CAMPUS NOTES

Several hundred visitors are expected on November 6-8 when UCSB opens its doors for Parents’ and Family Weekend. Guests are invited to attend classes, participate in faculty presentations, tour the campus, and meet with a variety of faculty members and administrators.
Volunteers are needed to prepare registration packets during the preceding week, and to work the registration tables during the weekend. Staff members who would like to participate should contact Julie Miller at julie.miller@ia.ucsb.edu or at x7382.
More information about the Parents’ and Family Weekend, including a complete schedule of events, is available at <http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pfw>.

     The Office of Admissions invites all faculty and staff parents of high school seniors interested in applying to UC for fall 2010 to attend a UC Application Workshop on Tuesday, November 3. Counselors will explain in detail the online application process and will be available to answer questions. The workshop will begin at 6 p.m. and take place in the Visitor Center. Questions can be directed to Lisa Przekop at lisa.przekop@sa.ucsb.edu or at x3873.

Tanya Atwater, professor emeritus of earth science, has received the Leopold von Buch Medal of the German Geosciences Society. The award was presented last month in Dresden, Germany.

John E. Bowers, director of the Institute for Energy Efficiency and a specialist in novel optoelectronic devices for optical networks, is the first scholar appointed to the Fred Kavli Chair in Nanotechnology.

Michael T. Bowers, professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society. Fellows are chosen based on excellence in science and on contributions to the field of chemistry.

Douglas Burbank, professor of earth science, is the 2009 winner of the Don J. Easterbrook Distinguished Scientist Award by the Quaternary Geology and Geomorphology Division of the Geological Society of America.

Eduardo Orias, research professor emeritus in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, was honored for his 50 years of service to the campus. The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution recognizing Orias, who joined the faculty in 1959.

Dave Seibold, professor of communication, and co-director of the Graduate Program in Management Practice, has been elected a Fellow of the International Communication Association. It is the association’s highest honor for contributions to the study of human communication.

Jennifer Thorsch, Katherine Esau Director of the Center for Biodiversity, Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, has been selected to serve as a peer reviewer for the American Association of Museums (AAM). Peer reviewers support the AAM’s accreditation and museum assessment programs.

Mario García, professor of history and of Chicana and Chicano Studies, has published “Chicano Liberation Theology: The Writings and Documents of Richard Cruz and Católicos Por La Raza” (Kendall Hunt, 2009).

Paul Spickard, professor of history and of Asian American studies, has published a revised edition of “Japanese Americans: The Formation and Transformation of an Ethnic Group” (Rutgers University Press).

Katie Houseknecht has joined the gift administration unit in the Office of Development. Her new position is Gift Analyst. Prior to her appointment in development, she was an assistant in the Office of Community Relations.

Mike Smith has joined the Office of Development as the development services manager for the engineering and sciences development unit. He is responsible for the management of all the business, financial, analytical, and administrative functions for the Engineering and the Sciences Development Program.

Blia Yang has returned to UCSB and to the admissions office as the assistant director of Transfer Services. Beginning in 2000, Yang served as an articulation specialist in the office. She left UCSB in 2005 to join California Student Opportunity and Access Program (Cal-SOAP).