News & Notes

NEWS & NOTES s

IBM, University Create Supercomputing Facility

International Business Machines and the University have established a state-of-the-art supercomputing research facility to support the University’s semiconductor research and development programs and workforce training initiatives.

The facility, which is located at the University’s Center for Advanced Thin Film Technology, houses a $875,000 high-performance IBM RS/6000 SP supercomputer system. The supercomputer provides critically needed computing power for University researchers as they confront the challenges associated with the development of new generations of computer chips. Its primary role is to perform advanced modeling work to assess and predict the performance of novel interconnect architectures. Funding for the supercomputer was provided equally by an IBM Shared University Resources grant and University at Albany matching funds.

Stanley Fink Internship Established

With the support of a $100,000 grant from the Bell Atlantic Foundation, the University has established a legislative internship in memory of the late Stanley Fink, who served as Speaker of the New York State Assembly from 1979 to 1986.

Funds to support the $5,000, full-semester internship will be generated from an endowment in memory of Fink, who was also a former senior executive with Bell Atlantic (NYNEX) Corp.

The University has offered internship programs for undergraduate students in both the public and private sectors for many years. Each year, between 60 and 70 undergraduates participate in such programs with New York’s Assembly and Senate.

Art Museum Recreates "The Happy Room"

The work of internationally acclaimed printmaker and book artist William Schade, M.F.A.’71, will be featured in an exhibit opening at the University Art Museum Sept. 26. Schade’s books, prints and mixed-media installations are filled with fanciful animals. The exhibition, which runs through Nov. 14, will include “The Happy Room,” a re-creation of an actual room in Schade’s house in Williamstown, Mass.

Time Salutes Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk, A.B.’51, who became the first openly gay elected official of any large city, has made Time magazine’s list of “most influential people of the century.” Milk, who was from Bay Shore on Long Island, attended Albany on the G.I. Bill. He was a member of Kappa Beta fraternity and served as the sports editor of the State College News, predecessor to the Albany Student Press. Milk later moved to San Francisco and became a gay rights pioneer, winning a seat on the city Board of Supervisors in 1977. He was assassinated a year later by former board member Dan White.

AWARDS and HONORS

	Marlene Belfort, a research biologist in the School of Public Health, has been named a member of the National Academy of Sciences, one of the highest honors for a research scientist. Belfort, who is also director of the Division of Genetic Disorders in the Department of Health’s Wadsworth Center, is one of only 133 women among the academy’s 1,825 members.	Criminal justice Professor Graeme Newman has been awarded the rank of distinguished teaching professor by the SUNY Board of Trustees. Newman, who joined the faculty in 1972, teaches a wide variety of courses that are demanding yet routinely oversubscribed.
	James Tedeschi, a member of the Psychology Department since 1970, has received a Fulbright grant to conduct research and lecture in the summer of 2000 at the Otto Friedrich University in Bamberg, Germany and also at the Institut fuer Psychologie, Lehrstuhl fuer Sozialpsychologie, Friedrich Schiller Universitaet in Jena.	Judy Genshaft, provost and vice president for academic affairs, is the recipient of the “Woman of Excellence—Public Sector Award” from the Albany-Colonie Chamber of Commerce. Genshaft, who joined the University in 1992 as dean of the School of Education, was recognized for her innovative thinking and ability to create partnerships that reach across campus and community boundaries.
	Ronald Bosco, a professor of English, and Shirley J. Jones, a professor of social work, have been named Collins Fellows, the University’s highest award for service and commitment. The award is named for the late Evan R. Collins, who served the University as president from 1949 to 1969.	English Professor Warren Ginsberg, a leading authority on Middle English and medieval Italian literature, has received a Guggenheim Fellowship to support research on a book about the 14th-century English writer William Chaucer.
	The University has the 15th best graduate program in library science in the country, according to a U.S. News & World Report survey of deans, program directors, and faculty at the 48 accredited programs in the country. Albany’s School of Information Science and Policy, which is part of the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy, ranked 15th in a three-way tie with the University of North Texas and the University of South Carolina, Columbia.