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Obama to nominate Bienenstock to National Science Board

March 13th, 2012

Arthur Bienenstock Photo by L.A. Cicero

ARTHUR BIENENSTOCK, special assistant to President John Hennessy for federal research policy, will be nominated by PRESIDENT OBAMA to be a member of the National Science Board, the White House announced March 9.

Bienenstock, professor emeritus of photon science at Stanford, also is director of Stanford’s Wallenberg Research Link, which facilitates and coordinates visits to Stanford by Swedish individuals and groups from academia, industry and government. During his career at Stanford, Bienenstock also has served as vice provost and dean of research and graduate policy, a position he held from 2003-06, and directed the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory from 1978-97. His research focuses in the general areas of solid-state physics, amorphous materials and synchrotron radiation. He has published more than 100 scientific papers in these areas.

From 1997 to 2001, while on leave from Stanford, Bienenstock served as associate director for science of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), during the Clinton administration.

He has served as president of the American Physical Society and chair of The Council of Scientific Society Presidents. The National Science Board serves as the governing board of the National Science Foundation, and its members serve as advisers to the president of the United States and to Congress. School of Education Dean CLAUDE STEELE currently serves as a member of the National Science Board.

Scientists honored with ‘GLAM’ portraits

March 12th, 2012

Clockwise from the top: Malcolm Beasley, Alexander Fetter and Arthur Bienenstock. A portrait of Theodore Geballe hangs along with the others in the McCullough Building.

Art and science melded seamlessly at the end of the day Friday, March 9, as ARTHUR BIENENSTOCK, THEODORE GEBALLE, MALCOLM BEASLEY and ALEXANDER FETTER, all former directors of the Geballe Laboratory for Advanced Materials, were honored by their own.

Amid strains of Beethoven’s String Quartet Opus 59 Number 1 F Major offered by the St. Lawrence String Quartet, faculty, staff and students celebrated the unveiling of GLAM (as in the lab’s acronym) Portraits, painted by PAMELA DAVIS KIVELSON.

Geballe, emeritus professor of applied physics and of materials science and engineering, founded the Geballe Laboratory, an independent laboratory that supports and fosters interdisciplinary education and research on advanced materials in science and engineering, in 1999. At Stanford since 1968, Geballe has focused much of his attention on materials with extreme properties. He held the Theodore and Sydney Rosenberg Professorship in Applied Physics, served as chair of the Department of applied physics and directed the Center for Materials Research.

Beasley, the Theodore & Sydney Rosenberg Professor of Applied Physics, emeritus, also was one of the Geballe Lab’s founders. The former dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences is best known for his research in superconductivity and superconducting materials.

Bienenstock, professor emeritus of photon science, is special assistant to President John Hennessy for federal research policy, and director of the Wallenberg Research Link at Stanford. Bienenstock’s other roles at Stanford have included serving as vice provost and dean of research and graduate policy, director of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory and vice provost for faculty affairs.

Fetter is professor emeritus of physics and applied physics. His research interests include theoretical condensed matter and superconductivity. Fetter joined the Stanford faculty in 1968. In addition to serving as director of the Geballe Laboratory, he also directed the Hansen Experimental Physics Laboratory.

You can view the Kivelson’s portraits on the third floor of the McCullough Building.

- ELAINE RAY

Jenny Bilfield to be honored

March 9th, 2012

JENNY BILFIELD, artistic and executive director of Stanford Lively Arts, will be recognized by Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley with a 2012 Champion of the Arts award later this month.

Cantabile Youth Singers of Silicon Valley, headed by internationally recognized conductor Elena Sharkova, offers an award-winning music education program to local children and teens.

The Champion of the Arts award honors a Silicon Valley individual who has made a significant impact on the performing arts in the region.

Since joining Stanford Lively Arts in 2006, Bilfield has led the organization’s transformation from university presenter to a campus-based arts producer. Bilfield has collaborated extensively with faculty and program partners to develop new pathways for high-impact arts experiences for students and arts-goers in Silicon Valley and the wider Bay Area.

The award will be given at a gala on March 24 at the Stanford Faculty Club. Titled “A Jazz Gala,” the evening will feature a concert by the Cantabile singers, accompanied by the Larry Dunlap Jazz Trio.

For more information on the event, visit the Cantabile website.

It’s like your mom said: ‘Turn off that light!’

March 8th, 2012

More than half of faculty, staff and students on campus say that it is “very important” to them to follow environmentally sustainable practices at Stanford.

But does that mean we are all willing to turn off the lights in our offices or rooms when it is bright outside or we leave?

FAHMIDA AHMED, associate director of the Office of Sustainability, sure hopes so. That’s because if Ahmed can convince everyone on campus to follow the simple step of turning off unneeded lights, the university could save about 6 million kilowatt hours per year, or $660,000.

That’s one of the lessons learned from a recent small, random behavioral survey Ahmed and her colleagues conducted among Stanford faculty, staff and students. Their objectives in surveying the campus included understanding current practices, establishing baselines and identifying incentives.

The survey findings suggest that 90 percent of us recycle and turn off unneeded lights. We’re also not bad when it comes to recycling electronic waste (86 percent), using sleep settings and power management on computers and printers (86 percent), drinking tap water (74 percent) and buying reusable utensils, dishware and beverage containers (74 percent).

Those results are pretty good. But what excites Ahmed more is the rewards of convincing everyone on campus to act sustainably.

For instance, if all of us used sleep settings or power management on our computers or printers, the university could save nearly $300,000 per year. Other big estimated savings could result from:

• Elimination of personal refrigerators holding our private stashes of Diet Coke: $171,651

• Discontinuing use of personal air conditioners or heaters: $163,985

• Always printing double sided: $137,727

• Increased efforts at recycling: $100,104

Changing cultural norms is challenging, but Ahmed said the survey results suggest that faculty, staff and students will adopt new habits if they see the savings and environmentally responsible behavior as a priority, it is easy for them to comply, and they have the opportunity.

Visit the Office of Sustainability website for more information.

The Cardinal’s winning weekend

March 7th, 2012

The Cardinal men’s swimming and diving team won its 31st consecutive conference championship last weekend in a 131 point landslide victory in East Los Angeles.

But that’s not all.

Stanford’s synchronized swimming team captured the Western Regional this past weekend, and will advance to the US Collegiate Nationals on March 15-17.

Men’s tennis duo of BRADLEY KLAHN and RYAN THACHER defended their title to become Pacific Coast Doubles Champions again.

Meanwhile, in women’s basketball, the Pac-12 announced its regular-season awards Tuesday, as voted by the conference’s head coaches. Stanford headlined the list with NNEMKADI OGWUMIKE, who was named Pac-12 Player of the Year. CHINEY OGWUMIKE was named Defensive Player of the Year, and TARA VANDERVEER took home her 12th Pac-12 Coach of the Year award.

Parents’ weekend slideshow

February 28th, 2012

More than 3,800 moms, dads and other family members flocked to campus for this year’s Parents’ Weekend. Among the highlights: a welcome by Provost and Acting President John Etchemendy, faculty lectures called ‘Back to School Classes,’ campus tours, performances by student groups, and - the biggest highlight - hugs and smiles from their students. University Photographer Linda Cicero captured some of the events.

And the Oscar goes to . . .

February 28th, 2012

For many, Sunday night’s Academy Awards were an introduction to SHARMEEN OBAID CHINOY. But the Stanford News Service has had the Pakistani-born documentary filmmaker in its sights for nearly a decade. Back in 2003, LISA TREI, then social sciences writer for the News Service, featured Obaid and her first film Terror’s Children. That documentary, which chronicled young Afghan refugees in Pakistan, was on the cusp of being released. After hundreds of rejections to her appeals for funding, Obaid, then a 24-year-old graduate student in international policy studies and communication at Stanford, had succeeded in making the film she wanted to make.
Terror’s Children “really gave me more of a drive to make other films out of Pakistan,” she told Trei, who now is an associate communications director in the Office of the Dean of Humanities and Sciences. “It gave me a sense that things are wrong in my country and people should know about it from our perspective,” Obaid said.

Since then, Obaid Chinoy has made more than a dozen films and won numerous prizes, including an Emmy. And on Sunday night, she walked away with an Oscar for Best Documentary for her film Saving Face. The film tells the stories of two women who are survivors of acid attacks in Pakistan and their efforts to bring their assailants to justice, and the charitable work of a plastic surgeon who strives to help them rebuild their lives.
“The Oscar is the award, not just another award,” she said during an interview on the Today program in the days leading up to the Academy Award ceremony. Saving Face will air on HBO March 8.
Obaid Chinoy is not the only person with Stanford ties to snag a golden statue on Sunday. ALEXANDER PAYNE, won a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for The Descendants. Payne, who earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford, where he majored in Spanish and history, has won numerous awards for his directing and screenwriting, including Oscar and Golden Globe awards for Sideways.

The Dish makes no predictions about the success of Game Change, a film adaptation of the book by the same name about the 2008 United States presidential contest. JAY ROACH, who graduated with a BA in economics from Stanford, has directed such movies as Austin Powers, Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers and Dinner with Schmucks. Roach will be back on campus today for a pre-screening and informal discussion of Game Change. The event is sold out.

What’s on the minds of Stanford parents?

February 27th, 2012

Stanford parents have a reputation for asking hard questions.

PROVOST JOHN ETCHEMENDY’s Friday welcome address for Parents’ Weekend was no exception. During a brief, 15-minute talk, the provost updated them on university news. He also shared email exchanges with freshmen.

Then he opened the floor for questions.

Provost John Etchemendy

With the president on sabbatical, the provost explained that he was doing double duty.

“Normally, Parents’ Weekend features two question-and-answer sessions—this one with me in the morning and the other with President Hennessy in the afternoon,” he told a nearly full house at Memorial Auditorium.

“I’m happy to say that, in past years, I’ve successfully encouraged parents to save their really hard questions for the president. But, as many of you know, President Hennessy is on a brief sabbatical leave. So we’ll have to make do with this one opportunity.”

Parents wasted no time sharing what was on their minds. Among the issues raised:

• Challenging changes to the Axess system for paying bills online

• Cumbersome delivery of packages to their children, including delayed deliveries of overnight mail and long lines for pickup

• Whether Stanford takes steps to assure the human rights of workers who make university-licensed apparel

• The future of online education and of ebooks

• Federal privacy laws that allow students to keep their grades and university records private, even from parents

• The reasons for the high cost of higher education

• Whether sophomore seminars will still be available under proposed changes to undergraduate education

• Alcohol use—especially hard alcohol—among Stanford students

• The role of the arts and creativity in undergraduate education and the application of real-world problems to the curriculum

• Availability of recreational music opportunities on campus

• Whether Stanford should stress internships in light of a challenging job market

Mom Ayele Amavigan asked a question of the provost.

The question-and-answer period also offered a bit of levity. A mother who had complained last year that her son’s bike had been stolen on campus returned this year to announce that the bike had been recovered. She also took the opportunity to ask the provost to expand the Stanford Guest House, which is operated by Residential and Dining Enterprises and located on the grounds of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. She said the facility is reasonably priced and convenient, but complained that reservations must be made well in advance.

“Please get more rooms in the Stanford Guest House before 2014,” she said. “I’m bringing 12 people for my son’s graduation.”

SNL’s Seth Meyers does a favor for an old college chum

February 24th, 2012

Seth Meyers visited Roble Hall at the invitation of college friend Ellen Oh.

Earlier this week a message went out via Facebook and Twitter that was something akin to “get thee to the theater.” Roble, that is. Stanford’s Institute for Diversity in the Arts (IDA) announced through social media channels that it was giving away a very limited number of tickets to see Saturday Night Live head writer SETH MEYERS at Roble Hall Theater. At the appointed hour, enough students were lined up around Harmony House to claim all the tickets in 10 minutes.

The SNL star’s appearance was thanks in large part to ELLEN OH, Meyers’ former college friend from Northwestern University and now program administrator for IDA. Her connection with Meyers, coupled with a strong partnership between IDA and the Stanford Residential Arts Program, made the Meyers program a huge success, and a vast improvement on the comedian’s last visit to Stanford. During the hour-long conversation, Meyers reminisced about his first performance at the university that took place in a science lecture hall with a chemistry table in front of him and the periodic table of the elements behind him. “So Stanford,” he said to appreciative laughter.

Oh and IDA executive director JEFF CHANG were thrilled to be able to present the very first program in the newly renovated Roble Hall Theater. Most of IDA’s programs are held in the Harmony House living room with a cozy capacity of about 40. One hundred students were able to participate in the conversation with Meyers at Roble, which is the university’s largest four-class residence hall.

“Interaction and access are two of our goals, and while the larger theater meant more students, it still felt intimate,” said Oh.

Why is Seth Meyers a guest speaker for an organization dedicated to diversity? “Diversity by definition is all of us together. With Seth we were also examining diversity in comedy and career,” said Chang. “When Seth talked about how difficult it was to write a sketch about Jeremy Lin, it was profound to hear that he had been thinking hardest about what would make Lin laugh. It’s an example of how artists are trying to represent a new America.”

Stanford wins top honors among workplaces for commuters

February 22nd, 2012

For the ninth year in a row, Stanford was recognized as one of the Best Workplaces for Commuters by the National Center for Transit Research.

Stanford also competed in the Best Workplaces for Commuters 2011 Race to Excellence. The award recognizes those who offer the highest levels of commuter benefits. Stanford was honored with the “Best Of” award, the top prize in the Race to Excellence.

“Stanford University strives to attract the best and the brightest. Being designated as one of the Best Workplaces for Commuters is important recognition of the university’s leadership in sustainable transportation, which enhances the lives of our commuters, benefits the community, and helps the environment,” said BRODIE HAMILTON, director of Parking & Transportation Services at Stanford.

Funded by the Florida Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation, the National Center for Transit Research is located at the University of South Florida.