Faculty Spotlight – Page 5

Recommendation for UH Mānoa transitional leadership made to Board of Regents

The University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents will consider on August 18 a recommendation from President David Lassner for transitional leadership at UH Mānoa effective September 1, 2016. The recommendation calls for President Lassner to assume additional temporary duties as interim chancellor for UH Mānoa, and for current UH Mānoa Vice Chancellor for Research Michael Bruno to also serve as interim vice chancellor for academic affairs. No salary increase is recommended for …

Dr. Randall F. Holcombe approved as next UH Cancer Center director

At a meeting on June 2 on Oʻahu, the University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents approved Dr. Randall F. Holcombe as UH Cancer Center director. A formal offer has been made to Holcombe. Holcombe has more than 25 years in academic medicine, serving in progressive leadership roles. He currently serves as the chief medical officer for cancer for the Mount Sinai Health System, deputy …

UH Mānoa Professor Roger Ames recognized for expertise on Chinese philosophy

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Professor of Philosophy Roger Ames has been honored with the Huilin Culture Award from Beijing Normal University in China. He accepted the award, which includes approximately $50,000, at the Beijing campus on February 27, 2016. The award committee cited Professor Ames’ extensive work in comparative philosophy, research on Chinese philosophy and his publications on Confucianism, including The Chinese Classic of …

Coral reef society honors UH Mānoa professor

Mark Hixon, the Sidney and Erica Hsiao Endowed Chair in Marine Biology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, has been recognized as a first-cohort fellow of the International Society for Reef Studies for “scientific achievement and service over a significant period of time.” A professor in the Department of Biology, Hixon’s research has been valuable for both conserving and …

Professor Heinz Gert de Couet appointed National Science Foundation division director

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Professor Heinz Gert de Couet has been appointed division director for the Division of Integrative Organismal Systems (IOS) of the National Science Foundation. The Division of Integrative Organismal Systems supports research aimed at improving understanding of organisms as integrated units of biological organization. As division director, de Couet will oversee the IOSbudget, which funds core programs in …

Three Mānoa faculty members make World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds list

Three faculty members at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa have been named to Thomson Reuters’ World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds and Highly Cited Researcher lists in 2015—Stephen L. Vargo, Shidler College Distinguished Professor of Marketing at the Shidler College of Business; Loïc Le Marchand, a professor at the UH Cancer Center and Laurence N. Kolonel, emeritus professor in the …

Engineering professor recognized with $500,000 national Early Career Award

Jingjing Li, a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa mechanical engineering assistant professor, has received the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Award. One of NSF’s most prestigious awards for junior faculty, it is bestowed on teacher-scholars performing outstanding research and classroom education at the university level. Li was awarded $500,000 for her project, Surface Interactions in Dissimilar Material Joining. Processes …

UH Mānoa welcomes new vice chancellor for research

Michael S. Bruno has been appointed the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s new vice chancellor for research. He comes to campus from the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey, where he held the Feiler Professorship and served as dean of the Schaefer School of Engineering and Science. Vice Chancellor Bruno holds an MSc in civil engineering from the …

Renowned child psychiatrist John McDermott remembered

University of Hawaiʻi Emeritus Professor John F. “Jack” McDermott, a leading international figure in child psychiatry, died on December 6, 2015, just six days before his 86th birthday. McDermott was founding chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Hawaiʻi’s John A. Burns School of Medicine. He expanded the understanding of social and cultural influences on child and …

UH mentor, students win big at national STEM conference

The ʻIlima Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) Chapter at the University of Hawaiʻi and its members were big winners at the 2015 SACNAS National Conference held October 29–31 in Washington, D.C. Hawaiʻi science students and professors received an Outstanding Chapter of the Year Award, Distinguished Mentor Award and three Best Student Presentation Awards. Outstanding …