Milestones

Honored

Peggy Hintzman, associate director of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, last month completed the requirements of the National Public Health Leadership Institute. The yearlong leadership development program founded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is offered nationally to 55 senior public health officials.

Ronald Laessig, director of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, recently was recognized with three awards. He was selected as the first recipient of the Association of Public Health Laboratories’ Gold Standard for Public Health Laboratory Excellence Award, given to an APHL member who has made significant contributions to the advancement of public health laboratory science and/or practice. Laessig also was given an award for serving as chairperson of the APHL’s Environmental Health Committee. He was also chosen as the March of Dimes’ first honoree for the March of Dimes Prevention Award, which recognizes the efforts to prevent prematurity, birth defects and infant mortality.

Jim Leonhard, senior free safety with the UW football team, was named to the 2004 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America Football team as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Leonhard, who carries a 3.44 grade point average in kinesiology, is Wisconsin’s first first-team Academic All-American since Don Davey in 1990. Leonhard was a second-team selection in 2003. He also was named first-team All-Big Ten for the third straight season and traveled to New York on Dec. 7 for the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Dinner, where he received a 2004 National Football Foundation postgraduate scholarship, an $18,000 award.

Joe Thomas, sophomore left tackle for the UW football team, earned first-team Academic All-District V honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America. Thomas, a Brookfield, Wis., native, is majoring in business and has a 3.78 grade point average. He has started all nine games this season at left tackle for the Badgers.

Appointments

Barbara Bowers, Helen Denne Schulte Professor of Nursing, will serve as associate dean for research and sponsored programs in School of Nursing on an interim basis through Sept. 12, 2005. Bowers will oversee the operations of the Nursing Research and Sponsored Programs Office and provide leadership in grants/contracts administration, research mentorship, faculty development, and broadening the school’s range of research partnerships and funding opportunities.

Daniel Kurtycz, professor of pathology and medical director for the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene, has been elected to serve a four-year term on the American Society of Cytopathology’s executive board. He also received the society’s 2004 President’s Award, which has been presented annually since 1992 to a pathologist or cytotechnologist in recognition of contributions to the ASC.

Veterinary technicians instrumental in new group
Four UW–Madison veterinary technicians are on the executive board of the newly formed Academy of Internal Medicine for Veterinary Technicians (AIMVT), which encompasses cardiology, large and small animal medicine, neurology and oncology.

To attain specialty credentialing, technicians need extensive experience and advanced skills in their field, and must meet specific criteria, including passing a certification examination. Generally, specialized technicians are found at larger veterinary hospitals, including referral centers, where their duties may be concentrated in a specific area. Their extensive training permits them to provide progressive care for animals under their care.

The AIMVT is the fourth national specialty organization for veterinary technicians. Three other specialties (anesthesia, emergency and critical care, and dentistry) are already in place.

Robin Sereno (anesthesia technician at the School of Veterinary Medicine) will serve as the AIMVT president elect. Cheryl Bohling (School of Veterinary Medicine radiation therapy technician) is treasurer. Laura Lien (School of Veterinary Medicine large-animal medicine technician) is a director at large representing large-animal medicine. Lisa Korth (School of Veterinary Medicine neurology technician) is a director at large representing neurology.

More information about the organization is available at http://www.aimvt.com.

Crim named interim associate dean
Elton Crim Jr. has been named interim associate dean in the Offices of the Dean of Students.

Crim, who has served as an assistant dean since 2003, fills a position that will manage responsibilities assigned to the Office of the Dean of Students in the reorganization of the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. A search committee will be formed to identify a permanent associate dean.

The associate dean will oversee the internal operations of the division and provide day-to-day supervision of Associated Students of Madison staff and program advisers, the Diversity Education Project, the LGBT Campus Center, Multicultural Student Center and Orientation and New Student Programs.

Crim has been serving as assistant dean of students, managing the university’s response to student academic and nonacademic misconduct issues. He also is a member of the UW Athletic Board and the Diversity Oversight Committee.