University names two faculty members as vice provosts
Government professor Gretchen Ritter and engineering professor Janet Ellzey have been named vice provosts by the University to serve under Provost Steven Leslie.
“I have truly enjoyed building programs for the Cockrell School of Engineering and look forward to working with the entire University community to provide new and exciting international opportunities for our students and faculty,” Ellzey said.
The new vice provosts will take their positions this summer and will help replace Terri Givens, a current vice provost who will be working for the Migration Policy Institute on a fellowship in Washington, D.C.
Ellzey will focus on international studies and will pursue relationships with schools in other countries.
“In particular, I want to increase participation in our semester exchange programs with foreign universities,” she said. “In addition, I would like to develop international community service opportunities for our students.”
The vice provost serves the provost in administrative duties and pursues varying academic interests to assist the University. Ritter will focus on gender equity studies and faculty relations.
“Usually, the provost gives a certain set of duties, like a portfolio, to the vice provost,” said Sheldon Ekland-Olson, a former UT provost and current professor of sociology.
Ritter was away on sabbatical and could not be reached for comments. She begins her tenure as vice provost June 1. Ellzey will join her in the position July 16.
— Jonathan Babin
National Academy of Sciences adds member from UT faculty
The National Academy of Sciences elected engineering professor Thomas Hughes as one of its 72 new members this week.
Members of the academy advise the federal government and public about critical scientific and technological issues.
The academy has 2,150 members, and Hughes is the second UT faculty member who has been elected to both the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering. The other is geological sciences professor Robert Dickinson.
Hughes conducts research in computational mechanics. He recently developed a cardiovascular model and disease simulation that predicts medical outcomes. The process allows doctors to make medical interventions and decisions based on the predictions.
“It’s an extraordinary event for the academy to elect [Hughes] and really recognize him as an international leader,” said J. Tinsley Oden, vice president for research and a long-time colleague of Hughes.
Hughes and Oden have collaborated on many projects through the decades and are now each working on computer models for medical diseases.
— Priscilla Totiyapungprasert
Obama administration names UT professor to advisory council
William Press, professor of computer and natural sciences, has been named to President Barack Obama’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
“I’m not sure why he picked me, but it’s probably because I’ve worked in such a wide breadth of sciences,” Press said.
According to his Web site, Press has published more than 150 papers in biology, astrophysics, cosmology and computational algorithms. He was also a senior fellow at the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1998 to 2004 and is a founding member of the National Academy of Sciences’ computer and information sciences section.
Press said he was contacted about a month ago for the position on the council but was unaware of who else would serve until all names were announced on Monday. He said he is looking forward to working with the other 19 members of the council.
“I’m very excited, but it’s going to be a lot of work,” Press said.
He said he still plans to teach at UT while researching for the council and attending meetings every month or two in Washington, D.C.
— Matt Stephens
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