In Brief

What’s that blooming beside Jackson Court and Sage Art Center?

It’s CALYX, a new 12-foot tall sculpture installed this spring as part of an initiative to bring more public art to campus.

The work by artist Sabri Gokmen, a PhD student in design computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology, was selected from a pool of more than 120 submissions received from an international call for proposals to create a permanent outdoor art installation on the River Campus. Artists were asked to produce a work that reflected Rochester’s mission to “Learn, Discover, Heal, Create—and Make the World Ever Better.”

“Our goal with this project was to identify an experienced artist, like Gokmen, who makes site-specific art that reflects the surrounding environment and its history,” says Allen Topolski, professor of art and a member of the University’s selection committee. “I believe the sculpture lends a signature to our campus and represents an intersection between art and technology that our students are really excited about.”

The work is the latest addition to Jackson Court, a community gathering area near O’Brien Hall and Anderson and Wilder Towers.

Joel Seligman Looks Ahead at 10-Year Mark

President and CEO Joel Seligman marked his 10th year as the University’s executive leader this summer with a note extolling the achievements of faculty, students, and staff as well as notable progress on significant initiatives.

“Ten years ago on July 3 at 8 a.m., I sent my first email to the University of Rochester community with the following words: ‘The Campaign for the University of Rochester begins today.’

“Today I want to renew my vows. We are going to the Next Level, with significant initiatives during the next five years in data science, neuromedicine and neuroscience, the humanities and the performing arts, and the University’s role in the community.

“No one should ever have any delusions that progress for any institution in our country today is easy or assured. But I am proud to report an almost palpable sense of momentum at the University.”

Seligman was named the University’s 10th president and CEO in 2005 and was formally reappointed by the University’s Board of Trustees in 2014.

To read the full message, go to the website for the Office of the President at Rochester.edu/president.

Highland Hospital Breaks Ground on New Building

Highland Hospital held a ceremonial groundbreaking in June for a two-story building addition on the south side of the hospital campus. The $28 million project will enhance patient care through the modernization of facilities and the renovation of existing space.

Construction will run for 12 to 18 months, with an additional six months spent on internal renovation of adjacent building space. The addition will contain approximately 30,000 square feet of space for six new operating rooms and a 26-bed observation unit.

The new building was designed by HOLT Architects, which specializes in health care facilities. LeChase Construction will oversee the project.

Tech Company and University Announce Partnership

Massachusetts company MC10 Inc., a pioneer in biometric-sensor-enabled analytics, has announced a collaboration with Rochester.

The initiative aims to combine MC10’s technological capabilities in physiological sensing and pattern-recognition algorithms with the University’s clinical expertise and commitment to big data analytics.

The Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences will lead the effort.

MC10 sought a collaboration with the University based on its facilities and its vision to be a 21st-century leader in data science, including the recent creation of the Goergen Institute for Data Science.

New Effort Explores Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

Researchers at the School of Medicine and Dentistry hope to improve understanding of the brain networks that play a central role in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) through a new multi-institutional initiative at the Medical Center.

Led by Suzanne Haber, professor of pharmacology and physiology, the team received a $10 million, five-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to establish a new Silvio O. Conte Center for Basic and Translational Mental Health Research at Rochester. Conte Centers are designed to bring scientists with diverse but complementary backgrounds together to improve the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders.

The Rochester center aims to pinpoint specific abnormalities within brain circuits that are associated with OCD and use the information to guide new treatment options for the three million-plus Americans who live with the disorder.

In addition to Haber, other team leaders include Ben Greenberg, professor of psychiatry and project leader at Butler Hospital and Brown Medical School, Randy Buckner, professor of psychology at Harvard University, Mary Phillips, professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, Greg Quirk, professor of psychiatry at the University of Puerto Rico, and Steve Rasmussen, chair and professor of psychiatry at Brown University.

The Conte Center grant is the second that Haber has received from NIMH. The first funded research from 2009 to 2014 that focused on the circuitry underlying the effects of a surgical treatment, known as deep brain stimulation, on OCD. The findings highlighted the mechanisms of brain stimulation for the disease and helped modify the target used with deep brain stimulation.

Students Recognize Influential Teachers with Singer Awards

Each year, high school teachers or staff members who have had a profound impact on the education and growth of a graduate of the College are recognized during commencement weekend with a Singer Family Prize for Excellence in Secondary Teaching.

The 2015 award recipients are Callie Andler, a school counselor at Charlotte High School in Rochester, who was nominated by Tanya May ’15; Greg Beckman, an Advanced Placement literature teacher at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, who was nominated by Lilly Camp ’15; Heather Buskirk, a physics and science teacher at Johnstown High School in Johnstown, New York, who was nominated by Sandra Westover ’15; and Michelle Hill, a math teacher at Hamburg High School in Hamburg, New York, nominated by Bonnie Ball ’15.

The teachers receive a plaque and $3,000, as well as $2,500 for their schools. They also receive travel expenses to attend the Arts, Sciences & Engineering commencement ceremony.

“The Paul Singer Family Foundation feels strongly that while devoted secondary school teachers play a vital role in the intellectual development of American society, they often receive little recognition or acclaim for their endeavors,” says Gordon Singer, the son of Paul Singer ’66, who endowed the prize.

Isaacson and Chenoweth Lead Meliora Weekend Lineup

Walter Isaacson—president and CEO of the Aspen Institute—will deliver the keynote address at Meliora Weekend, October 8–11. The annual celebration also features Emmy and Tony Award winner Kristin Chenoweth in a performance sponsored by Eva Pressman, chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Henry A. Thiede Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Seth Zeidman, a neurosurgeon who is a member of Highland Hospital’s medical staff. More information is available on the website at Rochester.edu/melioraweekend.