The gift, made through the Harris Foundation, will establish an endowment fund to support early stage, innovative research projects in the field of computer science and engineering. Areas of research may include mobile communications, high-performance computing and medical informatics.

“We’re very fortunate to be part of Harris Corporation’s leadership initiative in education and research,” said UF President Bernie Machen. “Their commitment to UF and their recognition of the importance of a healthy and diverse state economy demonstrates an optimistic strategic view of the future, and we share that view with Harris.”

In recognition of the Harris gift, UF will create the Harris Gateway to Learning and Innovation in the College of Engineering, housed in the current Computer and Information Sciences building. A portion of the gift will fund the renovation of the third floor of the building to make way for this new facility.

“The Harris Gateway is aptly named in that it will provide a ‘door’ to many benefits,” said Howard L. Lance, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Harris. “It will support the ¬¬¬recruitment and development of outstanding faculty, enhance industry partnerships, create a dynamic educational model and play a key role in recruiting outstanding students to UF.”

Harris Corporation has had a longtime partnership with the University of Florida and currently employs 850 of its graduates.

“The Harris gift is an example of how leadership, partnership and innovation can mutually benefit two dynamic organizations, and in turn, benefit industry and the nation’s economy,” said Cammy Abernathy, dean of the College of Engineering. “It is also a fitting tribute to the launch of the college’s celebration of its 100th anniversary.”

The renovated space in the Computer and Information Sciences building will foster an “intellectual collision,” according to Abernathy. More than 1,100 students, 40 faculty and many visitors from industry frequent the building on a routine basis. The Harris Gateway creates a comfortable, conducive environment for the interaction of these individuals.

Work on the renovation is scheduled to begin in spring 2010.

Rudolf Kalman is a former professor of mathematics and engineering and served as director of UF’s Center for Mathematical System Theory.

Established in 1959, the medal recognizes individuals for outstanding contributions to science and engineering. A committee of presidential appointees selects nominees.

Kalman is best known for his work in developing a mathematical technique that removes ‘noise’ from a data stream. From incomplete information, it can estimate and control the state of a changing, complex system over time. The Kalman filter changed control theory and has become a common device in many engineering systems, from the Apollo lunar missions to global positioning systems to radar tracking and to automated drug delivery systems.

In 2008 Kalman won the Charles Stark Draper Prize for lifetime contributions to engineering. He was also one of four recipients of the 1985 Kyoto Prize, which is sometimes referred to as the Japanese Nobel prize.

Born in Hungary, Kalman was a graduate research professor at UF from 1971 to 1992. As the director of the Center for Mathematical Systems Theory, he brought several outstanding researchers to UF. Former Dean of the College of Engineering, Pramod Khargonekar, was one of Kalman’s Ph.D. students.

Kalman is a professor emeritus at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Sciences.

Taking a tour of the stations at UF’s College of Journalism and Communications made Stolarz want to pursue her broadcast-news interest, she said. The following week, Stolarz started volunteering at WUFT-TV. She hopes to work her way up to anchor.

“I learned that the television studio offers a very friendly and welcoming environment,” Stolarz said. “They are very willing to train you in whatever your interest might be.”

The stations, which recently restructured into the Division of Multimedia Properties, held the open house to encourage more participation among advertising, journalism and public relations, noted Rob Carr, chair of the open house committee and the college’s director of engineering. In the past, most student volunteers were telecommunication majors.

“Dean (John) Wright wants students to take a more active role in the stations,” Carr said. “When the students leave this college, we want them to be able to step out and be ahead of their counterparts.”

The open house made the stations seem more accessible, said Ben Stearns, a second-year journalism master’s student. After receiving an e-mail about the event, he attended it to look for opportunities to build his portfolio. During the tour he met Donna Green-Townsend, WUFT-FM executive producer, who encouraged him to add multimedia elements to his thesis project.

“It’s made me more open to more electronic modes,” Stearns said. He started volunteering at WUFT-FM the following week.

The stations plan to hold the open house annually or semi-annually. For more information, visit http://www.jou.ufl.edu/news/index.php?id=370.

The college is a national leader in the professional education of future journalists and other communication practitioners. It offers undergraduate programs in advertising, print and broadcast journalism, public relations, and telecommunication; and graduate programs in science/health communication, media law, political communication and international communication.

Wayne Zurburg, UF maintenance supervisor, and his team will be accepting the award at 3 p.m. on Oct. 23 at the University Village South Fields. Oct. 23 marks the start of Swamp Bowl weekend, an extramural flag football tournament that attracts intramural sports teams from all over the Southeast. Also on Oct. 23, a new Swamp Bowl 2009 field painting design will be unveiled.

As a winner, the department of Recreational Sports will receive a certificate of recognition and a Field of Excellence banner.

“Excellence in athletic field maintenance goes unrecognized and often, unappreciated,” said Pioneer Athletics. “The Field of Excellence Award program honors outstanding athletic fields and the hardworking field crews who diligently maintain them.”

The Field of Excellence Award Program was established in 1998 and has honored more than 315 athletic fields from around the country, since its creation.

Zurburg and his staff were selected from a pool of hundreds of applicants from colleges, universities, high schools, and parks and recreation departments throughout the U.S. The rigorous judging process yielded 38 winners from a large pool of applicants, with two athletic fields randomly selected as scholarship winners.

So suggest University of Florida materials science and engineering professors Simon Phillpot and Susan Sinnott in this week’s edition of the journal Science.

In an article titled “Simulating Multifunctional Structures” in Science’s “Perspectives” section, Phillpot and Sinnott say that increases in computer power combined with improved computer instructions, or algorithms, are now making possible the design, tuning and prototyping of nanostructures – the extremely small elements at the heart of computer chips and many other modern products. This modeling had been difficult until recently because these nanostructures often contained very different materials such as metals, oxides, or silicon, each of which had its own framework or paradigm that scientists used to describe or manipulate it.

“The way things had been described at that level had been very different,” Phillpot said. “We think that now, we have a common framework, or skeleton, in place in which to describe them all simultaneously.”

When scientists and engineers can model, test or simulate devices that are between 10 and 50 nanometers in size (50 nanometers equals one 1000th of the thickness of a human hair), they can speed the development of products vital to information technology, health care and many other areas, Phillpot said. That’s because such modeling and simulation reveal dead ends and reduce costly experiments, allowing developers to reach production more quickly.

“Something as simple as a hip replacement – typically, the socket is made of polyethylene, the ball of titanium, and it’s all embedded in the warm, wet, corrosive fluids of the body,” he said. “There are a lot of materials and all sorts of complex physical and chemical processes going on there, and we’d like to understand how it all works together.”

Phillpot earned his doctoral degree in physics from UF in 1985, then spent more than a decade at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois before joining the UF materials science and engineering department in 2003. Sinnott earned her doctorate in physical chemistry in 1993 from Iowa State University. She came to UF in 2000 from the University of Kentucky.

“This Web site is the first of its kind at UF, culling together—in one location—the amazing community outreach efforts being performed by each of the 16 colleges and the auxiliaries of the University of Florida,” said Florida Bridgewater-Alford, project leader.

Reaching out to the community is a tradition at the University of Florida, which is a land-grant institution. Serving its neighbors is central to its goal of being an excellent university. UF’s outreach actively addresses needs, issues and concerns. These efforts ultimately sustain a better quality of life for our communities.

The site was recently updated, following its original creation six months ago. Updated features include improved search capabilities. For more information, contact Florida Bridgewater-Alford at 392-4567 or bridgefl@ufl.edu.

“The recognition and award from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation to the Harn Museum reiterates the emergence of the Harn as an important contributor to the Asian art field,” said Steuber. “With the new David A. Cofrin Asian Art Wing under construction and due to open in 2011, the two publications will usher in a new prominence for Asian art at the University of Florida.”

“Collectors, Collections and Collecting the Arts of China: Histories and Challenges,” is a collaboration with Guolong Lai, assistant professor of Chinese art history and archaeology at UF. Steuber and Lai convened an international symposium of Chinese art scholars Feb. 20 - 22, 2009. The book is a compilation of the symposium papers, which explore the issues of provenance, collectors, museum collecting histories, and the development of the history of Chinese art and archaeology studies in the West.

“Original Intentions: Essays on Production, Reproduction and Interpretation in the Arts of China,” is a collaboration with Nicholas Pearce, director of the Institute for Art History and the department of art history at the University of Glasgow. The publication contains essays by international specialists exploring authenticity in the arts of China. The collection addresses issues relating to bronzes, ceramics, works on paper, sculpture and painting. A broad range of perspectives, including conservation, technical analysis, social history and aspects of collecting, are explored.

For more information, call 352-392-9826 or visit www.harn.ufl.edu.

The awards honor academic personnel and TEAMS and USPS employees who contribute outstanding and meritorious service in their field or to UF. The awards also seek to recognize employees who have made exceptional contributions to UF’s efficiency and economy or to the quality of life provided to students, faculty, alumni and employees. Nominations will be accepted through Oct. 30.

Superior Accomplishment Awards are presented each spring semester for the period covering the previous academic year. The 2010 awards will honor work done between Aug 1, 2008, and July 31, 2009. Awards are given in six categories, first at the division level and then at the university level: clerical/office support; support services; scientific/technical; administrative/supervisory; administrative/professional; and academic personnel.

Division-level winners each receive $200 along with a certificate of appreciation and a memento coffee mug. Each division winner is eligible to be selected for one of six $4,000 university-level awards or one of eight $1,000 awards sponsored by The Gabor Agency (four awards) and Willis-HRH of Gainesville Inc. (four awards).

UF’s Superior Accomplishment Awards program is coordinated by Human Resource Services. For more information, visit the program Web site at www.hr.ufl.edu/awards/saa or contact Kevin Clarke at 352-392-4777.

Merz, a faculty member in the chemistry department and member of the Quantum Theory Project, was honored in recognition of his use of quantum mechanics to study chemical, biological and pharmaceutical problems. Merz is one of 24 people who have won the award, including the Nobel Prize winner John Pople.

Quantum mechanical models provide a more realistic representation for the study of chemical, biological and pharmaceutical processes. Current models used in chemical biology provide an incomplete picture, in that only nuclei are explicitly represented. Quantum mechanics-based techniques allow for individual electrons to be mapped in relation to the nuclei, creating a more accurate picture of a molecule and its interactions with the environment.

“This is a cutting-edge, next-generation tool,” said Merz. “It will lead to a greater understanding of all of these processes.”

The award has special meaning for Merz. His doctoral degree adviser, Michael Dewar, won the award in 1994. A year later, his postdoctorate adviser, Peter Kollman, received the award. Merz will receive his award at the annual society meeting in March 2010.

The Quantum Theory Project, a joint institute of the departments of chemistry and physics, is one of the world’s largest research centers for theory, modeling, and computation of complex novel molecular and materials systems.

For her 2009 “25 Books You Can’t Put Down” Summer Reading List, Winfrey selected Mary Robison’s “One D.O.A., One on the Way” and Jill Ciment’s “Heroic Measures.” Robison and Ciment are both faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) Graduate Creative Writing Program.

Robison, a winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for fiction and frequent contributor for the New Yorker, is thrilled to be a part of the selection.

“Oprah has done a lot to help bring people back to reading. It’s very exciting.”

Ciment, a winner of the Kafka Prize for fiction and co-director of the Creative Writing Program, agrees.

“I’m honored and amazed to be on the list. It’s an extraordinary event.”

UF’s Creative Writing Program began in 1948 and is one of the oldest writing programs in the U.S. It currently is ranked in the top-20 programs listing by U.S. News & World Report.

For more information on these books, visit CLAS Bookbeat online at http://www.clas.ufl.edu/bookbeat/200907_bookbeat.html.

“My goal is to bring to life the vision for sustainability that we crafted with our campus community,” said Prizzia. “We have all the talent, expertise and dedication we need to make UF a model of sustainability in higher education. My job is to help connect the dots.”

Prizzia has a bachelor’s degree in marine biology from the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and a master’s of science degree in wildlife ecology and conservation with a concentration in tropical conservation and development from UF. She has experience in natural resources management, volunteer coordination, and facilitation in the areas of education and the environment.

Prizzia has been outreach coordinator for the office since June 2007. Previously, she worked with the St. John’s River Water Management District, Alachua County Environmental Protection and the City of Gainesville to craft water education campaigns and coordinate a joint Watershed Action Volunteer program. Prizzia also was an environmental consultant and a Peace Corps volunteer in Vanuatu, an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean. Anna also serves on the boards of Sustainable Alachua County, Sustainable Florida and Slow Food Gainesville.

“Our primary job is to support all the hard work that is already going on across campus,” Prizzia said, “and to help connect our faculty, staff and students to the resources they need to successfully incorporate sustainability into their work and lives.”

Following in the footsteps of her predecessor, Dedee Delongpre-Johnston, Prizzia hopes to create programs that balance the environmental and social aspects of sustainability while remaining fiscally responsible.

“Dedee will be sorely missed, but the foundation she laid for the office is strong, and will help guide us moving forward,” Poppell said. “We are fortunate to have someone of Anna’s caliber in place to continue UF’s efforts and help us develop new ones. She has the know-how and the drive to keep UF as a university leader in sustainability.”

Programs and initiatives in the past few years include:

• The “Green Team Network,” an effort to involve members of the campus community at all levels in achieving a more sustainable university. The Office of Sustainability works directly with Green Teams to develop strategies for sustainability that are a good fit for their colleges, departments, or organizations.
• The “One Less Car” challenge to encourage members of the UF community to try one of the many options for travel other than a single-occupancy vehicle.
• “Zero Waste by 2015,” a comprehensive waste composition study aimed at helping UF maximize its reduction, recycling and reuse efforts.
• “Carbon Neutral by 2025,” a plan to capture as much efficiency as possible by working with units on campus to reduce energy use.

The office has also coordinated the Strategic Implementation Plans for the UF Vision for Sustainability, a comprehensive vision for sustainability at UF was created through a collaborative process with members of faculty, staff, students and administration over the past two years. The office is now crafting action plans for the next three years that will move UF closer to these visions and goals.

The award is given annually to a botanist and scholar of international stature who has made significant contributions to the field of tropical botany. Williams, who is author or co-author on nearly 100 academic papers, received the medal March 28.

His two main areas of research are floral chemistry, which involves identifying floral fragrances that attract orchid pollinators, and molecular phylogenetics, which involves the study of evolutionary relationships among neotropical orchids. Williams did most of his field work in Panama and Ecuador and has studied orchids in the wild from Mexico to Bolivia.

Florida Museum director Douglas Jones said Williams’ colleagues and friends are thrilled he won the award. “Norris is truly a world-class scholar and we are fortunate to have him as keeper of the herbarium at the Florida Museum,” he said.

Orchids are the largest family of flowering plants, comprising about 25,000 to 30,000 species. The orchid family has more species than mammal, bird, reptile and amphibian species combined, Williams said. “It’s a really nice big group of plants with a diverse set of pollination mechanisms and floral morphologies.”

Williams’ work on floral fragrances focuses on male bees that actively collect orchid fragrances for use in mating behavior. Different bee species pollinate different orchid species, and his early work set out to determine how these floral fragrances attracted specific bees.

“We knew they were collecting fragrances, but we couldn’t identify a lot of the floral fragrance compounds,” said Williams, who used gas chromatography and mass spectrometry in the identification process.

Floral fragrances can have from one or two organic compounds to as many as 60. Williams and his colleagues found that any given fragrance had two or three compounds that attracted certain bees and other compounds that repelled other groups of bees.

Williams helped develop methods for collecting, isolating and identifying those compounds. Some of the compounds were then tested in the field. “We showed that some compounds that were attractants to some bees were repellants to other bees,” he said. “So a plant might be able to selectively attract one species of pollinators out of the whole range of potential pollinators. It leads to reproductive isolation among closely related species that are growing in the same general area.”

Williams’ other primary research involves classifying groups of neotropical orchids based on DNA sequences. He started working on molecular systematics in 1995 and has since used gene technology to clarify evolutionary relationships that previously were unknown or tenuously suggested.

“It’s given us some real ideas on relationships in terms of numbers of groups of orchids,” Williams said. “But it’s upsetting to horticulturalists who are always complaining that we’re changing the names.”

Williams received his Ph.D. from the University of Miami in 1971. After post-doctoral positions at the National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution, he taught at Florida State University until 1981, when he joined the University of Florida. He holds a joint appointment with the Florida Museum and the botany department.

The highly selective NIH MERIT Award (Method to Extend Research in Time) recognizes researchers who have demonstrated superior competence and outstanding productivity in research endeavor and provides long-term support to investigators with impressive records of scientific achievement in research areas of special importance or promise.

In January Lamont initially received a five-year, $2.4 million grant for his study, “P. Gingivalis Interactions with Gingival Epithelial Cells,” which investigates the molecular dialog between oral bacteria and host cells and has yielded groundbreaking insights into the bacterial lifestyle within humans. Study of the subgingival epithelial interface, the work for which he received the MERIT award, has fundamentally changed the appreciation of the role of bacteria in maintaining oral health and contributing to oral disease.

In May Lamont was notified that the original award had been named a MERIT Award, which essentially upgrades his grant from a five-year to a ten-year term, and guarantees additional funding during the second five-year phase of the study.

With only 5 percent of all NIH-funded investigators receiving a MERIT Award since its inception in 1987, the percentage of dental research investigators who have received MERIT Awards is very low. In fact, the only other UF College of Dentistry researcher who has received one was Kenneth Anusavice, D.M.D., Ph.D., associate dean for research and a professor and chairman of the Department of Dental Biomaterials, in 1994.

Lamont joined the college in 2002, having been at the University of Washington in Seattle since 1989 where he was a professor.

“I relocated to UF because the College of Dentistry provides one of the strongest environments in the country for oral microbiological research, and the Oral Biology Department has been immensely supportive of my program,” Lamont said.

In 1982 Lamont earned his undergraduate degree with honors in Biological Sciences from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He went on to receive his Ph.D. Bacteriology from the University of Aberdeen in Ireland in 1985. From there he came to the United States where he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.

More on the MERIT Award
Initiated in 1987, the MERIT Award program extends funding to experienced researchers who have superior grants and who have demonstrated a long-term commitment to and success in research. The principal feature of the program is the opportunity for such investigators to gain up to ten years of grant support. The MERIT Awards are intended to provide such investigators with long-term, stable support to foster their continued creativity and spare them some of the administrative burdens associated with frequent preparation and submission of research grant applications.