In a message to the University community, President Sarah Mangelsdorf and Chief Diversity Officer Mercedes Ramírez Fernández shared some steps the University is taking to address issues of equity and inclusion on campus, including:
- efforts to recruit, hire, and retain faculty and administrative staff of color;
- a “Together for Rochester” fundraising campaign to support key diversity efforts, scholarships, financial aid, and career support;
- hiring a permanent director of the Frederick Douglass Institute for African and African-American Studies;
- the appointment of Mercedes Ramírez Fernández as an ex officio member of the University’s Public Safety Review Board;
- the formal launch of three new alumni affinity groups: the Black Alumni Network, the Women’s Network, and the First Generation Network.
Additionally, beginning this fall, every school and unit will work with the Office of Equity and Inclusion to set diversity goals and provide reports. The University will also expand its policies to include consequences for committing damaging acts of bias.
I urge all members of the Hajim School community to join me in wholeheartedly supporting these efforts. Our University, our school, and our chosen fields of engineering and computer science cannot afford to be anything less than truly representative of all segments of our society.
Here are a couple of great summer opportunities for students interested in data science.
- Mathematical Foundations of Data Science, a National Science Foundation-funded REU program, will be offered online to undergraduates at the University of Rochester and other colleges in the Rochester region Aug. 10 through Sept. 4. Offered through the Greater Data Science Cooperative Institute, the program is designed for rising juniors or seniors with strong backgrounds and records of accomplishment in mathematics, computer science, physics, or related fields, such as electrical and computer engineering. In exceptional circumstances, rising sophomores will be considered as well. Each of the 15 participants will receive a $1,600 stipend. Applications should be emailed to tripodsreu2020@gmail.com by June 30. Learn more here.
- The Goergen Institute for Data Science (GIDS) is offering a 2-credit Introduction to Data Science (DSC101) course in the Summer B session starting June 29. This online course provides students a practical introduction to the field of Data Science and familiarizes them with the essential facets of the data scientist profession. This includes a grounding in data-based reasoning, problem formulation, data collection, data pre-processing, data analytics, visualization, and use of data analysis for decision-making. The course will provide students the opportunity to practice these skills through hands-on analysis of real-world datasets drawn from various subject areas. There are no pre-requisites. Registration information is available here.
Joe Testani, executive director of the Gwen M. Greene Center for Career Education and Connections, will be hosting a few AMA—Ask Me Anything—sessions via Zoom, answering questions and discussing how COVID-19 may continue to impact internships, jobs, grad schools, and the future of work. Sessions will take place at 12:15 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 17; Wednesday, July 8; and Wednesday, August 5. Please register in advance as space is limited. For previously recorded AMAs, visit the Greene Center’s YouTube channel.
Congratulations to Jacob Kallenbach, a biomedical engineering PhD student in the lab of Joe Chakkalakal, Dean’s Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology with a joint appointment in BME. Jacob is recipient of a predoctoral fellowship through the Wilmot Cancer Institute. The 2-year, $20,000 per year award will support his proposal on “Targeting CCR2 to Mitigate the Late Effects of Juvenile Radiation-Induced Skeletal Muscle Decline.” He will investigate how adult survivors of childhood cancers are at an increased risk of diminished physiological musculoskeletal function, which is intricately connected to a survivor’s quality of life. Jacob will exploit his lab’s pre-clinical mouse model to study the early and late effects of juvenile radiation therapy, which comprises more than 50 percent of cancer therapies, on skeletal muscle tissues. The data from his study will be used to describe an inflammatory-mediated C-C chemokine receptor 2 (Ccr2) mechanism, where its inhibition could augment the functional quality of life of childhood cancer survivors.
Four Hajim School undergraduates were announced as recipients of scholarships at the recent annual meeting of the Rochester Engineering Society.
The Keith Amish Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Meron Abate ’21 of biomedical engineering. Established to honor the memory of Keith W. Amish, Rochester Gas & Electric past president and RES 1987 Engineer of the Year, this $1,500 scholarship recognizes an academically proficient student who is involved in an energy-efficient or developing technology and is a campus leader.
The Susan L. Costa Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Grace Niyo ’21 of biomedical engineering. Established to honor the memory of Executive Director Sue Costa, this $1,500 scholarship recognizes a student who has maintained academic excellence and has been actively involved in extra-curricular and/or community activities.
The Society of Women Engineers Scholarship, Rochester Section was awarded to Firaol Midekssa ’20 of biomedical engineering. The Rochester Section of the Society of Women Engineers awards this $1,500 scholarship to an outstanding SWE Collegiate member.
The David Fergusson Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Baris Eser Ugur ’21 of chemical engineering. This $1,500 scholarship for deserving students was established through the generosity of David V. Fergusson and Jerold Foland in memory of their father.
Our condolences to the family of John Kanwisher ’47 ‘51(PhD), an alumnus of the Institute of Optics, who served in the US Navy during World War II, earned a PhD in biophysics, and had an outstanding career as a scientist and inventor with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. John passed away recently at the age of 95. Family and friends remember him as “an eccentric and adventurous free spirit with an insatiable curiosity and infectious enthusiasm,” writes his daughter Nancy, a neuroscientist at MIT, in a remembrance at The Scientist. John co-invented the first electronically controlled diving re-breather, measured the first electrocardiogram from a whale, and played a central role in transforming the study of animal physiology from the lab to the wild through the use of telemetry devices he invented. Read more here.
Have a great week!
Your dean,
Wendi Heinzelman
