Special Section

Beth Olivares, dean for diversity initiatives in Arts, Sciences & Engineering, was selected to receive a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring.

Olivares, who joined the Rochester staff in 1994 and is also director of the David T. Kearns Center for Leadership and Diversity and a faculty development and diversity officer, received the award in June at a ceremony at the White House. She was one of 14 educators, along with an organization, selected for the award, which was presented “to recognize the crucial role that mentoring plays in the academic and personal development of students studying science and engineering—particularly those who belong to groups that are underrepresented in these fields.”

‘Champions of Change’

Medical Center neurologist Ray Dorsey (top) and Warner School of Education graduate student Anibal Soler Jr. (bottom) were honored at the White House as “Champions of Change” for working to improve the lives of the people they serve.

Dorsey, the David M. Levy Professor in Neurology, was recognized as a leading advocate for better research programs and treatments for Parkinson’s disease. Soler, the principal of East High School in Rochester, was honored for helping to lead efforts to improve the academic success of the school’s students. In July, the University and the Warner School began serving as the superintendent of East High. The honorees are chosen through a presidential program designed to recognize ordinary Americans who, according to the White House, “are doing extraordinary things in their communities to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world.”