has 19 (they are listed here, with links to more information on file at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office).

“Election to NAI fellow status is a high professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a highly prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society,” academy officials said in a news release.

Katehi is also a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. She is a former chair of the President’s Committee for the National Medal of Science, and the committee appointed by the secretary of the Department of Commerce to evaluate nominations for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation.

The National Academy of Inventors has a membership of 46 U.S. and international universities, and nonprofit research institutions, and more than 2,000 individual members. It aims to enhance the visibility of academic technology and innovation, encourage the disclosure of intellectual property, educate and mentor innovative students, and translate the inventions of its members to benefit society.

The academy announced a formal induction will be held Feb. 22 in Tampa, Fla., with U.S. Commissioner of Patents Margaret A. Focarino presiding. The ceremony is scheduled during the academy’s second annual conference.

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Roberto Carlos Delgadillo of the University Library is feeling some love, big time, as the recipient of a 2012 I Love My Librarian! award. This national award has been given to 10 librarians annually since 2008 in recognition of their accomplishments as exceptional public, school, college, community college or university librarians.

Delgadillo

Delgadillo traveled to New York City to receive his award, which came with a $5,000 prize. The American Library Association administers the award, with sponsorship by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and The New York Times.

“The UC Davis University Library is extraordinarily proud of Roberto and the recognition of his work represented by this award," University Librarian MacKenzie Smith said. “It’s a testament to his dedication to his clients and other fine qualities and, indeed, those of all our wonderful librarians at UC Davis.”

Delgadillo, a bibliographer in the humanities and social sciences, specializes in literatures in English, Chicana/o studies, education, religious studies and military history.

Miroslava Chávez-García, associate professor and chair, Department of Chicana/o Studies, nominated Delgadillo for the I Love My Librarian! award, noting his “ability to make the library an easier place to navigate, particularly for historically underrepresented students.” Read the nomination.

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Scott Carrell is the co-recipient of the 2012 Young Labor Economist Award from the Institute for the Study of Labor. It goes by the acronym IZA, for the Bonn, Germany, institute’s name in German: Institut zur Zukunft der Arbeit.

Carrell

Carrell, associate professor, Department of Economics, and Mark Hoekstra, associate professor, Texas A&M University, shared the award for their article, “Externalities in the Classroom: How Children Exposed to Domestic Violence Affect Everyone’s Kids,” published by the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics in 2010 and, as a working paper, by the National Bureau of Economic Research in 2008. Read UC Davis news release.

In receiving the seventh annual IZA Young Labor Economist Award, Carrell and Hoekstra joined a list of recipients that includes economists from UC Berkeley, Harvard, Yale and Princeton, and the London School of Economics.

The award presentation took place Jan. 6 at the American Economic Association’s annual meetings in San Diego. Carrell and Hoekstra split the prize money of 5,000 euros (about $6,550).

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Two national organizations recently presented their Distinguished Service Training Award to UC Davis Extension’s Susan Brooks for her leadership in the implementation of innovative child welfare practices to ensure better outcomes for children and families.

The award is given by the National Staff Development and Training Association in affiliation with the American Public Human Services Association.

Brooks is director of the Northern California Training Academy, part of the Center for Human Services at UC Davis Extension. The academy provides training, research and consultation to 28 Northern California counties within the field of child welfare.

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The Department of Theatre and Dance announced the following awards:

• Professor John Iacovelli received the 2012 NAACP Theatre Award for best set design for his work on Blues for an Alabama Sky at the Pasadena Playhouse.

• Barry McGovern, Granada artist in residence (he directed The Bacchae in fall quarter), shared in a pair of 2012 Ovation Awards from the LA Stage Alliance — best acting ensemble in a play and best production of a play, for the Center Theatre Group’s Waiting for Godot at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles.

McGovern’s portrayal of Vladimir earned him a nomination for best lead actor.

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Dateline UC Davis welcomes news of faculty and staff awards, for publication in Laurels. Send information to dateline@ucdavis.edu.

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