Five faculty members are named Distinguished Professors.
The University of Connecticut Board of Trustees named five faculty as Distinguished Professors in March 2001. Those honored are: Dr. Carl David Benson, professor of English; Dr. Robert K. Colwell, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology; Dr. Ruth Millikan, professor of philosophy; Dr. Steven L. Siub, professor of chemistry; and Dr. Jack Viega, head of the management department in the School of Business. The honored faculty members are widely respected in their fields and have, collectively, produced hundreds of books, papers and journal articles. The Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor designation, which is conferred for life, is the highest University academic title a UConn professor can attain.

UConn's "space" flag returns home.
When the space shuttle, Atlantis, lifted off in September 2000, astronaut Richard Mastracchio, a UConn alumnus, carried the flag of his alma mater where no UConn flag has ever gone before--into outer space.

Mastracchio graduated from UConn in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in electrical and computer engineering. On this space flight, Mastracchio's first, he served as a mission specialist, delivering supplies to the International Space Station and making final preparations for the station's first inhabitants. Homecoming weekend was the perfect setting for the presentation of the well-traveled flag to the University, which is now proudly displayed on campus in the Lodewick Visitors Center.

A guiding light in optical fiber research.
Dr. Wilson K.S. Chiu, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, has received two prestigious honors: the National Science Foundation Early Career Development Award and the Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program Award. The awards provide over $715,000 to support his innovative optical fiber research.

Optical fibers have revolutionized telecommunications because they transmit dramatically more information than conventional copper wires. However, Chiu foresees a future in which these fibers are also used as chemical, biological, environmental and industrial sensors. While optical fibers make excellent sensors, they degrade quickly under extreme conditions. Chiu's research centers on making the hair-thin fibers more durable and improving the fiber's sensing capability.

Education dean to serve on distinguished national commission.
Dr. Richard Schwab, dean of UConn's Neag School of Education, has been tapped to serve on one of the nation's most prestigious education commissions--the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. The 30-member commission includes prominent public officials, as well as education, business and community leaders. Established in 1994 with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York, the group strives to improve the quality of teaching across the country.

James Hunt, commission chairman and former governor of North Carolina, says that Schwab's "insights and experience as a dean at an innovative teacher preparation institution greatly benefit our work."

Earthdance: UConn's first festival of student films.
The first-ever UConn student film festival opened to rave reviews this year. The festival, called Earthdance, was hosted by the UConn Student Film Organization, which began in 2000 as a modest student club and has grown to become a fully equipped filmmaking organization, attracting members from all over the University.

The event featured three student films as well as promotions for films currently in production. The films premiered at the festival were: Blake Harjes's "The Walk," Daniel Gould's "The Shower Project," and William Swofford's "Stupa, Power Place of Tibetan Buddhism," a production filmed in Nepal.

Avery Point named a Sun Center for Excellence.
UConn's Marine Sciences Program at the Avery Point campus was named a Sun Center for Excellence by Sun Microsystems. With this distinction--shared with a select group of institutions around the world--the University receives $2 million in high-performance computing equipment, including two of Sun's supercomputers.

Equipped with state-of-the-art hardware, researchers will have the necessary computing power for developing models to study complex ocean patterns and perform real-time data collection on wave movement and changes in sea climate. This data will provide UConn researchers critical information for forecasting underwater weather patterns and evaluating the environmental effects of organisms, nutrients, and pollutants moving through Long Island Sound.