Awards
Faculty Awards
Vicki Huebner, assistant dean of the School of Law, was named a Fulbright Fellow for 2007-08 as part of the U.S.-Germany International Education Administrators Program.
Santa Clara University School of Law Adjunct Professor Eugene Hyman ’77 and the State of California Superior Court for the County of Santa Clara were honored with the 2008 United Nations Public Service Award. Hyman and the court were recognized for “improving transparency, accountability, and responsiveness in the Public Service” in the category of “Juvenile Delinquency Domestic Violence and Family Violence Court.”
Honors and Grants
Aldo Billingslea, associate professor of theatre and dance, was nominated for the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award 2007 in the category of principal performance for a male.
Betty Young, professor of physics, is among 50 scientists from 16 universities and organizations whose Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiment at a mine in Minnesota has given them the lead in a worldwide race to find the particles that make up dark matter.
Nam Ling, professor of computer engineering, was named a distinguished lecturer of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Circuits and Systems Society, one of only 10 members selected for this position during the 2007-08 term.
Christopher Kitts, associate professor of mechanical engineering, received a three-year award from NASA that provides more than $2.7 million to expand the collaborative research and development program between SCU’s Robotic Systems Laboratory and the NASA Ames Research Center. The focus will be on the development and demonstration of advanced technologies relating to the design, development, testing, and operation of small spacecraft and their payloads.
Student Awards
Udall Scholar
Meghan Mooney ’09 was named a 2008 Udall Scholar. Mooney, an applied anthropology major focusing on environmental health, was the communications and community outreach coordinator for SCU’s 2007 Solar Decathlon team.
Fulbright Award
Michelle Dezember ’06 will be pursuing a research project supported by a Fulbright grant. She is studying museums, education, and immigration in Barcelona, Spain.
Student Newspaper Shines
In October 2007, student journalists from The Santa Clara took home three national awards in the Story of the Year competition at the 86th annual National College Media Convention in Washington, D.C. The Santa Clara also won 11 regional awards from the California College Media Association.
WCC Athletic Achievement
Continuing a reputation for excellence on and off the playing field, 15 Bronco student-athletes earned All-Academic honors in the West Coast Conference.
Engaging People and Ideas That Shape Our World: the 2007-08 President's Speaker Series
The 2007-08 President’s Speaker Series enabled the surrounding community, alumni, students, faculty, and staff to participate in dialogues with world-renowned thinkers about ideas that shape our world. The series focused on science and technology and continued the tradition of addressing contemporary and complex issues that have ethical and moral implications. These speakers provided insights on topics ranging from the public debate on stem-cell research and human cloning to a discussion of how Silicon Valley’s unique culture is transforming American history:
- Jane Goodall, primatologist and U.N. Messenger of Peace
- Robert M. Sapolsky, MacArthur Genius Fellow and Stanford professor of biology
- Paul Berg, Nobel Prize–winning biochemist (also was the 2008 DeNardo Lecture)
- Michael S. Malone ’75, author, technology journalist, and distinguished friend and honorary fellow of Oxford University
One highlight of the series was the visit of primatologist Jane Goodall, the world’s foremost authority on chimpanzees. Goodall not only addressed a sellout crowd on what humans can learn from primates about their own behavior and emotions, she also met with a group of students and faculty in an informal question-and-answer format.
The President’s Speaker Series established Santa Clara University as a leader in generating intellectual discourse and sparked many conversations among students and faculty, both in and out of the classroom.
Institutional Awards
Santa Clara was one of six schools receiving a 2007 Alfred P. Sloan Award for Faculty Career Flexibility. The $200,000 award will enable the institution to expand and enhance flexible career paths for faculty.
Santa Clara Magazine won silver medals from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education District VII and the Conference of Jesuit Advancement Administrators.
SCU outgoing President Paul Locatelli, S.J., will take on expanded responsibilities in Rome as the secretary of Jesuit higher education for the Society of Jesus. In this role, he will foster cooperation in the quest for excellence among Jesuits and their colleagues across the globe. Locatelli stepped down as president of the University in December 2008 after serving a record 20 years. Michael Engh, S.J., took office in January 2009; Fr. Engh, a distinguished historian and scholar, comes to SCU from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
The Harrington Learning Commons, Sobrato Technology Center, and Orradre Library opened for spring quarter in March 2008. The $95 million building was the centerpiece of SCU’s recent fundraising campaign and has become the intellectual heart of the Mission campus. It includes a café, an automated retrieval system to maximize efficiency in storing the library’s numerous collections, and an expanded space for the University’s archives as well as the Norman F. Martin, S.J., Archives and Special Collections Reading Room.
After a spectacular third-place finish in the U.S. Department of Energy’s international Solar Decathlon in 2007, Santa Clara University was invited to participate in the 2009 Solar Decathlon in Washington, D.C. The School of Engineering is partnering with the California College of the Arts architecture program to create an energy-efficient, functional, and attractive solar-powered home for the competition.
Several former Broncos represented the United States in the 2008 Olympics in China. Aly Wagner ’02 was a member of the U.S. women’s soccer team, which won the gold medal; Leslie Osborne ’05 was also part of the team before suffering a knee injury in July. Janet Culp ’04 competed in synchronized swimming, Matt Madigan ’91 coached the quad boat team for the U.S. rowing team, and Mary McConneloug ’93 made the U.S. mountain biking team.
Bill Stover, professor of political science, was named a senior Fulbright specialist for information technology and conflict resolution. As part of the grant, he will make several overseas consulting visits in the next five years.
