August 15, 2011

Cheers — August 15, 2011

BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF
PUBLIC HEALTH

Nilanjan Chatterjee, an adjunct professor of biostatistics, was named as the recipient of the 2011 Presidents’ and Snedecor awards at a special recognition session held Aug. 3 at the Joint Statistical Meetings in Miami. These awards are given by the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies and are among the most prestigious in the profession. The Presidents’ Award recognizes outstanding contributions to the profession of statistics by a member of the statistical community generally 40 years old or younger. The Snedecor award is given biannually in recognition of a noteworthy publication in biometry within three years of the date of the award. The citations for both awards noted Chatterjee’s exceptional mentorship and provision of leadership to the profession and to the National Cancer Institute.

JOHNS HOPKINS HEALTH SYSTEM

Kenneth Grant, vice president for general services at the Johns Hopkins Hospital and vice president for supply chain management for the Johns Hopkins Health System, was honored by the Associated Black Charities at its annual gala, African-Americans in Corporate Leadership, as one of 15 outstanding black leaders in Maryland. Grant, who oversees 900 employees, was cited for his work with Human Resources to employ ex-offenders and individuals who come through organizations such as the Helping Up Mission, his efforts directed toward disaster relief and humanitarian causes, and his mentoring relationships that have increased the Johns Hopkins pipeline with talented minority leaders.

Joanne Pollack has been promoted to senior vice president and general counsel for Johns Hopkins Medicine and the hospital and health system.

 

JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE

John M. Colmers, vice president for health care transformation and strategic planning, has been named chairman of Maryland’s Health Services Cost Review Commission. Before joining Johns Hopkins in February, Colmers led the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for four years.

Richard “Rich” Grossi has been promoted to senior vice president and chief financial officer.

The Office of Marketing and Communications has received two silver Tellys, the highest honor awarded, and a bronze Telly in the 2011 Telly Awards, the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional and cable TV commercials and programs; video and film productions; and Web commercials, videos and films. Silver awards went to Kim Hoppe for “Sam’s Liver Transplant” in the Internet/Online Video Health and Fitness category and to Maureen Martin and Fran Farkas for “The Roderick Ball Story” in the Internet/Online Video Documentary Category. A Bronze Telly was awarded to Martin, Farkas and Dale Leonard for “DECIDE to Move! Physical Activity for People With Type 2 Diabetes” in the Non-Broadcast Production, Health and Wellness Category. Martin and Leonard also won a Bronze award in the 2011 Web Health Awards in the Hospital Health Care System, Internet Category, for “Living with Warfarin.”

Marketing and Communications also received two Honorable Mention awards from the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Group on Institutional Advancement. Johns Hopkins Medicine: A Women’s Journey was recognized in the Special Projects and Programs category and H1N1 Crisis Communications in the Crisis Communications category. The AWJ team was led by Leslie Waldman and included Cheryl McDuffie, Yasmine Sursock-Khouri, Melinda Thomas, Rebecca DeMattos, Eric Sandgren and Mark Walker. The Crisis Communications award was presented to Janet Anderson, Mark Guidera and Amy Goodwin.

 

KRIEGER SCHOOL OF
ARTS AND SCIENCES

Megan Vande Hey, a senior majoring in psychology, received the Association of the U.S. Army Leadership Excellence Award at the U.S. Army’s Leader Development and Assessment Course at Joint Base Lewis-McChord. She was ranked first among 474 Army cadets for the 6th Regiment at the 29-day Leader Development and Assessment Course, also known as Operation Warrior Forge, the capstone training and assessment exercise for the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. Cadets at Warrior Forge are tested on their physical stamina, endurance, ability to navigate over difficult terrain and team-building and leadership skills. An Army saber to signify the award was presented to Vande Hey at a graduation ceremony July 19.

 

PEABODY INSTITUTE

Graduate performance diploma candidate Rui Du, winner of an Aspen Fellowship, played the 17th-century Maggini violin donated to Peabody by the late Karl Kostoff at an Aspen Music Festival concert on July 5. Du performed Vivaldi’s Concerto for Three Violins with Peabody faculty artist Herbert Greenberg and Espen Lilleslatten.

Three Peabody students were winners of the Young Artist Concerto Competition at the Eastern Music Festival: sophomores Dillon Meacham, bassoon, and Lara Mitofsky Neuss, clarinet; and junior Michael Delfin, piano. Meacham performed with the Eastern Young Artists Orchestra on July 28, and Neuss and Delfin performed with the Guilford Young Artists Orchestra on July 29.

Faculty artist Paul Johnson and four bass students—junior Rudy Albach, senior Dennis Caravakis, Master of Music candidate Ed Leaf and sophomore Vincent Trautwein—performed Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Brahms’ Symphony No. 2 on July 2 with the National Orchestral Institute Orchestra conducted by Carlo Rizzi, during the National Orchestral Institute and Festival, held at the University of Maryland’s Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center in College Park.

 

SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Adrian Dobs, professor of medicine and oncology in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, has been named director of the Johns Hopkins Clinical Research Network in the Johns Hopkins Institute of Clinical and Translational Research. The network provides the opportunity to collaborate across the mid-Atlantic region on NIH- and industry-sponsored studies to provide patients with a wide range of new studies and devices.

Gary Logan, publications manager for Pediatrics Public Affairs, received a Silver award in the CASE International Circle of Excellence program in the Best Articles of the Year, Higher Education category, for “Saving Princess Amira,” a story written for Hopkins Children’s magazine.

 

SHERIDAN LIBRARIES/
JHU MUSEUMS

Chella Vaidyanathan, curator of 19th- to 21st-century rare books and manuscripts and liaison librarian for history in the Sheridan Libraries, has been awarded the distinguished services award from the Asia, African and Middle East Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries. Vaidyanathan received the
award in recognition of her work as co-chair of the Publications Committee for AAMES.

Sylvia Eggleston Wehr has been named associate dean for external affairs for the Sheridan Libraries and Johns Hopkins University Museums. Wehr was most recently associate dean for external affairs for the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. Previously, she served for 22 years as associate dean for external affairs at the Bloomberg School of Public Health.

 

UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATION

Barbara Morris, director of University Tax and International Business Compliance, has been awarded the 2011 Tax Award by the National Association of College and University Business Officers.

Rob Spiller has been named to the newly created position of associate vice president for development for the Homewood Schools. Spiller, who served for seven years as the Whiting School’s associate dean for development and alumni relations, will have primary responsibility for a comprehensive Homewood fundraising strategy for the schools of Arts and Sciences and Engineering, as well as the Sheridan Libraries, and also will work with Homewood Parents and Athletic fundraising. Megan Howie, director of development for the Whiting School, will serve as WSE’s interim associate dean for development and alumni relations.

University Finance has announced the inaugural honorees in its Just Honoring U Employee Recognition Program. The first eight employees who have gone the “extra mile” to demonstrate excellence in their positions are Lisa Crawley, Accounts Payable Shared Services; Lindsay Ashby and Jennifer Hipp, both of JHU Purchasing; Art Kennedy, Financial Quality Control; Sam Mobry, Financial Research Compliance; and Paul Gasior, Jason Schaedel and Tim Turner, all of Sponsored Projects Shared Services. Recognition will be done quarterly, and nominations can come from anyone other than employees of University Finance.

 

WHITING SCHOOL OF
ENGINEERING

K.T. Ramesh, a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, will receive the Society of Experimental Mechanics’ 2012 B.J. Lazan Award in recognition of his technical contributions to the field of experimental mechanics. The award was established in 1967 to recognize individuals who have made outstanding original technical contributions to experimental mechanics, and honors inventors, developers or contributors to the introduction of new devices or methods. In 1973 the award was named in honor of Benjamin J. Lazan, a pioneer in his field who achieved recognition in dynamic testing, vibration, materials damping and fatigue.