People News, December 2014

Professor of Biological Sciences Richard Olivo is one of two recipients of this year’s Education in Neuroscience Award from the Society for Neuroscience.

The award recognizes outstanding contributions to neuroscience education and training. Olivo’s research interests include sensory neuroscience and the use of computers for imaging and teaching. Since 2005, he has led the society’s annual meeting on teaching neuroscience and also helped the organization acquire a National Science Foundation grant to support a database of educational materials.

Eric Reeves, professor of English language and literature, was honored by the Darfur Women Action Group earlier this month for his human rights advocacy work in Sudan. Reeves, a Sudan analyst, was one of six Americans honored by the organization at a December 11 ceremony in Washington, D.C., for International Human Rights Day.

Associate Professor of Geosciences Sara Pruss received an award for Outstanding Contributions to Geobiosciences from the Geological Society of America’s geomicrobiology division. Pruss received her award at the society’s annual meeting in Vancouver last month.

Steven Goldstein, Sophia Smith Professor of Government, was one of two experts on a panel hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, D.C., earlier this month about recent municipal elections in Taiwan. Goldstein offered his take on what the election outcomes mean for the upcoming 2016 presidential elections in Taiwan.

Donna Divine, Morningstar Professor Emerita of Jewish Studies and professor emerita of government, participated in a teach-in at Brandeis University last month on the conflict in Gaza. Divine spoke about “Israeli and Palestinian Political Landscapes.”

Fadzai Chinyengetere ’07 has been chosen as this year’s Rolf C. Syvertsen Fellow at Dartmouth College’s Geisel School of Medicine. Chinyengetere was also one of six students chosen by a faculty committee to receive a Syvertsen Scholar Award based on academic achievement, leadership and community involvement. A student in the dual M.D./Ph.D. program at Dartmouth, Chinyengetere has been involved in cancer therapy research and has co-authored four research articles published in professional medical journals. Chinyengetere has also been active in the Student National Medical Association, which supports students from underrepresented minority groups, and as a volunteer with the Burlington Refugee Clinic in Burlington, Vt. She expects to receive her medical degree in June 2015.

Emily Robertson ’06, a research analyst at the Texas Joint Crime Information Center in Austin, was named Fusion Center Employee of the Year for her contributions to state and national homeland security efforts. The award recognizes individuals who provide exceptional service to the national network of fusion centers that support information-sharing among federal, state, local, tribal and private-sector intelligence and counterterrorism agencies.

Wendy Markus Webb ’80 has been named to the board of directors of ABM Industries in New York. Webb, who is chief executive officer of Kestrel Corporate Advisors, will also serve on ABM’s audit committee. A former managing director and chief investor relations officer at Tennenbaum Capital Partners, Webb spent 20 years at The Walt Disney Company overseeing strategic and financial communications. Her experience also includes stints at PaineWebber Inc. and Lehman Brothers in New York and London.

Pam Miller ’60, the first woman elected mayor of Lexington, Ky., was inducted earlier this month into the Kentucky Public Service Hall of Fame. Miller, who served as Lexington’s mayor from 1993 to 2003, was also a member of the Lexington Fayette County Urban County Council for 16 years. She founded the city’s farmers’ market and the Lexington Children’s Museum (now known as the Explorium). Miller currently serves as chair of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education.