University of Chicago
William McDade
An expert in sickle-cell haemoglobin has been appointed deputy provost for research and minority issues at the University of Chicago. William McDade, who is currently associate professor of anaesthesiology and critical care and associate dean for multicultural affairs at the university's Pritzker School of Medicine, has been appointed to the position for a three-year term. He said the new role would suit him because of his long-held interest in developing potential. "I'm a believer in pipeline programmes that test the idea that you can alter the future of young scholars by putting them in a productive situation. We want to have them grow through our system," he said. Dr McDade earned a PhD in biophysics and theoretical biology and qualified as a medical doctor at Chicago before becoming a member of staff there in 1994. For more than 15 years he has served on the admissions committee at Pritzker, helping to recruit and retain minority students. He also established the Bowman Society, which prepares young people from minority backgrounds for careers in academic medicine. "There are wonderful scholars out there, who will prosper in an environment that inspires interdisciplinary thinking like this. We need to be proactive in identifying them, but I can't do it on my own," Dr McDade said. "This has to be a community effort."
David Stephenson
David Stephenson, from the Mathematics Research Institute at the University of Exeter, has been elected a member of the Academia Europaea. The organisation was founded in 1988 as an international, non-governmental association of scientists and scholars who are leaders in their field. Professor Stephenson was nominated for his research in statistical climatology. He said he was "absolutely delighted". "Weather and climate problems do not respect national boundaries and so their solution requires coordinated international research across nations." Professor Stephenson took an undergraduate degree in physics at the University of Oxford before being awarded a PhD in the same subject at the University of Edinburgh. He has taught at Princeton University, the University of Reading, the University of Toulouse and the University of Bergen, and he held a visiting post at the French National Weather Service.
Matthew Van Alstine Makomenaw
Matthew Van Alstine Makomenaw has joined the University of Utah's office for equity and diversity as the director of the American Indian Resource Center. Dr Makomenaw is a member of the Odawa tribe, from the Grand Traverse Bay Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians and Little Traverse Bay of Odawa Indians, and has spent his career working with American Indian students in higher education. He said: "I believe that preserving native language, teaching history from a native perspective, understanding native values and teachings and service to native communities is a vital component to my identity as an American Indian." Dr Makomenaw was previously at Central Michigan University, where he was director of Native American programmes. He is also an adjunct faculty member at the Saginaw Chippewa Tribal College and has served on the college's board of regents. He received a BA in psychology before studying for an MA and a doctorate in higher, adult and lifelong education at Michigan State University. He said: "My goal is to increase the recruitment and retention of American Indian students and to provide programmes for everyone on campus so they will be able to learn more about American Indian culture and knowledge."
David Mycock
A British lecturer has been honoured for his work with the Czech Republic's blind football team. David Mycock, a lecturer in sports coaching science at the University of Worcester, was part of a team that won the Special Achievement Award during a Blind Football Development week in the country. For the past 18 months, Mr Mycock has developed teaching and coaching links with colleagues at Masaryk University. The project was initially a disability-focused Erasmus teaching agreement, but continued to grow and led Mr Mycock to get involved in establishing and coaching blind football with a number of teams, including FC Praha in the capital, Prague. As a result, the Czech Football Association is developing a national programme for its first Paralympic blind football team. Mr Mycock, who is head coach of Worcester Blind Football Club - the Football Association's National Futsal League Champions - said the partnership with the Czech team had benefited his own work. "Being able to learn and develop knowledge in disability sports alongside players and coaches from Europe has widened my horizons and dramatically improved my own teaching and coaching," he said. The European Union has approved a €30,000 (£25,500) grant for a "Youth in Action" European Blind Football Development Project. This will see the Czech Republic host the first European Blind Football Networking tri-nation tournament in August.
OTHER CHANGES
Andrew Disbury has joined Leeds Metropolitan University as director of the international office. Mr Disbury was previously at the University of St Andrews, where he spent three years as director of student recruitment and admissions.
Lori Manders has accepted the post of director of the development and alumni relations office at University College London. She is currently director of development and external affairs at the University of Aberdeen.
Toby Lincoln has been appointed lecturer in modern Chinese urban history at the University of Leicester. Dr Lincoln joins the university after spending a year as a postdoctoral associate at the Council on East Asian Studies at Yale University.
John Armitt, chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, has been reappointed chair of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Colin Orr, president elect of the Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists, is joining the University of Wolverhampton's School of Technology as a senior lecturer in architecture. He was previously a senior lecturer at the University of Bolton.
Vladimir Falko, head of theoretical physics at Lancaster University, has received a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award worth £1,000 in recognition of his achievements in nanoscience. Professor Falko's work explores the theory of the electronic properties of nanostructures and low-dimensional materials, such as graphene.
BPP University College has appointed Kate Hayes as its admissions director. Ms Hayes joins BPP after nine years as director of marketing at The College of Law.