For those who left the campus before Commencement, here is a roundup of some
of the summer’s top stories. More information on these can be found on
the Office of Public Affairs website, www.yale.edu/opa.
T H I S
Acquisition of Bayer complex to boost Yale’s research programs
President Richard C. Levin announced in June that Yale will purchase the Bayer
HealthCare complex in West Haven and Orange — a move that will allow
the University to make a major leap forward in its scientific and medical research
programs.
The facility features approximately 550,000 square feet of laboratory space,
as well as office buildings, warehouses and other facilities.
“Yale is already in the midst of a boom in the expansion of its science
and medical facilities,” said Levin. “The addition of this ready-made,
state-of-the-art research space will allow that growth to accelerate at an unprecedented
level — potentially making it possible for Yale scientists to develop new
discoveries, inventions and cures years earlier. The availability of Bayer’s
science laboratories will enable us to undertake research programs that we would
not have had space to develop for a decade or more.”
The acquisition is also expected to dramatically increase Yale’s economic
impact on the region. The University will be making voluntary payments to West
Haven and Orange proportionate to the voluntary payment made to New Haven.
The municipalities will receive additional Payment in Lieu of Taxes funds from
the state in recognition of the site’s future non-academic status.
Appointments announced
The following appointments were announced during the summer:
Mimi Gardner Gates ’81 Ph.D., who has led two of the nation’s leading
art museums, was elected as the newest alumni fellow of the Yale Corporation
in a worldwide ballot of University graduates. Former director of the Yale
University Art Gallery, Gates now directors the Seattle Art Museum and is an
adjunct faculty member at the University of Washington.
Gwendolyn Sykes, a former administrator at NASA, has been named to the newly
created post of chief financial officer at Yale. Sykes, who will be responsible
for the financial stewardship of the University, is an expert in the areas
of federal government accounting and financial management.
Dr. Michael Cappello, an expert in global health at the School of Medicine,
was appointed as director of the Yale World Fellows Program. Cappello is professor
of pediatrics, microbial pathogenesis, and epidemiology and public health.
Peter Reinhardt, a nationally recognized leader in regulatory and environmental
health and safety communities, is the new director of Yale’s Office of
Environmental Health and Safety. He was formerly director of the Department
of Environmental Health and Safety at the University of North Carolina-Chapel
Hill.
Holly Parker, a longtime advocate and manager of alternative transportation
programs, is now Yale’s first director of sustainable transportation
systems. She previously managed Harvard’s sustainable transportation
program.
Three professors were named to endowed chairs: Dr. R. Lawrence Moss as the
Robert Pritzker Professor of Pediatric Surgery; Dr. John A. Persing as the
Irving and Silik Polayes Professor of Plastic Surgery; and Robert T. Schulz
as the Harris Associate Professor of Psychology and Child Psychiatry.
In addition, Dr. Paul Genecin was reappointed to a five-year term as director
of the Yale University Health Services.
Donations support China Law Center and new legal journalism program
The Law School received donations to support one of its ongoing international
programs and a new educational initiative.
A five-year, $10 million donation to the Law School from the William and Flora
Hewlett Foundation will support the school’s China Law Center.
Founded and directed by Professor Paul Gewirtz, the center is working to advance
the rule of law and related policy reforms in China through in-depth cooperative
projects between U.S. and Chinese experts. It also seeks to strengthen the
capacity of reformers in China by partnering with legal, educational and administrative
institutions, as well as non-govermental organizations, in the country. The
donation is one of the largest foundation grants in the Law School’s
history.
Another donation will allow the Law School to launch a new program to train
the leading legal journalists and media lawyers of the future.
Called the Knight Law and Media Scholars Program, the initiative was made possible
through a $2.5 million challenge grant from the John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation. The program will include law and media courses, research fellowships,
summer internships, career counseling and an annual training program for mid-career
journalists.
“Law plays a pervasive role in the emerging global society,” said
Law School Dean Harold Hongju Koh, “and legal training for journalists
and media entrepreneurs at all levels will ensure the thoughtful, creative and
accurate development of tomorrow’s news.”
Faculty members named to prestigious societies
Eight members of the Yale faculty were elected to the American Academy of Arts
and Sciences in recognition of their contributions to their disciplines and
to society at large.
They are: Akhil Amar, the Southmayd Professor of Law and Political Science;
Henry Hansmann, the Augustus E. Lines Professor of Law; Robert A.M. Stern,
dean of the School of Architecture and the J.M. Hoppin Professor of Architecture;
Margot Fassler, the Robert S. Tangeman Professor of Music History; William
L. Jorgensen, the Whitehead Professor of Chemistry; Lawrence G. Manley, the
William R. Kenan Professor of English; Frances M. Rosenbluth, professor of
political science; and Dr. Bernard G. Forget, chief of hematology in the Department
of Internal Medicine at the School of Medicine.
In addition, the following three faculty members were inducted into membership
in the American Philosophical Society, the oldest learned society in the United
States: David R. Mayhew, Sterling Professor of Political Science; William E.
Odom, adjunct professor of political science and senior fellow of the Hudson
Institute; and Harold Hongju Koh, dean of the Law School and the Gerard C.
and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law.
Website illustrates history of slavery in Connecticut
This summer, the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance
and Abolition launched a new website titled “Citizens All: African Americans
in Connecticut, 1700-1860.”
Created as a teaching tool, the site provides a scholarly introduction to the
history of slavery in Connecticut, the process of gradual emancipation and
the struggle for citizenship rights by free blacks and abolitionists. The website
(www.yale.edu/glc/citizens) was developed by the Gilder Lehrman Center, part
of the MacMillan Center at Yale, in collaboration with the Yale Center for
Media and Instructional Innovation.
‘Yale 100’ delegation reflect on their journey to China
Just before Commencement, the “Yale 100” — a delegation of
students, faculty and administrators — returned from China, where they
had been the guests of Chinese President Hu Jintao.
The visit, designed to promote exchanges between young people in the two nations,
included stops in Beijing, Xi’an and Shanghai. The delegates had the
opportunity to visit Chinese universities and cultural attractions; tour a “model” village;
and spend a day with a Chinese family. Their impressions of their journey and
photos from their trip are available online at www.yale.edu/chinatrip.
Medical and scientific news and discoveries
Among the headline-making scientific and medical discoveries announced by Yale
researchers in recent months were the following:
• Study shows stem cells curb Parkinson’s disease in primates. (Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, June 11, 2007)
• Air pollution can increase risk of low-birth-weight infants. (Environmental
Health Perspectives, July 2007)
• Sleep apnea linked to heart disease and diabetes. (American Thoracic Society
International Conference, May 2007)
• Research offers possible new treatment for “Fragile X” mental
retardation syndrome. (National Academy of Sciences, June 2007)
• New genome technology offers early identification of patients with drug-resistant
HIV. (International HIV Drug Resistance Workshop, June 2007)
• Physical conditioning can improve older drivers’ on-road skills.
(Journal of General Internal Medicine, May 2007)
• Discovery that common brain virus has ‘bystander’ effect may
explain why it is so destructive. (Journal of Virology, July 2007)
• Bias against overweight youths shown to have lasting impact. (Psychological
Bulletin, July 2007)
• Family-based weight management program for youths shown to cut diabetes
risk. (Journal of the American Medical Association, June 2007)
• Menthol receptor in brain also important in detecting cold temperatures.
(Nature online)
• Patient care improves when medical residents work fewer hours. (Annals
of Internal Medicine Online, June 2007)
• “America’s Best Hospitals” not always the best for heart
attack patients. (Archives of Internal Medicine July 9, 2007)
• First detailed view of molecular structure of receptor molecule may usher
in new class of cancer drugs. (Cell, July 27, 2007)
• Interrupting Lyme disease life cycle may reduce incidence among humans.
(Cell Host & Microbe, July 12, 2007)
• Refusal of medical and surgical interventions common among chronically
ill elderly. (Journal of General Internal Medicine, July 2007)
Initiative to promote effective use of solar power
A team of Yale chemists is working to increase the nation’s energy supply
through effective use of solar power under the auspices of the U.S. Department
of Energy’s Solar Energy to Chemical Fuels initiative.
The researchers at Yale and 12 other institutions will share $12.8 million
over the next three years as they work to develop low-cost and efficient photocatalytic
cells that have the capacity to produce chemical fuels using sustainable and
economically viable resources. The Yale researchers involved in the initiative
are Gary Brudvig (project leader), Victor Batista, Charles Schmuttenmaer and
Robert Crabtree.
New radio show offers information, support for cancer patients
“Cancer Answers,” a new show offering the latest information on the
care and treatment of those with the disease, was launched on June 3 by the Yale
Cancer Center.
The show, which airs 6-6:30 p.m. on Sundays on WNPR Connecticut Public Radio,
looks at the myths, facts and advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Each
week the show’s co-hosts — Dr. Edward Chu of the Yale Cancer Center
and Dr. Ken Miller of the center’s Connecticut Challenge Survivorship
Clinic — are joined by a different cancer specialist to discuss a different
aspect of the disease.
Tennis center being transformed into state-of-the-art facility
Construction began this summer on the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center, a new facility
for the Yale men’s and women’s tennis programs that is being
funded by gifts from Samuel J. Heyman ’60 and the estate of the late
Joseph F. Cullman III ’35.
The current Cullman Courts facility will be renovated, and a new building will
be constructed adjacent to it. When the project is complete, the center will
feature eight courts, four of them new, a viewing area and lobby, as well as
locker rooms and a team room.
In Memoriam
This summer, the Yale Bulletin & Calendar received word of the deaths of
two Yale community members:
Charles Lee Remington, 85, emeritus professor of ecology and evolutionary biology,
on May 31.
Peter H. Marris, 80, a sociologist and novelist who taught at Yale for many
years, on June 25.
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
Grant to fund study of stress & self-control
Award-winning researcher named new engineering dean
Zipcar service offers environmentally friendly travel option
Community invited to meet World Fellows at open house, series
FRESHMAN ADDRESSESBritton reappointed to second term as Berkeley Divinity School dean
Development Office announces new associate vice presidents
ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS
Dr. Richard Belitsky is the Harold W. Jockers Associate Professor
James Duncan is named the Ebenezer K. Hunt Professor
Dr. Erol Fikrig appointed the Waldemar Von Zedtwitz Professor
Dr. Sally Shaywitz is designated the Audrey Ratner Professor
‘Art for Yale’ celebrates ‘outpouring of gifts’ to gallery
Team seeking key to unlock link between stress and addictive behavior
School of Public Health creates new deanship in academic affairs
F&ES student working to insure survival of the snow leopard
Yale Rep opens its new season with Shakespeare classic
New York Times columnist to offer ‘Mobile Gadget Show-and-Tell’
New works by painter and printmaker Nathan Margalit . . .
While You Were Away ...
Biomass energy is the topic of talk by award-winning engineer
In Memoriam: Biochemists Joseph Fruton and Sofia Simmonds
Campus Notes
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