Spring 2001
Vol. 9, No. 2
News
UNLV Appoints Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka to Faculty
Wole Soyinka |
Nobel Prize-winning playwright Wole Soyinka has been appointed to UNLV's recently established Endowed Chair of Creative Writing, a position created through a donation from business leader Glenn Schaeffer.
Schaeffer's donation and pledges, which will help UNLV establish one of the finest creative writing programs in the country, will create an Institute of Modern Letters. The newly formed $2 million Endowed Chair of Creative Writing, which is designed to attract internationally known, prize-winning writers such as Soyinka to UNLV, will be part of that institute.
In addition, fellowships for superb writing students, a lecture series, prizes to be awarded to politically repressed artists, and programs at UNLV for local high school teachers and talented high school students will be provided as part of Schaeffer's partnership with UNLV. Also, Schaeffer's gift and pledges will provide for the renovation of a facility and the creation of a fine arts press.
Schaeffer, who is president of Mandalay Resort Group, is a lover of books and modern letters. He is a graduate of the prestigious Iowa Writers Workshop.
"Mr. Schaeffer's generous contribution will be matched, in part, by corporate and university resources to allow us to craft one of those very special niches in the field of creative writing that will attract some of the finest writers to Las Vegas and UNLV," said President Carol C. Harter. She added that she is delighted that Soyinka has accepted the offer to become the inaugural occupant of UNLV's first Endowed Chair of Creative Writing.
A playwright, poet, novelist, essayist, and theater director, Soyinka won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. He is the first-ever Nobel Laureate to become a university faculty member in Nevada.
Some of his writing stems from his imprisonment in his native Nigeria from 1967 to 1969 during that nation's civil war. Most of his time in prison was spent in solitary confinement. From this experience emerged his work, The Man Died, a book he composed on discarded cigarette packages, toilet paper, and between the lines of books he secretly acquired.
Last year he was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree by UNLV because of his achievements as a statesman, an artist, and a contributor to the international dialogue on human rights – accomplishments stemming primarily from his creative works.
Soyinka writes mainly in English, but his works are distinguished by their exploration of "the African world view" and are steeped in Yoruba mythology, imagery, and dramatic idioms. Ake, his childhood biography, and his tragic drama, Death and the King's Horseman, have been acclaimed as classics. His other plays include The Strong Breed, The Lion and the Jewel, A Dance of the Forests, The Road, A Play of Giants, and Beatification of Area Boy.
Educated in Ibadan, Nigeria, and in Leeds, England, where he obtained an honours degree in literature, Soyinka has held fellowship and professorial positions in theater and comparative literature at the universities of Ibadan, Lagos, and Ife in Nigeria, and the University of Legon in Ghana, the universities of Sheffield and Cambridge in England, as well as at Yale, Cornell, and Harvard. More recently he held the Robert W. Woodruff Professorship of the Arts at Emory University in Atlanta.
UNLV's Stan Fulton Building Opens
The 35,000-square-foot Stan Fulton Building, the new home of the UNLV International Gaming Institute, officially opened its doors recently.
"This is very exciting for the university, the UNLV International Gaming Institute, and our community," said UNLV President Carol C. Harter. "We are extremely grateful to Stan Fulton for the extraordinary gift that makes it possible for us to offer our students and faculty a top-notch facility in which to study."
Stan Fulton Building |
Fulton donated more than $6.2 million toward the construction of the building. A local entrepreneur, current consultant, and former chairman of Anchor Gaming, Fulton is a longtime supporter of UNLV.
The building, located at the southeast corner of Flamingo Road and Swenson Street, features a state-of-the-art casino laboratory, which includes the Southwest Systems Surveillance Room and the IGT Gaming Resource Center and Library, which houses the Gary Royer Gaming Collection.
The building also includes a spacious conference center; a computer lab and classrooms; faculty and staff offices; the Gaming Today Executive Conference Room; the Wells Fargo Conference Room; the Southern Wine & Spirits Lounge; the Harvey's Casino Gaming Collection; and the latest in distance education technology.
UNLV Physical Therapy Program Receives Accreditation
UNLV's physical therapy program was granted initial accreditation recently by the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education.
The accreditation means that program graduates are eligible to take state licensing exams, said Harvey Wallmann, director of the UNLV program.
The program, which is the only physical therapy program in Nevada, admitted its first students in the fall of 1998. It offers a master of science degree.
"This is a major step forward for us," Wallmann said. "I give a great deal of credit to our students because they put considerable faith in our faculty, our university, and the system."
Carolyn Sabo, dean of the College of Health Sciences, said, "This is excellent news not only for those of us at UNLV, but for the citizens of Nevada as well. Our program will help provide physical therapists for rural and underserved areas throughout the state."
UNLV Provost Ray Alden said that the accreditation is a tribute to the strength of the university's program.
"The requirements for accreditation are rigorous. The fact that our program has been accredited is a testament to the high quality of the students, the faculty, and the curriculum," Alden said.
For more information about the physical therapy program, call 895-3003.
University Alumni Association Bestows Its Highest Awards
Gaming consultant William Paulos, businessman Mel Wolzinger, and attorney Jay Brown received the UNLV Alumni Association's highest awards recently.
Paulos, a member of the class of '69 who earned a degree in hotel administration, was named Alumnus of the Year, the top award a UNLV graduate can receive from the association.
Wolzinger and Brown were presented with the Silver State Award, the highest honor that the association bestows on people who are not alumni.
Also honored were the alumni selected by each of UNLV's colleges as recipients of the Outstanding Alumnus Award.
Paulos was honored for his continuous support of UNLV and the Alumni Association.
"Bill was always there to speak during Career Days," said Fred Albrecht, vice president of university and community relations. "He raised the most money for scholarships as the chairman of the Sandblast Open. He was one of the first to step forward to fund an endowment through the Alumni Association for the hotel college.
"Bill is typical of the recipients of this award in that he is always there to serve the needs of the university and has given much back to the community," Albrecht said.
Regarding Silver State Award winners Wolzinger and Brown, Alumni Association President Kevin J. Page, said, "Mel and Jay have worked very hard for UNLV over the years. We know we can always call on them for support and assistance. They both are very deserving of this award."
The Outstanding Alumnus Awards from the individual colleges, which go to alumni who have distinguished themselves in their fields, were presented to Michael Green of the College of Liberal Arts, Jim Germain of the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration, Kenneth Ackeret of the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering, Randy DeLelles of the College of Fine Arts, Garth Winckler of the Greenspun College of Urban Affairs, Elizabeth Donley of the College of Sciences, Barry Shinehouse of the College of Business, Carol Rayfield of the College of Health Sciences, and George Ann Rice of the College of Education.
UNLV Offers Variety of Courses at New Downtown Center
UNLV has begun offering a mix of academic and continuing education classes at a center in downtown Las Vegas in a move designed to make the university more easily accessible to the public.
The UNLV Downtown Center, which opened last fall, is located in the former 5th Street School building at 400 S. Las Vegas Boulevard.
A variety of classes are being offered, including credit-bearing courses, classes leading to certification, and non-credit classes.
"The opening of the UNLV Downtown Center is part of UNLV's ongoing effort to improve our service to the community," UNLV President Carol C. Harter said. "In the past we've reached out to the community by offering courses in Henderson, as well as offering classes at a variety of locations via our distance education technology. More recently, we became aware of a significant demand for courses to be offered in the downtown area and, thus, found a way to accommodate that demand."
For information on courses available downtown, call 895-3394.
Several New Degree Programs Available on UNLV Campus
UNLV is offering several new degree programs, including three new doctorates.
The doctoral degree program in special education is designed to prepare its students to assume leadership positions in the special education field, including university faculty positions. It features an intensive research component.
The doctor of musical arts-performance degree being offered through the College of Fine Arts is the first doctoral degree in music to be offered in Nevada. It is designed to strengthen the students' musical and performance abilities while at the same time preparing them to teach music in their areas of expertise at the university or college level. The program includes extensive performance requirements.
The executive doctorate in educational leadership is intended for experienced school district administrators who show promise to move into the ranks of superintendents and assistant superintendents. The program includes an internship component.
The master of fine arts in screenwriting degree is the first graduate-level film degree offered in the state. An MFA in screen-writing is considered to be the top degree in the screenwriting field. The program was created in response to the demand for high quality screenwriting programs and to help support the film industry in Nevada.
The College of Sciences is launching a new bachelor's degree in biochemistry. It combines course work in biology and chemistry and is intended to provide students with the theoretical and technical skills necessary to obtain employment in industry or to pursue either medical or doctoral degrees.
A bachelor of arts degree program in Afro-American Studies – the only degree of its kind in Nevada – is now being offered. The program is housed in the department of anthropology and ethnic studies, which is part of the College of Liberal Arts.
For UNLV science, math, and English majors interested in teaching at the secondary school level, a minor in secondary education is now available. This program was designed specifically in response to the demand in the Clark County School District for more English, math, and science teachers.
A certificate program in nursing case management is available through the College of Health Sciences. Graduate study in nursing case management at the certificate level enables nurses to expand their roles within the profession. The goal of case management is to ensure that a client receives needed services in a supportive, efficient, and cost-effective manner.
Students interested in learning to use computers to solve scientific problems will find a bachelor of science degree program in computational physics available at UNLV next fall. The new program is being launched in response to student interest and to increased demand for computational physicists by a variety of industries.
For additional information on any of these new degree, minor, or certificate programs, call UNLV at 895-3011 and ask for the college or department offering the program.
Women's Research Institute Honors Outstanding Women
UNLV's Women's Research Institute of Nevada recently honored five women who have made significant contributions to the Las Vegas community.
The women honored for their outstanding achievements included Florence McClure, founder of Community Action Against Rape; business pioneer and philanthropist Kitty Rodman; Emilie Wanderer, the first woman to practice law in Las Vegas; civic leader Thalia Dondero, chair of the Board of Regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada; and philanthropist and business pioneer Claudine Williams.
The women were recognized for their contributions at the institute's recent inaugural reception at which guests had the opportunity to learn more about the state-wide institute housed in UNLV's College of Liberal Arts.
"The Women's Research Institute of Nevada is the only research facility in the state to focus specifically on issues that impact women," said Joanne Goodwin, founding director of the institute. "One of our primary goals is to encourage and support research, both at UNLV and throughout the University and Community College System of Nevada. We intend to foster interaction among researchers across the various disciplines because gender issues do cross boundaries."
The institute's earliest projects have included work on the Las Vegas Women's Oral History Project and the Nevada Women's Archives. Future plans for the institute include publishing a book of 100 biographies of Nevada women and making a bid for the institute to be designated as a leadership development site for the Center for American Women and Politics, which is based at Rutgers University.
For additional information about the institute and its projects, call 895-4931.
UNLV Dental School Receives $1.3 Million to Check Students
The UNLV School of Dentistry recently was granted $1.3 million in tobacco settlement money to screen high school juniors for oral health problems stemming from tobacco use.
"We think our project will have a very positive impact in tobacco reduction for Nevada's teen-agers," said Steven Smith, dean of the dental school. "We will be screening for oral health problems that may already have developed as a result of smoking or chewing tobacco. We will also be educating the teen-agers about the dangers of tobacco use in hopes of heading off future health problems.
"I think it is very appropriate that money from the tobacco industry settlement be used to reach teens since almost 90 percent of adult smokers start at or before the age of 18," Smith added.
The school will screen all 11th-grade students in the 83 high schools around the state via a mobile oral health clinic, Smith said.
Students who show signs of problems stemming from tobacco use or who show dental health problems will be referred to appropriate dental or medical professionals.
Smith said that studies show that approximately 29 percent of Nevada high school students smoke and that about 16 percent of male high school students in the state chew tobacco.
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Craig Walton | UNLV professor Craig Walton is spending several months in Germany on a Fulbright Fellowship to teach philosophy and ethics at a university located in what was once East Germany.
Walton not only will teach at Friedrich Schiller University in Jena but also will work with faculty members and administrators to help them rebuild the university's library, curriculum, and programs, all of which need to be brought up to date. Walton, the director of UNLV's ethics and policy studies program, was one of only about 2,000 people in the United States chosen to receive the prestigious Fulbright Fellowship for the 2000-01 academic year.
- A team of two UNLV biologists has received a $235,000 research and teaching grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to study the structure and function of ecosystems in the Mojave Desert. UNLV biology professors Stan Smith and Diane Wagner will work with UNR professors Robert Nowak and Robert Qualls on the project. A number of graduate and undergraduate students will also be involved in the research. They will be investigating how the very limited amounts of water and nutrients available to the ecosystem affect the overall system. The study will be conducted at the Long-Term Desert Ecological Research Site, which was built on the Nevada Test Site with funds from the National Science Foundation-funded EPSCoR program and the Nevada Operations Office of the U.S. Department of Energy.
Alex Herzog |
- Alex Herzog, the former director of student activities at Southern Utah State University, has been appointed assistant director of alumni relations at UNLV. He holds a master's degree in student affairs in higher education from Indiana State University and a bachelor's degree in labor relations from the State University of New York College at Potsdam.
- UNLV students Regina Clauschee and Fredericka Brown are among the 4,000 students chosen from more than 62,000 applicants nationwide to receive scholarships being awarded through the Gates Millennium Scholars program. Clauschee, who is a junior working on undergraduate degrees in political science and Native American studies, has been awarded $15,000 for the 2000-01 academic year and is eligible to reapply for the following year. Brown, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering, was awarded a $10,000 scholarship. The Gates Millennium Scholars initiative, funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was created in September 1999. Its focus is increasing the number of African Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Hispanic Americans, and Asian Pacific Americans enrolling in and completing undergraduate and graduate degree programs.
- Deaths: William Pankratius, 60, died Sept. 3. An assistant professor in curriculum and instruction, he had taught at UNLV since 1989. Heinz Knocke, 70, the former senior research design engineer in UNLV's physics department, died Nov. 12. He retired in 1997 after more than 10 years at UNLV. Hal Erickson, 69, died Nov. 13. He served as director of libraries at UNLV for more than 25 years, established the James R. Dickinson Library's special collections department, and founded the library's endowment fund. He was serving as director of library development when he retired in 1990.
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