Yale Bulletin and Calendar

May 31-June 21, 1999

Volume 27, Number 33

Endowed Professorships

Ami Klin appointed the Harris Professor of Child Psychiatry

Ami Klin has been appointed the Harris Associate Professor of Child Psychiatry, for a term of five years beginning July 1.

Klin has been assistant professor of child psychology at the Child Study Center since 1993. The Harris appointment marks his promotion to associate professor.

As a developmental psychologist, Klin has focused his research on the most severe developmental disorders, particularly autism and related conditions. He has created new methods for studying social understanding in young children and in individuals with developmental disorders. These new paradigms now are being used in family genetic and brain functional neuroimaging studies of social information processing. Klin has also won recognition for his clinical evaluation and assessment skills, and for his ability to engage the most reticent patients --among them autistic teenagers and retarded young adults -- in conversation about their lives.

Klin is in demand throughout the world as a lecturer. A native of Brazil, he lived in Israel for many years, and is literate in several languages, including Spanish, English, Portuguese, Hebrew and French. He has authored or coauthored articles in publications such as the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Klin received his bachelor's degree from Hebrew University in 1983. He then went to England, where he earned a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology at the University of London's renowned Medical Research Council, Cognitive Development Unit, and London School of Economics. His dissertation research on the emergence of symbolic functions in persons with autism attracted international attention for its conceptual and empirical distinction, and earned Klin the University of London's 1988 Robert McKenzie Prize for Outstanding Ph.D. Thesis.

In 1989, Klin came to the Child Study Center as a postdoctoral fellow. He became an instructor in developmental psychopathology at the center in 1992.

Klin has been an editorial reviewer for several journals, including the American Journal of Psychiatry and The New England Journal of Medicine. Locally, he is a board member of the Calvin Hill Child Care Program.

Jorge Galán named the Markey Professor of Microbiology

Jorge E. Galán has been named the Lucille P. Markey Professor of Microbiology. His appointment is effective immediately.

Galán came to Yale in 1998 as professor and chair of the School of Medicine's Section of Microbial Pathogenesis at the Boyer Center for Molecular Medicine. He is the first chair of this newly created section. Considered a preeminent expert on the genetic and molecular basis of Salmonella pathogenicity, Galán studies the mechanisms by which the bacteria interact with host cells. He has been credited with at least five "breakthrough" discoveries in his field.

Galán has authored or coauthored scores of articles that have been published in leading journals such as Science, Nature and Cell.

A native of Argentina, Galán at one time pursued a career as a veterinarian. He received Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and Doctor of Veterinary Science degrees from Argentina's National University of La Plata in 1980 and 1982, respectively. His interests gradually shifted toward bacteriology, and in 1986 he earned a Ph.D. in that field from Cornell University. He was a postdoctoral fellow and research associate at Washington University (1986-90). He then went to the State University of New York at Stony Brook as a member of the department of molecular genetics and microbiology faculty, serving there as assistant professor (1990-94) and associate professor (1994-98). In 1998, he was promoted to the rank of full professor.

Galán lectures extensively at professional conferences, symposia and other gatherings throughout the United States and around the world. He has organized or co-organized colloquia and symposia for the American Society for Microbiology and other groups. A member of the Bacteriology and Mycology Study Section of the National Institutes of Health, he also serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Bacteriology and of Infection and Immunity. He is an ad-hoc reviewer for the National Science Foundation Grants Program, as well as for over a dozen journals, including Science, Cell, Nature, Immunity, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, and Molecular Microbiology.

Valerie Maholmes is the new Harris Assistant Professor

Valerie Maholmes has been designated the Harris Assistant Professor of Child Psychiatry, for a five-year term beginning July 1.

Maholmes has helped implement school reform measures both in New Haven and nationally. Since 1996, she has been assistant professor and director of the Learning, Teaching & Development Unit of the Yale Child Study Center's School Development Program (SDP). There, under the direction of Dr. James Comer, she provides support to school district personnel looking to apply child development principles to their schools and classrooms. She also conducts training in SDP National Leadership Development Academies, and coordinates the women and minorities committee of the Child Study Center's Tourette's Syndrome Program Project Grant.

Looking at the connection between education, policy and mental health, Maholmes focuses her research on issues related to urban education and the psychological development of urban children. She is particularly interested in the development of African-American adolescent girls. She also conducted research on substance abuse and disability correlates. Her studies have been published in such periodicals as the Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly and Rehabilitation Psychology.

Maholmes has hands-on classroom experience, having received her New Jersey teacher certification in 1980. In 1984 she received a master's degree in counseling, human services and guidance from Montclair State College. Maholmes was director of admissions at Caldwell College (1982-83). She served as intake counselor for the New Jersey Department of Education/Newark Skills Center (1984-86) and educational development specialist for Montclair (1986-88). As a technical specialist for the Washington D.C.-based National Education Association/National Center for Innovation (1990-91), she helped develop leadership and effectiveness skills among teachers. She earned a Ph.D. in psychology from Howard University in 1991. Following this, Comer recruited Maholmes to join Yale's SDP, and she has held various positions with the program since 1992.

Currently vice president of the New Haven Board of Education, Maholmes lectures throughout the country on educational and child development issues.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Yale celebrates 298th Commencement
Yale launching a more user-friendly home page on the World Wide Web
Anthony T. Kronman reappointed as Dean of Law School
Festival will bring world of art and ideas to city
Endowed Professorships
New Haven attorney Julie Carter joins Office of General Counsel
To eat well, relax at the table, advises master chef Pépin
Reunion programs will both educate and entertain returning alumni
Some Yale graduates dancing down a different path
Yale's new student-built solar car headed for Sunracye '99
New alumnae's nursing training included health work overseas
Harold Samuel dies; brought musicians' archives to Yale
Dining staff friendliness ranks high on survey
Prostate Cancer Awareness Stamp to be unveiled at campus event
Conference to explore the future of language
Dr. William F. Collins is recognized for lifetime contributions to neurosurgery