Around Campus
Mooning Over Galileo
NASA's November 13 announcement that its Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite had detected substantial amounts of water on the moon seemed especially appropriate in its timing, coming exactly four centuries after Galileo trained his new telescope on the moon and became the first human to distinguish "spots and prominences" on the lunar surface. The next year, in 1610, he included this engraving of what he had seen in Sidereus Nuncius ( The Starry Messenger), a landmark work in the history of science that ultimately landed its author in hot water with the Inquisition.
An original copy of that book can be found today in the Rare Book Collection of the Caltech Archives, which is commemorating the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first telescope studies with an online exhibit highlighting some of his contributions to astronomy. To see more of the Archives' Galileo holdings, click here. |
Caltech Human Resources is sponsoring its annual Adopt an Angel Program, which provides holiday gifts for children of poverty-level families from the San Gabriel Valley area. To adopt an Angel, go to the Human Resources office between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. to pick up a decorated paper angel bearing the name of a needy child, along with his or her special wish list, age, clothing size, and interests. Then leave an unwrapped gift for your Angel, with his or her name attached, in the Human Resources office by Monday, December 7.
The Angel Program is affiliated with the Foothill Unity Center, a nonprofit organization that provides critical support in the form of food, clothing, motel vouchers, referrals, and advocacy for people in crisis who reside in Altadena, Arcadia, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Bradbury, Duarte, Irwindale, Monrovia, Pasadena, Sierra Madre and South Pasadena, and other foothill cities. For more information, contact Christine Boyle at christine.boyle@caltech.edu or 395-1745. United Way Campaign
Caltech's United Way Campaign for 2010 will begin November 2 and has been extended to run through November 25, 2009. Pledges may be made online at www.access.caltech.edu. A new and exciting program this year is the Mullin-Miller Million Dollar Match. Peter W. Mullin and Charles D. Miller will match every new dollar donated to the United Way's "Creating Pathways Out of Poverty" plan. If you have questions, contact Christine Boyle at christine.boyle@caltech.edu or call 395-1745.
 GET THE KEYS AND THE CASH...WITH OUR 1% CASH BACK AUTO LOAN!
Get 1% CASH BACK on your next CEFCU auto loan (up to $450) whether it's for a
new or pre-owned vehicle, or refinanced from another lender. Offer ends Feb. 1, 2010. Get pre-approved today and shop for your best deal!
Apply online at www.cefcu.org or request an application from any CEFCU office. "PAY MY BILLS" Sweepstakes
Through December 4th, we'll have a weekly drawing for a $1,000 in bill payments. To enter, recommend a new member who signs up during the Sweepstakes. Both you and the new member will have a chance to win. `Invitations to Join' and details are available on our website and at all CEFCU offices. Thanksgiving Holiday Closure: Thursday, November 26 & Friday, November 27 Campus Branch Hours:
Monday to Thursday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The New Media Classroom (NMC) is a multimedia facility equipped with integrated presentation and collaboration tools. It hosts and records events such as classes, full-day workshops, research collaboration sessions, PhD thesis exams, press briefings, and live webcasts, and it accommodates 25 visitors comfortably. If you are considering implementing new technology in your lecture hall, classroom, or conference space, come check out the NMC. Take a tour or reserve the classroom by contacting IMSS Academic Media Technologies at 395-4657 or amt@caltech.edu.
Caltech General Announcements
 Emergency Information Hotline
Did you know that Caltech has phone numbers to call for information in time of emergency? These numbers provide recorded information about the impact of an emergency on the campus, including whether or not employees should come to work. From campus, dial ext. 3291; from off campus, dial (626) 395-3291 or toll-free 1 (888) 427-7465. Read about security resources and crisis resources at the security office website at security.caltech.edu.
In accordance with the South Coast Air Quality Management District's regional clean air-quality requirements, Caltech is conducting a mandatory survey of employee commute modes for the week of October 19 through October 23, 2009. Those who complete their surveys by 5 p.m. on Monday, November 9, will be entered in a drawing to win a $100 gift card. This simple online survey takes only two minutes of your time. To complete your survey, go to http://rl6.ridelinks.com/es30_13962.htm.
Caltech Management Association
The Caltech Management Association (CMA) is presenting a forum called "Tracking the Internet into Outer Space," featuring Vint Cerf, vice president and chief internet evangelist for Google, at 4:45 p.m.
on Monday, November 23, at JPL's von Karman Auditorium. For more information, go to http://cma.jpl.nasa.gov/upcoming.html.
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More News
Nobel Laureate Ahmed Zewail, the Linus Pauling Professor of Chemistry and professor of physics at Caltech, has been named an envoy in the new U.S. Science Envoy Program, created to foster science and technology collaborations between the United States and nations throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and South and Southeast Asia. Zewail, who was also appointed to President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology earlier this year, is one of three eminent Americans who will serve as the first scientist-diplomats in the new program. More...
Welcome to Caltech | | |
Kristen Abraham, assistant to the officers of the faculty, Vice Provost's Office; Dale Baecker, security officer, Campus Security and Parking; Sandra Behncke, scientific research assistant, Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC); Mykhailo Borysov, visitor, and Rajiv Dulepet, research software engineer, both in biology; postdoctoral scholars Daniel Golovin, in the Center for the Mathematics of Information, Michael Filipe Goncalves Salvador, in electrical engineering, Brian Grefenstette, in physics, Sasha Hinkley, in astronomy, Cynthia Harley, in biology, William Hobbs, in JPL's climate, oceans and solid earth science section, and Mingyuan Huang, in materials science; Koseki Kobayashi, research assistant, geological and planetary sciences; Manuel Lombardini, research engineer, aeronautics; Jordan Meier, postdoctoral scholar in chemistry; Manuel Mora, second cook, Athenaeum; postdoctoral scholars John Nagarah, in biology, Hai Nguyen, in JPL's instrument software and science data systems section, Eranda Nikolla, in chemical engineering, Tosan Omabegho, in bioengineering, and Sri Rama Prasanna Pavani, in electrical engineering; Andrea Pereira, visitor in biology; Jennifer Small, postdoctoral scholar in JPL's earth atmospheric science section; Ying Tan, visitor in geophysics; Xiaoli Tang, postdoctoral scholar in materials science; Valerie Thomas, seismologist, Seismo Lab; postdoctoral scholars Chao-Wei Tsai, in IPAC, Joaquin Vieira, in physics, and Shengji Wei, in geophysics; Wendy Williams, visitor in astronomy.
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New Positions | |
Victoria Stratman has been named Caltech's new general counsel, effective December 1, the date Harry Yohalem, the current general counsel, will step down. A member of Caltech's Office of the General Counsel since 1996, when she joined as associate general counsel, Stratman has been serving as deputy general counsel since 1998. She came to Caltech from O'Melveny & Myers, where she was a litigation partner specializing in labor and employment law. A member of the California bar and admitted to practice in all California federal district courts, the Ninth, Seventh, and Tenth Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court, Stratman is a member of the National Association of College and University Attorneys and the American Association of Corporate Counsel.
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Retirements | |
Sandra Harlan, a member of the Industrial Relations Center administrative staff, retired on October 1 after 14 years at Caltech.
Norman Lee retired on October 13 after 16 years at Caltech; he was a member of the Space Radiation Lab hardware and software maintenance staff.
Gloria McShall, a member of the administrative staff in the Provost's Office, retired on October 1 after 10 years at Caltech.
Terry Scott, a machinist in the physics shop, retired on October 1 after 14 years at Caltech.
Deborah White retired on October 1; a member of the Industrial Relations Center administrative staff, she had been at Caltech for 12 years.
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Honors and Awards | |
Simona Bordoni, assistant professor of environmental science and engineering, has been named to receive the 2009 James R. Holton Junior Scientist Award. Established in 2004 by the Atmospheric Sciences Section of the American Geophysical Union, the award honors James Holton, known as a pioneer in atmospheric dynamics and an inspiration to young scientists. According to her citation, Bordoni "has become an excellent specialist in monsoon meteorology, advancing our understanding of the mesoscale dynamics of the North American monsoon and identifying fundamentals of the dynamics of large-scale monsoon circulations worldwide." She graduated from the University of Rome Tor Vergata in 1996 and received her MSc and PhD from UCLA in 2003 and 2007, respectively. She joined Caltech in 2009.
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Mike Brown, Rosenberg Professor of Planetary Astronomy, has been elected an honorary fellow of the California Academy of Sciences. Nominated by their colleagues and appointed by the academy's board of trustees, fellows remain members for life. "Selection is made in recognition of their notable contributions to one or more of the natural sciences." Brown's work in the discovery of planetlike objects in the outer solar system has led to the reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf planet, and a rethinking of how planets are defined. After receiving his bachelor's degree from Princeton in 1987 and his PhD from UC Berkeley in 1994, he joined Caltech the following year as a visiting associate. He became an assistant professor in 1997, associate professor in 2002, and professor in 2005.
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John Eiler, Sharp Professor of Geology and professor of geochemistry, has been selected by the European Association for Geochemistry to receive its 2009 EAG Science Innovation Award–Samuel Epstein Medal. The Science Innovation Award comprises both the medal and a certificate, "to be bestowed upon scientists who have recently made a particularly important and innovative breakthrough in geochemistry, considered to be of fundamental significance." The recipient must be between the ages of 35 and 55. Eiler received his BS from the University of Iowa in 1989 and his PhD from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1994, the same year he joined Caltech as a research fellow. He had risen to professor by 2006 and was named Sharp Professor in 2008.
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Wolfgang Fink, visiting associate in physics, is part of a team of five national laboratories, four universities, and an industrial partner whose artificial retina has received an R & D magazine 2009 R&D 100 Award, which recognizes the 100 most technologically significant products of the past year. He will accept a plaque on behalf of Caltech at the November award banquet in Orlando, Florida. A retinal prosthesis that can be used to treat age-related macular degeneration and inherited retinal disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa, the artificial retina was honored under the bioscience category. Fink, who received his PhD from the University of Tübingen in 1997, has been a senior member of JPL's technical staff since 2000 and a visiting associate at Caltech since 2001.
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Brent Fultz, professor of materials science and applied physics, has been chosen by the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) as recipient of its 2010 TMS-EMPMD Distinguished Scientist Award. The honor includes a TMS conference symposium likely to emphasize the basis for the award—Fultz's work on "the vibrational entropy of materials, and studies of vibrational entropy by inelastic neutron scattering and modern computational methods of materials science." Fultz received his BSc from MIT in 1975 and his MSc and PhD from UC Berkeley in 1978 and 1982, respectively. He joined Caltech as an assistant professor of materials science in 1985, becoming associate professor in 1990 and professor in 1997. He was appointed professor of materials science and applied physics in 2003.
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Paul Patterson, Biaggini Professor of Biological Sciences, has received a grant from the International Rett Syndrome Foundation (IRSF) for his research into regulation of MeCP2-mediated gene expression by IkB kinase alpha. The award is part of a total of $2 million being provided by IRSF in 2009 to support 18 innovative research projects focusing on the syndrome, a brain disorder affecting development in childhood and identified almost exclusively in females. Patterson received his bachelor's degree from Grinnell College in 1965 and his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1970, and he joined Caltech as a professor of biology in 1983. He served as executive officer for neurobiology from 1989 to 2000 and was named Biaggini Professor in 2005.
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Mark Wise, McCone Professor of High Energy Physics, has been appointed to the position of Perimeter Institute Distinguished Research Chair, becoming one of 10 international scientists to receive the honor this time. Each year, Wise—who conducts research in elementary particle physics and cosmology—will spend extended research visits at Canada's Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, an independent, nonprofit scientific research and educational outreach organization. He received his BSc and MSc from the University of Toronto in 1976 and 1977, respectively, and his PhD from Stanford in 1980. He joined Caltech as an assistant professor of theoretical physics in 1982, becoming associate professor in 1984 and professor in 1985. He was named McCone Professor in 1992.
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Training Opportunities
