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Awards wrap-up

April 18, 2000

Journalists to be honored
Fourth-estate achievement, leadership and innovation will be honored Friday, April 28, at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication awards banquet:

  • Roger Maes, B.S. 1990, director of corporate communications for XOOM.com/NBCi. NBC recently acquired XOOM.com, an Internet-based e-commerce company. Eventually it will merge with other NBC holdings to form NBC Internet. Maes handles all public relations for the firm. He will receive the Ralph O. Nafziger Award, given annually to J-School alumni who distinguish themselves professionally within 10 years of graduation.

    Three others will receive the school’s Distinguished Service Award for lifetime contributions:

  • Marsha Lindsey, M.A. “80, founder and chief executive of Lindsey, Stone & Briggs of Madison. The company handles $22 million in accounts, specializing in brand consulting, brand communications and brand development for new products. In 1997 Lindsey received the American Advertising Federation’s Silver Medal Award for lifetime achievement.
  • Larry J. Wert, B.A. “78, president/general manager of WMAQ-TV in Chicago. Wert assumed the post in 1998 and turned the station into a successful broadcast venture.
  • Jonathan Wolman, B.A. “72, managing editor of The Associated Press, one of the world’s dominant news producers. Wolman has covered everything from automotive and labor issues to the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island. His editing duties at AP have taken him to its Washington bureau and culminated in his current position in 1998.

Banquet tickets: $25 per person. Information: Janet Buechner, 263-4080; jbuechne@facstaff.wisc.edu.

Physicist receives citation
A new member of the physics faculty is the recipient of the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on young scientists.

Brenda L. Dingus, an astrophysicist who specializes in gamma ray astronomy, is one of 60 young scientists from around the nation who were given Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) April 11, according to a White House announcement.

Dingus, 39, joined the faculty this spring as an associate professor of physics. Each PECASE winner is awarded $500,000 over a five-year period to support work in research and education.

During her career, Dingus has earned an international reputation for the development of ground- and space-based gamma ray detectors. She has been a leader in the development of NASA’s GLAST satellite, an orbiting observatory designed to sample cosmic rays, that is scheduled for launch within a few years. Cosmic rays are of interest to scientists because they constantly bombard the Earth, yet little is known about where they originate.

Space place leaders cited
The Madison Astronomical Society has named James Lattis and Kay Kriewald of UW–Madison’s Space Place as recipients of its Astronomy Education and Outreach Award for the year 2000.

The award, according to an announcement made by the society, is given in recognition of contributions to improving the public’s awareness of astronomy in Madison and Wisconsin.

Lattis, a co-founder and director of Space Place, has been instrumental in helping the center grow and develop since its establishment in 1990. Kriewald has served as the associate director for Space Place since 1995. Kriewald has helped thousands of area students and their parents gain a better appreciation for space, its exploration and astronomy.