Berkeleyan

Awards

06 June 2007

Peidong Yang wins Waterman Award

The National Science Foundation (NSF) presented Peidong Yang, professor of chemistry, with the 2007 Alan T. Waterman award at a May 14 ceremony at the U.S. Department of State. The annual $500,000 prize recognizes an outstanding young scientist who is revolutionizing research.

In addition to the three-year grant for scientific research or advanced study, the award is also accompanied by a medal.

Yang, 36, is a member of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Materials Sciences Division and co-principal investigator for the Center of Integrated Nanomechanical Systems (COINS) at Berkeley, one of NSF's Nanoscale Science and Engineering Centers. He is a nanotechnology pioneer who has driven research into nanowires - flexible strips one-thousandth the width of a human hair that show promise for a range of high-technology devices, ranging from tiny lasers and computer circuits to inexpensive solar panels and biological sensors.

George Brooks to receive ACSM's highest honor

In recognition of his distinguished contributions to science, teaching, and professional leadership, George Brooks, professor of integrative biology, will receive the Honor Award of the American Academy of Sports Medicine (ACSM) at its annual meeting this month. The largest organization of its kind in the world, the ACSM is dedicated to advancing health through science, education, and medicine.

Brooks, a member of the Berkeley faculty since 1971, conducts research into metabolic regulation, energy substrate partitioning, mitochondrial biogenesis, exercise energetics, and high-altitude physiology and metabolism.

Paul Grabowicz wins Knight News Challenge award

Paul Grabowicz, an assistant dean in the Graduate School of Journalism and the director of its New Media Program, will receive a $60,000 award as one of 25 first-year winners of the Knight News Challenge, a contest funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation "to help lead journalism into its digital future."

Grabowicz's winning project is an online video game that will re-create West Oakland's Seventh Street circa 1946, when it boasted a vital jazz scene. Grabowicz, a former investigative reporter for the Oakland Tribune, is teaming up with architecture professor Yehuda Kalay on the project.

Anthropology team wins Distinguished Service Award

The campus's first team Leon Henkin Citation for Distinguished Service has been awarded to a group of anthropology professors: Margaret Conkey, Rosemary Joyce, Kent Lightfoot, and Laurie Wilkie. The team was nominated for its success in enabling "students from underrepresented groups to attend and excel" at graduate school at Berkeley.

The award, conferred by the Berkeley Division of the Academic Senate's Committee on Student Diversity and Academic Development, was formally presented at a ceremony and luncheon on May 31.

Oliver Williamson named Distinguished Fellow in economics

Oliver Williamson, Professor of the Graduate School and Edgar F. Kaiser Professor Emeritus of Business, Economics, and Organization, has been named a 2007 Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association (AEA).

The AEA bestows distinguished fellowships on no more than three economists of high distinction in the U.S. and Canada each year. In selecting Williamson, the AEA cited his influential role in shaping the way economists think about firms, contracts, and organizations. "Long before the internal operation of firms was on the radar of almost any other economist, Olly did the seminal work in this area," said Berkeley economics professor George Akerlof, a 2001 Nobel laureate and a member of the committee that selected Williamson for the fellowship.

CASE Circle of Excellence Awards

The campus has won three awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), an international association of professionals in alumni relations, communications, and development.

The first comprehensive financial reporting of Berkeley's endowed funds won a gold medal in the "Endowment Financial Reporting" category. The cross-campus collaboration included the work of University Relations' Stewardship, Development Communications, Advancement Operations, and Financial Services groups, campus Information Services and Technology, and the Controller's Office.

The Development Communications team also won a silver medal for The Promise of Berkeley magazine and a bronze medal for the Annual Report of Philanthropy. Editorial Director Jane Goodman and Design Director Michelle Frey-Schutters led the projects.

Since 1986, Development Communications has garnered 25 gold, 18 silver, and 13 bronze medals in the annual CASE competition. Prizes have honored the team's work in editorial, design, event production, and donor relations across media platforms, from print to video, radio, and advertising.

Edit honors for California magazine

California, the magazine of the California Alumni Association, was nominated in five categories by judges in the annual "Maggie" competition sponsored by the Western Publications Association. The magazine took top honors for social and political coverage for its September/October 2006 issue on global warming.