In the News

“ There are, like, a gazillion notes. It feels like four people are playing. ” —Marina Lomazov ’00E (DMA), an assistant professor of music at the University of South Carolina, in the Columbia, S.C., State, talking about the impression made by pianist Valery Kuleshov, whom she heard play when she was a student in Ukraine. “It was a huge inspiration.” Kuleshov was a guest performer at the Southeastern Piano Festival, held at South Carolina this spring.

Busch-Vishniac ’76 Named Provost at McMaster

Ilene Busch-Vishniac ’76, a professor of mechanical engineering and former dean of engineering at Johns Hopkins University, begins a tenure as provost and vice president for academics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, this August. Busch-Vishniac, who was dean of the Whiting School of Engineering at Hopkins from 1998 to 2003, has received many teaching and research awards, including the Achievement Award of the Society of Women Engineers, the Curtis McGraw Research Award of the American Society for Engineering Education, and the Silver Medal in Engineering Acoustics of the Acoustical Society of America. The announcement of her appointment noted that her husband, Ethan Vishniac ’76, an astrophysicist, will join McMaster’s physics and astronomy department.

Optics Alumni Honored

Two prominent alumni of Rochester’s optics program have received national recognition. Charles Munnerlyn ’69 (PhD), known as one of the founding fathers of laser vision correction, received the Polaroid Foundation’s 2007 Edwin H. Land Medal, one of the top awards in optics. A founder of VISX, a company that is now the largest manufacturer of laser-based vision correction systems, Munnerlyn was cited for his “pioneering science, engineering, and entrepreneurship” and for helping make “normal vision without glasses possible for millions of people.” . . . And the Optical Society of America selected Stephen Fantone ’79 (PhD), the founder and president Optikos Corp., as the recipient of its Distinguished Service Award for outstanding service to the optical community. The current treasurer for the society, Fantone has held several leadership positions in the organization since joining it in 1973.

Academy Elects Edgar ’57 (PhD)

Robert Edgar ’57 (PhD), a professor emeritus of molecular, cell, and developmental biology at the University of California at Santa Cruz, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences, considered one of the highest honors for U.S. scientists and engineers. Also a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Edgar was one of 72 new members elected this spring.

Young Composer Vies to Capture the Spirit of Annapolis

Composer Jacob Bancks ’06E (MM) is one of four finalists selected to compose a new orchestral work that reflects the spirit of Annapolis, Maryland, for that city’s upcoming 300th anniversary. The composition by the winning composer in the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra’s Young Composers Competition will have its premiere next year as part of a citywide celebration. Bancks and three others were chosen from 111 applicants under the age of 35 to submit an original composition this fall. Each finalist’s composition will be played next spring during a series of concerts, and the winner will be selected through votes cast by music experts, musicians, and audiences.