CAMPUS NOTES

Marko Peljhan, an associate professor of art and of media arts and technology, has been named co-director of the UC Institute for Research in the Arts (UCIRA). Based at UCSB, UCIRA supports UC artists dedicated to innovative approaches to form and content in the performing, media, and visual arts. UCIRA provides grants to arts faculty and students for projects with the potential for significant artistic and cultural impact.
         Peljhan shares the directorship with Kim Yasuda, a professor of art at UCSB.

Anthony Barbieri-Low, a professor of history, has received the James Henry Breasted Prize for his book “Artisans in Early Imperial China.” The award recognizes the best book in English or any field of history prior to the year 1000 A.D.

Michael Gazzaniga, a professor of psychology and director of The Sage Center for the Study of the Mind, has received the 2008 Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association. The award honors psychologists who have made distinguished theoretical or empirical contributions to basic research in psychology.

Gerald Jacobs, a research professor in the psychology department, has received the 2009 Verriest Medal from the International Colour Vision Society. The award honors Jacobs’s contributions in the field of color vision. It will be presented at the 20th Symposium of the Society, which will take place in Braga, Portugal, in July. ”

Matthew C. Curtis, an occasional lecturer in the anthropology department, is a co-editor of “The Archaeology of Ancient Eritrea” (Red Sea Press, 2008). The volume recently received the 2008 Society of Africanist Archaeologists book prize, which is awarded for the best book on African archaeology published in the past two years.

Yvette Decierdo has joined the Department of Physics as a contracts and grants analyst. Prior to her current position, she was the financial manager in the sociology department.

Martha Eaton passed away on October 24, 2008. She joined the Student Health Services staff in 1961 as a vocational nurse and retired in 1983.

Mary F. Castillo passed away on November 2, 2008. She joined the staff at Davidson Library in 1970 and retired as an administrative assistant in 1987.