UBC News Digest

Oct 10, 2003

The UBC News Digest is a weekly summary of news stories about UBC
people, research, learning, community, and internationalization
initiatives. News Digest past
issues are also available on-line.

Oct. 10, 2003

Receive UBC News Digest via
e-mail.

UBC bestows Killam honours on Ian Affleck, David
Dolphin and Michael Hayden

The UBC Board of Governors has conferred the designation University
Killam Professor on physics and astronomy professor Ian Affleck,
chemistry professor David Dolphin and medical genetics professor
Michael Hayden. The designation recognizes faculty members who have
distinguished themselves in research and teaching and received the
highest acclaim by the academic community and general public.

Professor Affleck, an associate of the Canadian Institute for Advanced
Research, is acknowledged to be one of the best theoretical physicists
in Canada and a world leader in combining the fields of condensed
matter physics and quantum field theory. Professor Dolphin, QLT/NSERC
Industrial Research Chair in Photodynamic Therapy, is a world leader
in his principal areas of expertise that cover the application of
organic, inorganic and physical chemistry to biochemical and medical
research. Professor Hayden, a Canada Research Chair in medical genetics,
is one of the world leaders in research involving Huntington disease,
predictive medicine and lipoprotein abnormalities.

to top

Design competition will help define UBC’s main
campus gateway

A national architectural design competition will help the University
of British Columbia create a new entrance to UBC, according to provisions
of the University Boulevard Neighbourhood Plan endorsed by the university’s
Board of Governors on October 2.

"Canada’s finest architects will bring our community together
to ensure that we achieve the most exciting design to define the
character and identity of the university’s main entrance,"
said Dennis Pavlich, Vice-President, External and Legal Affairs.

"The competition will enable voting by the campus community
as part of the recommendation process to the Board of Governors,"
Pavlich said.

For more information: www.universitytown.ubc.ca.

to top

“Science envy” will be subject of
October 16-18 symposium

This year’s four UBC scholars in residence at the Peter Wall Institute
for Advanced Studies have organized an interdisciplanary symposium
on "science envy" to explore the 20th century preoccupation
with science over other disciplines such as humanities and social
studies.

Some of UBC’s top scholars will be participating including the
four scholars in residence: English professor and editor of The
Book of the Cosmos: Imagining the Cosmos from Heraclitus to Hawking;
geography professor Michael Church, zoology professor David Jones
and history professor Dianne Newell. The symposium kicks off the
afternoon of October 16 with a free public panel discussion at 4
p.m in the Frederic Wood Theatre.

For more information: http://www.pwias.ubc.ca/programs/descothe/papers/scienvy/contents.htm
or contact Valerie Jones by phone at 604.733.2474 or by e-mail at
jones@zoology.ubc.ca.

to top

UBC youth project to launch cross-country road
trip

Two members of the UBC-based Youth Millennium Project (YMP) will
set out Oct. 14 on a road trip to 30 Canadian cities to promote
their new program — Peace Challenge.

The latest brainchild of executive director Lisa Thomas-Tench and
part of the Liu Institute for Global Issues, Peace Challenge engages
youth in Canada and around the world in global citizenship and peace-building.
Thomas-Tench and 17-year-old student Christine Lapointe will visit
elementary and high schools from Canada’s farthest western point
to its farthest eastern one and encourage students to consider what
peace means. Their ideas will be documented by video.

For more information: www.ympworld.org
and www.peacechallenge.org.

to top

UBC graduate students awarded ASI technology scholarships

Nine University of British Columbia graduate students have won
technology scholarships from the Advanced Systems Institute of BC
(ASI) for the 2003/04 academic year. The ASI Graduate Recruitment
Assistance Program will provide each student with over $6,500 for
his or her research.

The UBC winners are:

  • Jeanette Bautista
  • Adam Bodnar
  • Jill Brimacombe
  • Meghan Deutscher
  • James King
  • Michael Klaas
  • Igor Naverniouk
  • Blair Tennessy
  • Ankur Upadhyaya

Based in Vancouver, ASI administers funding programs, mentors early
stage companies and organizes networking events benefiting researchers
and industry across the province.

For more information: www.asi.bc.ca.

to top

UBC professor receives American Alzheimer’s
Association funding

James Mclarnon,a professor of pharmacology and therapeutics, has
received more than $US 222,000 over three years from the Alzheimer’s
Association of America. One of only 10 international recipients
and four Canadian recipients, Mclarnon studies brain signaling pathways
in Alzheimer’s disease and stroke. He is a member of the Brain Research
Centre, a partnership of UBC and Vancouver Coastal Health.