In the News
Shepherd School’s Al-Zand Wins Composing Competition
Karim Al-Zand, assistant professor of composition and theory at the Shepherd School of Music, was selected as the recipient of the second annual Raymond and Beverly Sackler Music Competition Prize. The international award includes a prize of $20,000 and is sponsored by the School of Fine Arts at the University of Connecticut. The competition supports and promotes aspiring composers and the performance of their new musical works.
Al-Zand’s piece will premiere this spring at the University of Connecticut–Storrs. A second performance will take place at the university’s Stamford campus.
“I feel very privileged and honored to have been awarded this year’s Sackler Prize,” Al-Zand said. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for me, and I’m very excited to be writing for such an accomplished performer as James Ackley.”
Al-Zand wrote a proposal for a concertino for trumpet and also submitted his works to be considered for the competition. His proposal was chosen among 50 entries. The multimovement piece will be 15 to 18 minutes long and is being written for a solo trumpet and a small chamber group.
Al-Zand received his bachelor of music degree from McGill University in 1993 and his PhD from Harvard University in 2000. In 1998, he won the Salvatore Martirano Composition Competition for his string quartet. His most recent commissions have been from ALEA III, the New England Conservatory Camerata, and Houston’s OrchestraX. As a pianist, Al-Zand has performed in jazz settings and has directed and composed for an 18-piece ensemble he formed in 1995.
He currently is pursuing several areas of music theoretical work, including research on jazz and improvisation-related topics.
Fulbright Takes Matherly to Japan
Cheryl Matherly, assistant dean of student affairs and director of international opportunities, spent a month in Japan as a Fulbright Scholar through the International Education Administrators Program (IEAP) this past summer.
During her visit, Matherly toured universities and high schools to learn more about Japan’s education system. She also participated in cultural activities and attended briefings with various government officials and meetings with Japanese international education professionals to learn about education, society, and culture in Japan.
Only six people from American universities were selected to participate in the program from hundreds of applicants. The grant recipients will use the experience to promote internationalization on their own campuses as well as in Japan.
To use the experience to benefit Rice, Matherly is co-directing the next Global Technology Leaders Symposium, a program that will take students to Singapore and Tokyo in March. She also has been asked to deliver a seminar for the Japan–America Society of Houston about current issues in Japanese higher education.
“I also have drawn on this experience when advising students participating in international education programs,” Matherly said.
In 1996, she also received a Fulbright grant to attend the IEAP in Germany.
Meffert Appointed to NSF’s ADVANCE Panel
Lisa Meffert, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, served on this year’s grant review panel for the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE program.
ADVANCE aims to increase the participation of women in the scientific and engineering workforce by increasing the representation and advancement of women in academic science and engineering careers. The ADVANCE program provides three types of awards: individual fellowships, institutional awards, and leadership awards. ADVANCE seeks to support new approaches to improving the climate for women in U.S. academic institutions and to facilitate women’s advancement to the highest ranks of academic leadership.
For Meffert, the invitation to participate in ADVANCE was something of a milestone, marking the 15th time she had been tapped for NSF grant review panels or invited workshops.
“Reviewing the work and ideas of peers is something all academics are asked to do,” Meffert said. “But having served on an ADVANCE review panel once before, I can say that the experience stands out, primarily because the program is making a real difference.”
Natelson Awarded Prestigious Science and Engineering Fellowship
For the second year in a row, one of Rice’s junior faculty members has won an acclaimed and highly competitive Packard Fellowship in Science and Engineering.
Doug Natelson, assistant professor of physics and astronomy and electrical and computer engineering, joins fellow physicist Thomas Killian as the only Rice faculty members to win the coveted five-year fellowship, which includes $625,000 in unrestricted grant funds.
Natelson said he was stunned when he heard he’d been chosen, because the competition for the fellowships is fierce. “Just to be nominated is a great honor,” he said. “It’s more than a little overwhelming to think that my research was chosen over that of so many other bright people from such a wide range of science and engineering disciplines.”
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation accepted only 99 nominations for fellowships this year and made only 16 awards. The competition is limited to faculty from 51 institutions, and the president of each school can nominate no more than two faculty members each year. Natelson’s selection means that Rice has had a winner in each of the years it has been eligible to make nominations, having only been added to the list of invitees in 2002.
“The fact that Rice has had winners in each of its first two years of eligibility is a major accomplishment,” said F. Barry Dunning, chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy. “It reflects all the hard work that the department and dean have done to attract the very best and brightest young faculty to Rice.”
Natelson’s research is aimed at better understanding the physics of electronic conduction at the nanometer scale. It is of fundamental importance for engineers and nanotechnologists interested in developing ever-smaller computer components based on molecular electronics. It could also play a role in developing hypersensitive detectors for healthcare and security applications that could scan samples as small as a single molecule.
One of Natelson’s specific projects focuses on the production of single-molecule transistors—a feat achieved by only two other research groups in the world.
Modern transistor technology is responsible for all of the social change that has sprung from the computing revolution. The typical transistor found today in a state-of-the-art computer chip is about 100 nanometers long—about 20 times smaller than a red blood cell. As small as these transistors are, scientists have shown that single organic molecules—100 times smaller still—can perform many of the electronic functions of traditional microelectronics. But a great deal of basic science needs to be undertaken before engineers can fully realize the potential of molecular electronics.
Natelson’s single-molecule transistor can be used for those types of studies. Like all transistors, Natelson’s consists of three electric leads—one input, one output, and a gate. The flow of electricity through a transistor is analogous to water flowing through a valve. By altering the current applied to the gate, one can either allow current to flow through the device from input to output or raise a barrier that prevents the current from flowing.
Composed of a buckyball that sits between two gold nanowires—one input and one output—and atop a semiconducting gate that is under a layer of silicon dioxide, Natelson’s single-molecule transistor transfers current just like its larger cousins. But because it is so small, it is subject to the laws of quantum mechanics and therefore behaves differently than larger systems that are subject to the laws of classical electrodynamics.
“One reason this is a terrific tool for fundamental science,” Natelson said, “is it allows us to use electrons to examine how a single quantum-related object ‘talks’ to the outside world.”
Natelson said that it is nice to have the flexibility that unrestricted funding provides. “If I didn’t have it, I would have to focus more of my time on grantsmanship,” he said. “It’s hard to overstate the value of being able to restructure your time like that.”
As They Like Trish Rigdon
Trish Rigdon, associate director of theatre and lecturer of theatre spent last summer working in the United Kingdom at Theatre, Royale Bath as assistant director to Sir Peter Hall on a production of Shakespeare’s As You Like It. She then took the show on the road in the United States to rave reviews.
“I was responsible for the tour in the States, which went to New York; Connecticut; Columbus, Ohio; and Boston,” she said. “The press at each venue was fabulous and, according to Sir Peter, would not have happened without me as he was not involved in the tour at all.”
Ben Brantley of the New York Times lauded the performance in a review on December 15, and Terry Byrne of the Boston Herald listed the play number one in the Top 10 performances of 2003 in Boston.
“Apparently I did something right,” Rigdon said, “because Theatre Royale Bath and Sir Peter have asked me back for the season next summer as assistant director and production administrator. They even have planned all preproduction meetings around my teaching schedule here at Rice.”
Richard Tapia Receives American Mathematical Society Award
Richard Tapia, the Noah Harding Professor of Computational and Applied Mathematics, has received the 2004 Award for Distinguished Public Service from the American Mathematical Society. The award, one of the most prestigious in the field, is presented every two years to a research mathematician who has made a distinguished contribution to the mathematics profession through public service during the preceding five years. The award, which was presented in January, includes a $4,000 prize.
Vail Presented with Penrose Medal
Rice University earth scientist Peter Vail has been awarded the Penrose Medal, one of the world’s highest honors in the field of geology.
Vail, the W. Maurice Ewing Professor Emeritus of Oceanography, received the award November 2 at the 115th Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America. The Penrose Medal, the highest honor given by GSA, was established in 1927 by R. A. F. Penrose, Jr. The medal is awarded in recognition of eminent research in pure geology for outstanding original contributions or achievements that mark a major advance in the science of geology.
Vail introduced the concepts and applications of sequence stratigraphy in 1977, when he published a groundbreaking theory that described how global sea-level changes throughout Earth’s history had left characteristic patterns in stratified rock formations worldwide. In addition to developing the concept of sequence stratigraphy, Vail, who worked at Exxon from 1965–86, also pioneered the application of sequence stratigraphic principles to hydrocarbon exploration. He joined Rice’s faculty after retiring from Exxon, and he retired from Rice in 2001.
“The importance of Pete Vail’s discoveries to the oil exploration industry is illustrated by the support of a dozen energy companies, led by ExxonMobil, who underwrote last year’s Vail Fest symposium, a three-day meeting at Rice to honor Pete’s life and work,” said Department of Earth Science chair Alan Levander, the Carey Croneis Professor of Earth Science. Organized by Vail’s colleague Professor Andre Droxler and his former student Vitor Abreu, Vail Fest was attended by more than 300 scientists from around the world.
In awarding the Penrose Medal, the GSA has recognized that Vail’s discoveries rank among the most important in earth science of the 20th century—on par with the discoveries of potential causes of mass extinctions of the dinosaurs and aspects of the theory of plate tectonics. “The effects of his work have been felt far beyond the bounds of energy exploration,” Levander said.
Davenport Named Best Curator
The Houston Press named Rice Gallery director Kimberly Davenport the best curator in Houston in their Best of Houston edition last fall. “She transformed a moribund institutional space into a venue for dynamic site-specific installations,” the article stated. Citing several of the installations the gallery has housed, the article finished: “It’s definitely worth wandering onto campus to see who Davenport brings in next.”
Owls Baseball, Humanities’ Heye Earn Board Kudos
At its quarterly meetings, the Rice University Board of Trustees recognizes staff members who have made significant contributions to the university. During its October meeting, the board acknowledged Becky Heye, assistant dean of humanities, along with baseball coach Wayne Graham and the Rice baseball team.
Heye earned accolades for her dedication to the overall improvement of the School of Humanities. In addition to performing her duties as assistant dean, she has spent the last three years organizing, training, and hiring department coordinators and other key staff in the school.
“If a department doesn’t have a good coordinator, there are going to be problems,” she said. “Especially in humanities. The departments are small, and the coordinators often are the only administrative position. So the departments rely heavily on them. And they need to be trained properly.”
Heye’s skills led to a campuswide effort, creating ACT, a training program for all administrative staff at Rice. As a mentor for less-experienced staff members, Heye has a reputation for her belief that all employees are involved in the advancement of individuals and the good of the university as a whole.
The board also recognized baseball coach Wayne Graham and the Rice baseball team for their remarkable season, which ended with Rice’s first national championship in any sport.
And the field isn’t the only place the team was successful. It boasted a 3.297 cumulative team grade point average for the spring 2003 semester and a G.P.A. of 3.196 for the academic year. Many of the players were selected to all-American academic teams and conference academic teams.
Eight players were selected in major league baseball’s first-year player draft at the beginning of June. Junior pitcher David Aardsma went in the first round as the 22nd overall selection to the San Francisco Giants. Vincent Sinisi followed in the second round, going to the Texas Rangers.
The board also honored Graham, who was selected national coach of the year by Collegiate Baseball and was inducted into the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame in November.
Reported by Jade Boyd, Ellen Chang, and Lindsey Fielder
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