UBC This Week | Jul. 6, 2006

UBC This Week is a weekly summary of UBC people in the news, recent media releases and upcoming event hightlights. UBC This Week past issues are also available on-line.

Sign up for UBC This Week and other UBC Public Affairs e-mail services at www.publicaffairs.ubc.ca/eservices.

Upcoming Event Highlights

• Jul. 8: The strings are on fire - rendezvous of angels from the east
• Jul. 8: Material obessions - Janet Morton & Evelyn Roth
• Jul. 11: Scholars in residence series
• Jul. 12: National Taipei University of the Arts Orchestra
• Jul. 13: Workshop and lectures on Japanese traditional art

Find out what else is happening at UBC this week. For sports events, visit the UBC Athletics site at www.gothunderbirds.ca/schedule.asp.

UBC People

• UBC President’s Office administrative changes
• UBC architects, designers assist Downtown Eastside residents
• New Dean, Faculty of Science
• New Director, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
• Call for nominations: UBC research awards and prizes

UBC People

UBC President’s Office administrative changes

Professor Stephen Toope officially became UBC's twelfth President and Vice Chancellor on July 1, 2006, announcing two administrative changes as a first order of business.

Angela Redish, who holds a faculty position as professor of ecoomics in the Faculty of Arts, has accepted the position of Senior Advisor to the President. This role will provide advice and counsel on matters related to policy and planning and will liaise with UBC faculty, staff and students to provide an open channel of communication with the Office of the President.

Reny Kahlon has accepted the position of Director, Office of the President, assuming the administrative responsibilities attached to the former Executive Director position, excluding Senate and those issues addressed by Redish. Kahlon will continue to manage the President’s schedule.

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UBC architects, designers assist Downtown Eastside residents

In conjunction with UBC’s Faculty of Applied Science and Global Studio, architecture, urban planning and industrial design students and practitioners from 15 countries came together in June to help improve the lives of residents of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside through design.

55 students and 20 teachers who attended the World Urban Forum worked with five community organizations in the Downtown Eastside including the Chinatown Revitalization Committee, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, Central Waterfront Coalition, Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre and the Strathcona Revitalization Committee.

Global Studio was spearheaded by the United Nations Millennium Project Task Force on Improving the Lives of Slum Dwellers, and addresses the need for design professionals to work with communities experiencing disadvantage or social exclusion. The project works with them to develop more sustainable and liveable environments.

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New Dean, Faculty of Science

The Board of Governors has accepted the President’s recommendation to appoint Simon Peacock as Dean of the Faculty of Science.

With degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1981) and the University of California, Los Angeles (1985), Peacock has held administrative posts at Arizona State University including Interim Associate Dean for Academic Personnel, Chair of the Department of Geological Sciences, and most recently Divisional Dean of Natural Sciences and Mathematics for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Peacock’s research focuses on the thermal, petrologic and seismological structure of subduction zones – places on Earth where tectonic plates dive into the Earth’s mantle triggering great earthquakes and explosive volcanism. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation for the past 20 years and he has published more than 50 articles in peer reviewed journals including Science and Nature.

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New Director, School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture

UBC's Faculty of Applied Science has appointed Ray Cole as the Director of the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), effective July 1, 2006.

Cole is an Honorary Member of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia and currently serves as a director of the Canada Green Building Council. He was an inaugural recipient of the UBC Excellence in Teaching Prize in 1990 and currently holds the UBC designation, Distinguished University Scholar.

Cole will be the inaugural Director of SALA, which was formed in July 2005 by the consolidation of the UBC School of Architecture and the UBC Landscape Architecture Program. The new school includes graduate level professional and post-professional programs in architecture and landscape architecture, together with an undergraduate program in environmental design.

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Call for nominations: UBC research awards and prizes

As one of the top 40 universities in the world, UBC celebrates the distinction and achievement of its researchers. The Office of the Vice President Research invites nominations for the following research awards and prizes by October 15, 2006.

• Killam Research Prizes (all fields)
• Jacob Biely Prize (all fields)
• Charles McDowell Award (Sciences)
• Black and Somerset Awards for performance/ education and development in the visual and performing arts (Arts)

The following self-application nomination is due September 15, 2006:

• Killam Research Fellowships (self-application)

For more information: www.research.ubc.ca or contact Kally Basra at 604.822.6010.

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