Around the College

News about awards and events from around the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Ken Sassaman has been awarded the Mooney Award from the Southern Anthropological Society for his book People of the Shoals: Stallings Culture of the Savannah River Valley. He will be recognized during a special ceremony on March 15. The purpose of the James Mooney Award is to recognize and thereby encourage distinguished anthropological scholarship on the South and Southerners. Presented annually, the award includes a $500 cash prize and certificate of recognition.

Ph.D. candidate David McClister successfully defended his dissertation on February 11 and is set to graduate during the university’s next commencement ceremony in May, becoming the first person in the nation to receive a Ph.D. in classical studies through distance learning. The classical studies distance learning graduate program was established at the University of Florida in 2001 to address the needs of Latin teachers nationwide. It is the only program of its kind in the nation and is the only online Ph.D. offered at the university.

Elizabeth Herrera, a graduating senior, has been given a Best Paper Award from the University Scholars Program for her paper “Lexical Tone Acquisition in People with Musical Experience.” Edith Kaan served as her faculty mentor.

Terry Harpold and Ph.D candidate Nicholas Guest-Jelley, along with CLAS News & Publications staffers Jane Dominguez and Jeffrey Stevens, were awarded second place in the Web/Interactive Media category of the 2008 Golden Gator Awards for their redesign of the Department of English web site in fall 2007. Golden Gators are given annually by the University’s Office of Public Relations in recognition of excellence in communications on behalf of the university. The English site bested 15 other competitors in the competition, including 12 department sites and three college-level sites. First place was awarded to the UF Foundation's Florida Tomorrow campaign website.
David Leavitt’s book “The Indian Clerk” was chosen for inclusion in The New York Public Library’s Books to Remember from 2007. The annual list of 25 outstanding titles is selected by a committee of librarians.
Ph.D. student Jaimy Mann chaired a panel at the 2007 Modern Language Association Convention titled “Japanese Kawaii (Cute) Children’s Culture, 1995–Now.”
Cathlena Martin has accepted the position of Secretary for the 2008 South Atlantic Modern Language Association (SAMLA) Children’s Literature Discussion Circle.
Judith Page was awarded a visiting fellowship at Chawton House Library, home to a collection of books and manuscripts by women writing in English from 1600–1830. While at Chawton this spring, she is working on books pertaining to landscape and gardening.

The center was awarded an honorable mention in the Visual Design category of the 2008 Golden Gator Awards for their study abroad postcards. Golden Gators are given annually by the University’s Office of Public Relations in recognition of excellence in communications on behalf of the university. Members of the design team included center staffers Gail Keeler, Petia Kostadinova and Branislav Kovalcik, as well as graphic designer Jane Dominguez in the CLAS News & Publications Office.

Steven Detweiler has been elected vice-chair of the American Physical Society’s Topical Group on Graviation.
Ivan Furic has been named an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow. These extraordinarily competitive awards are designed to "stimulate fundamental research by young scholars of outstanding promise". Ivan will receive $50,000
over a two year period in support of his research. For the full list of recipients, see http://www.sloan.org/programs/fellowshiplist.shtml.
The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation has selected David Micha for an
award within its Senior Scientist Mentor Program for his distinguished research and pedagogical career accomplishments and commitment to advising and mentoring undergraduate students. The award includes $20,000 to cover expenses of mentored students for two years, which he plans to use for theoretical and computational research on optical properties of surfaces relevant to capture and conversion of solar energy.

Giovanna Morini, who graduated in December 2007 with a B.S. in psychology, has been honored with a Best Paper Award from the University Scholars Program for her undergraduate research paper “The Influence of Grammatical Class on Bilinguals' Resolution of Tip-of-the-Tongue States.” It was not the first time Morini’s mentor, Lise Abrams, advised an award winning University Scholar. Stacy Eitel also won a Best Paper Award for her work with Abrams back in 2003.

Connie Shehan has been named one of five university-level recipients of the Doctoral Dissertation Advisor/Mentoring Award by from the UF Graduate School. “Connie's dedication to her students has helped those students in their careers and serves as a model for all of us,” said CLAS associate dean Allan Burns. “This is a well-deserved recognition.”

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences