Featured Photo
Mead Laboratory
Undergraduate students in the chemistry lab.
 Daffodil Days Fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society
Daffodil Days have returned to Caltech. From now until February 26, you may order daffodils that will be delivered on campus in mid-March. A fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society, the Daffodil Days campaign raises money for cancer research, educational programs, advocacy, and services for cancer patients and their families. To order flowers, e-mail Catherine May at cemay@caltech.edu. Off the Clock: Art on Your Own Time
Caltech's fifth annual exhibition featuring artwork by members of the Caltech community will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, February 23, through Thursday, February 25, in Dabney Lounge. Works on display will include jewelry, drawings, oil paintings, watercolors, pottery, knitting, quilts, and photos. Attendees will vote on their favorite items in the exhibition, and awards will be announced at a reception in Dabney Gardens on Thursday, February 25.
To register your work for the exhibition, go to http://cit.hr.caltech.edu/events.htm.
We are extending the registration deadline to February 12. For more information, contact Christine Boyle at christine.boyle@caltech.edu or 395-1745.
 Refinance and Save! Low Rates plus 1% Cash Back on CEFCU Auto Loans
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 vehicle from another lender. Offer extended to April
30, 2010. Get pre-approved today!
Apply online with WebLoan24 or request an application from any CEFCU office. American Express Travelers and Gift Cheques are available at all CEFCU office locations. Single-signature checks are free; convenient Checks for Two are available for a low fee. Mark Your Calendar:
Attend the 60th CEFCU Annual Meeting on Tuesday, February 16, at 5:30 p.m. at the Beckman Institute. Refreshments served in the Courtyard at 5:00 p.m. Presidents Day Closure: Monday, February 15 Campus Branch Hours:
Monday to Thursday: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Friday: 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
 Great Pricing on Previous Generation White Macbook
- 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor
- 2 GB of 800MHz DDR2 RAM
- 160 GB 5400RPM hard drive, DVD/CD SuperDrive
- Mac OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard Operating System
- Advanced GeForce 9400M NVidia Graphics, 13.3-inch glossy display
Price: $729, plus 9.75% tax and $8 e-waste fee
This offer is good while supplies last. For more information, contact Caltech Wired at citwired@caltech.edu.
 Reduced Pricing for Recycled and Multipurpose Paper at Graphic Resources
While supplies last, customers can choose from Greys Harbor 20#, 92 brightness paper for $3 per ream or $30 per case (reg. $3.60 per ream/$36 per case), or Hammermill 20# recycled paper for $3.70 per ream/$37.00 per case (reg. $4.40 per ream/$44 per case). No tax added when charged to your department account. For free samples and to place orders contact Graphic Resources at 395-6701 or grorders@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.
Confidential Counseling
SFCC offers confidential assessment and referrals for employees and their family members. All services are provided in the workplace at no cost to you. The SFCC is committed to promoting the health and well-being of Caltech staff, faculty, postdoctoral scholars, and their families. The SFCC office is located on the third floor of Millikan Library, room 322. Call 395-8360 or e-mail sfcc@caltech.edu for an appointment.
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Welcome to Caltech | | |
Sarah Alaniz, assistant animal lab technician, biology; Patty Alley, audience services representative, Public Events; Sylvain Barbot, postdoctoral scholar in geology; Susan Conner, senior employee and organizational consultant, Human Resources; Xiquan Cui, postdoctoral scholar in electrical engineering; Simon Estrada, office assistant for annual giving, Development; postdoctoral scholars Kin Chung Fong, in applied physics, and Pierre Guillard, in the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center; Shilpa Khatri, visitor in aerospace; Loretta Lau, library clerk, Library Services; Caroline Murphy, administrative assistant, materials science; James Parker, senior electronics technician, astronomy; Davide Pietrobon, postdoctoral scholar in JPL's astrophysics and space sciences section; Everett Scott Shankle, mechanical designer/draftsperson, Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory; postdoctoral scholars Ousmane Sy, in JPL's radar science and engineering section, and Nicholas Taylor, in physics; Hima Vatti, associate general counsel, Office of the General Counsel; Jonathan Wang, research technician assistant, biology; Jun Wang, postdoctoral scholar in chemistry; Linda Webb, assistant director, Caltech Center for Diversity; Damien Woods, senior postdoctoral scholar in computer science; Yongsheng Xu, postdoctoral scholar in JPL's climate, oceans and solid earth section; Michael Zemcov, senior postdoctoral scholar in physics.
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Valerie Otten has joined Caltech as a senior development officer, effective January 11. In addition to managing a portfolio of principal- and major-gift prospects, she will serve as development liaison for the Resnick Institute advisory council and for a second council to be determined. Otten served as assistant dean of development for engineering and the sciences at UC Santa Barbara and, prior to that, as a senior fund-raising executive for several nationally prominent organizations, including the National History Museum of Los Angeles, the Art Center College of Design, and the National Right to Work Legal Defense and Education Foundation. Otten earned her BA from Virginia Tech and her MA in public communication from American University.
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New Positions | |
Beth Harnick-Shapiro has been named director of online communications for the Office of Marketing and Communications at Caltech. She supervises the office's web group and also oversees the development and maintenance of the official Caltech website and online communications within Development and Institute Relations. In addition, she has the primary responsibility for the development of strategy and the selection of web-based communications tools essential for supporting Institute-wide goals, and she acts in an advisory capacity to other groups on campus. Harnick-Shapiro joined Marketing and Communications as its online communications manager last August. She came to Caltech from UC Irvine, where she was director of web communications.
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Retirements | |
Michael Laib, who taught English as a second language for Caltech's International Offices, retired on December 18; he had been an employee of the Institute for 11 years.
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Obituaries | |
Lew Allen Jr., former director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, on January 4; he was 84. He led the Laboratory and served as a Caltech vice president from 1982 to 1990, a period that saw the launches of the Galileo mission to Jupiter, Magellan to Venus, and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, as well as Voyager 2's Uranus and Neptune flybys. Allen graduated from West Point in 1946, serving in the Army and then the Air Force. He retired as Air Force chief of staff in 1982 with the rank of four-star general. In 1954, while assigned to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, he completed his PhD in nuclear physics. He specialized in the effects, both on the ground and on spacecraft, of high-altitude nuclear explosions. After leaving Los Alamos in 1961, Allen served in scientific posts within the Air Force and the Defense Department. He became director of the National Security Agency in 1973. He was a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the Council on Foreign Relations.
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Daphne Yun-Hsuan Chang, graduate student in physics, on December 21, from complications due to a long-term illness. Known for her hard work, cheerfulness, and helpfulness to others, she came to Caltech in the fall of 2005 after receiving her BS from Duke University.
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Andrew Lange, Goldberger Professor of Physics, on January 22; he was 52. Perhaps best known as coleader of the BOOMERanG experiment, which imaged the cosmic microwave background with sufficient fidelity and angular resolution to determine that the spatial geometry of the universe is flat, Lange developed a new generation of radio-frequency detectors and led a string of experiments that greatly expanded our knowledge of the universe. He received his BA from Princeton in 1980 and his PhD from UC Berkeley in 1987, and he joined Caltech as professor in 1994. He was named Goldberger Professor in 2001. In 2006 he became a senior research scientist at JPL and in 2008 was appointed chair of the Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Physical Society, Lange received numerous honors for his contributions to cosmology and his work with BOOMERanG. He is survived by three sons.
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Honors and Awards | |
Frances Arnold, Dickinson Professor of Chemical Engineering and Biochemistry, has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) "for pioneering the use of directed evolution as an engineering tool to create useful biological systems." Arnold is a member of the AAAS's Section on Biological Sciences. After receiving her BS from Princeton University in 1979 and her PhD from UC Berkeley in 1985, she joined Caltech's faculty as an assistant professor in 1987. She became professor in 1996 and Dickinson Professor in 2000.
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Jay Labinger, administrator of the Beckman Institute and a member of the professional staff at Caltech, as well as a faculty associate and lecturer in chemistry, has been elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) "for distinguished contributions to the field of organometallic chemistry and catalysis, particularly for mechanistic investigations leading to new approaches for selective oxidation of hydrocarbons." Labinger is a member of the AAAS's Section on Chemistry. He received his BS from Harvey Mudd College in 1968 and his PhD from Harvard University in 1974. He has been with Caltech since 1988.
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Michael Ortiz, Hayman Professor of Aeronautics and Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded a Hans Fischer Senior Fellowship by the Institute for Advanced Study, Technical University of Munich (TUM). Named for the TUM professor who received the 1930 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on hemoglobin, the award's stipend of 60,000 euros plus funds for travel, housing, and other costs will permit Ortiz to work with a TUM research group. The award also provides three-year stipends of 80,000 euros each for up to two PhD students. A graduate of Polytechnic University of Madrid, Ortiz received his PhD from UC Berkeley in 1982. He came to Caltech in 1994 as a Sherman Fairchild Distinguished Scholar and joined the faculty the next year as professor. He was named Hayman Professor in 2004.
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Training Opportunities
