People

Co-founder of Center of the American West launches latest book

Photo by Ray Ramirez

Wilkinson

The University of Colorado Boulder's Center of the American West will celebrate the release of Charles Wilkinson's recently published book, "The People Are Dancing Again: The History of the Siletz Tribe of Western Oregon," on Jan. 27. The program, which is free and open to the public, is at 7 p.m. in the Old Main Chapel on the CU-Boulder campus.

Wilkinson is Distinguished Professor and Moses Lasky Professor of Law at the University of Colorado Law School. Co-founder of the Center of the American West, he also has authored several other books, including "Messages From Frank's Landing: A Story of Salmon, Treaties and the Indian Way" and "Blood Struggle: The Rise of Modern Indian Nations."

"The fact that Charles Wilkinson teaches at CU constitutes one of the greatest assets of our community," said Patty Limerick, faculty director and board chair of the Center of the American West. "As the co-founder of the Center, Charles sets the highest standard in understanding, eloquence, compassion and a commitment to justice. 'The People Are Dancing Again' is a book every Westerner should read."

For more information, visit the Center of the American West's website at http://www.centerwest.org or call 303-492-4879.

Albino takes Hamman's post during search for dean of School of Public Health

Hamman

Albino

Richard Hamman has stepped aside as the founding dean of the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Denver and Professor Judith Albino will serve as interim dean during a national search for Hamman's replacement. Vice Chancellor and Dean Dick Krugman will chair the search.

Since being appointed dean in 2007, Hamman successfully saw the school open and receive accreditation as the first and only school of public health in the Rocky Mountain West. On Dec. 31, 2010, Hamman stepped down in order to return to full-time teaching and research within the department of epidemiology.

The school recently initiated a strategic planning process in order to define future strategic goals. The leadership transition is a natural component to this process, providing a fresh perspective and leadership style to the school's ongoing development.

Albino, who assumed the role of interim dean Jan. 11, is principal investigator and director of the Center for Native Oral Health Research, the only NIH-funded center for research in oral health disparities that is focused on the American Indian/Alaska Native population.

Albino is a health psychologist; her CSPH appointment is in the department of community and behavioral health, and she also is a faculty member of the School of Dental Medicine.

CU doctor named state's Chief Medical Officer

Urbina

Christopher Urbina, M.D., recently was named the state's new Chief Medical Officer and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Executive Director. Said Gov. John Hickenlooper, "Dr. Urbina is uniquely qualified to oversee all aspects of the Department of Public Health and Environment. He is a physician and public health expert who knows Colorado and knows how to build consensus on complicated issues. Chris also has extensive experience finding community-based solutions that involve the environment, systems and policy changes. He will serve our state well."

Since 2004, Urbina has served as the director of Denver Public Health at Denver Health and is known for his community involvement as the co-chair of the Colorado Public Health Improvement Plan – From Act to Action. Among Urbina's extensive professional background, detailed below in Partners for Colorado's article, he also teaches at the Colorado School of Public Health and the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

Can-do attitude leads to employee of quarter honors

Davis

Marcus Davis, HVAC/plumbing supervisor, Facilities Services Physical Plant at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, earned Employee of the Quarter honors this term for his continuing service and adept management of plumbing emergencies since November 2004.

Davis also assists with campus rental property management and support. Debbie Lapioli, executive assistant, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance, nominated him for the award.

"Marcus is amazing," she said. "His great, can-do attitude and incredible customer service have benefited numerous individuals and departments across our campus community. It is a pleasure to work with Marcus and he is truly worthy of this recognition."

Davis is a master plumber and licensed plumbing inspector. Before coming to UCCS, he was a contractor in the private sector.

"I'm grateful for this honor. This is a fun place to work," Davis said. "I was here at UCCS as a transfer student back in 1984. I never would have imagined I'd be working here one day, but life's full of surprises."

Employee of the Quarter award recipients receive a certificate of recognition, a $100 stipend, three months' free campus parking and a day of administrative leave.

— Ron Fitz

Boulder faculty members earn honors from national science association

Two University of Colorado Boulder faculty members have been elected 2010 fellows of the prestigious American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Friedman

Bierbaum

The new AAAS fellows are Professor William "Ned" Friedman of the ecology and evolutionary biology department and Professor Veronica Bierbaum of the chemistry and biochemistry department, the Center for Astrophysics and Space Astronomy and JILA, a joint institute of CU-Boulder and the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

According to AAAS officials, Bierbaum was honored for distinguished contributions to the field of mass spectrometry through pioneering research, innovative teaching and dedicated editorial and administrative service.

Her studies probe the kinetics, dynamics and energies of reactions fundamental to physical organic, atmospheric and interstellar chemistry. Bierbaum has served as an investigator for the National Science Foundation's Partners in Science Education grant, president of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry and associate editor of its journal.

Bierbaum also is a member of the Boulder Valley School District Scientific Review Committee and the CU Wizards Program, and is committed to the instruction and improvement of large general chemistry courses.

According to AAAS officials, Friedman was honored for important contributions to the study of angiosperm evolutionary development biology.

His research, conducted at CU-Boulder, on the reproductive biology of flowering plants has resulted in a set of discoveries that have fundamentally altered understandings of the origin and early evolution of flowering plants — what once was described by Charles Darwin as an "abominable mystery."

At CU-Boulder, Friedman taught courses in plant biodiversity and the intellectual history of evolutionary thought. This month, Friedman joined the faculty of Harvard University, where he is a professor of organismic and evolutionary biology, and director of The Arnold Arboretum.

The two new AAAS fellows join 54 active or emeritus faculty members from CU-Boulder previously elected as fellows of the science association. Their official induction will take place on Feb. 19 at the 2011 AAAS annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

Denver researchers recognized for brain and behavior studies

Three University of Colorado Denver researchers have been awarded NARSAD (National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression) Young Investigator Awards for brain and behavior research. Those winning the award:

• Kimberly L. D'Anna, Ph.D., will conduct an in-depth analysis of how prenatal stress exposure affects risk of schizophrenia in offspring. D'Anna will measure cortisol levels in a group of healthy pregnant women and correlate them with an early marker of brain development in infants, acoustic sensory gating. The ability of infants to gate external auditory stimuli, deficits in which are evident in schizophrenia, can help identify who may be at increased risk for the disease.
• Jason Tregellas, Ph.D., will investigate why people with schizophrenia often have trouble paying attention to important information because they become distracted by irrelevant noises. In this study, he will analyze brain activity in schizophrenia patients in response to distracting noise as they perform a simple spatial attention task. He also will study the effects of distracting noise on neuronal responses during a higher-level executive function task involving working memory.
• Kristin M. Wildeboar, Ph.D., is investigating why taking varenicline, a drug for smoking cessation, sometimes exacerbates psychiatric symptoms in schizophrenia patients, 80 percent of whom are smokers. She hypothesizes that a link exists between genetic variants of the neural receptor that varenicline targets and the worsening of symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.

Want to suggest a colleague — or yourself — for People? Please e-mail information to Jay.Dedrick@cu.edu