Milestones

Milestones covers awards, honors and major publications by faculty and staff. Send your items to Wisconsin Week, 19 Bascom Hall, or e-mail: wisweek@news.wisc.edu

Appointed
Sarah Johnston-Rodríguez has been named the director of the campuswide Mentor Program. She has extensive experience in advising, mentoring, data analysis, teaching and research on student retention. Established in 1988, the Mentor Program serves students of color and students with nontraditional backgrounds by matching them with faculty, staff and/or student mentors. It includes nearly 200 participants.

Lydia Zepeda, an associate professor of consumer science, has been named director of the Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems. The center researches farming and marketing systems that contribute to the environmental, ecological and social well-being of farms, families and communities. Zepeda hopes to facilitate the development of sustainable food and farming systems. Zepeda replaces former center director Rick Klemme, who accepted the post of associate dean of Cooperative Extension early in 2000.

Honored
Judith Ladinsky, an associate professor in the Medical School Department of Preventive Medicine, has received a medal and certificate from the government of Vietnam to recognize “her great contribution to the cause of education.” Ladinsky says she is the first American to receive this distinction. The award was given to Ladinsky in Hanoi at the Ministry of Education. Since 1989, Ladinsky has administered TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exams to thousands of Vietnamese students interested in applying to schools in the United States or Canada. Ten Vietnamese students are enrolled at UW–Madison.

Nancy McClements, reference librarian, is featured in a recent poster created by the American Library Association to promote librarians as the best sources for finding information.

Donata Oertel, a professor of physiology at the Medical School, has been named president-elect of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology for 2001-02. She will serve as president during 2002-03. Founded in 1973, the ARO is an international association of more than 1,900 members in 36 countries.

The government of Taiwan has given a gift to UW–Madison to strengthen Taiwan studies. A series of programs is planned, including visiting lectureships, travel and research grants for UW students and faculty, a film series and development of resource materials on popular culture. Six $2,000 grants for research travel or travel to conferences are available, along with a salary of up to $30,000 for a visiting professor.

David Allen, Tumara Campbell, Ankur Malhotra, Chuck Martin and Steve Royko. a team of graduate entrepreneurship students from the School of Business, took third place in the Venture Capital Investment Competition in Austin, Texas, Feb. 10-11. The Wisconsin team brought home the trophy and $1,000 in prize money. Ted Baker, Jay Ebben and Jeff Prochnow were the advisers.

The Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Institute has received a $245,000 gift from the Helen Bader Foundation of Milwaukee, bringing foundation support of WAI to a total of nearly $1.5 million since 1998.

Published
Richard H. Zeitlin, adjunct assistant professor of history, recently published a significantly revised and expanded edition of Germans in Wisconsin (UW Press), which explores the heritage of Wisconsin’s largest ethnic group.