The Red and Black

Issue date: 2/1/08 Section: News

WESSLER

Susan R. Wessler, regents professor of plant biology at the University, has been named to the first University Foundation Chair in the Biological Sciences in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

Her new position will take effect after it is approved by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.

Wessler, one of the University's most honored faculty members, was a distinguished research professor before becoming Regents professor. She is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, having received a grant of $1 million to develop innovative undergraduate teaching methods at the University.

As holder of the new chair, Wessler will receive additional funding that she may use to support her scholarship.

Expert to discuss public health

Jim Yong Kim, director of the Fran'ois-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard's School of Public Health, will introduce new ways of tackling worldwide public health challenges at the next "Global Diseases: Voices from the Vanguard" lecture on Feb. 12.

During the 4 p.m. event at the University Chapel, the MacArthur "genius" award winner will tell how his clinical experience in developing countries and administrative responsibilities at the World Health Organization led him to think differently about solving public health problems. This will be the substance of an address called "Bridging the Implementation Gap: Global Health Delivery."

"Kim is using a 'systems approach' to public health, analogous to the approach being taken in many top biology laboratories," said Patricia Thomas, Grady College's Knight Chair in Health and Medical Journalism.

"Systems analysis means looking at the whole cell, organism or even public health system, and trying to understand how its many parts work together."

Thousands of people die every day because global health programs lack the capacity to deliver life-saving interventions such as clean water, adequate food, vaccines and medical treatments. Kim advocates gathering, analyzing and widely disseminating a comprehensive body of practical, actionable insights that will make global health delivery more effective.

Univ. offers black history events

In recognition of Black History Month, February is packed with events across the University campus honoring the achievements of blacks.

This year's national theme, "Carter G. Woodson and the Origins of Multiculturalism," is meant to serve as a reminder of the origins of Black History Month and mark its progress over the years, according to LaRetha Spain-Shuler, associate director of the African-American Cultural Center.

"The theme speaks to a combination of things," she said. "It speaks to the contributions that have been made by African Americans and states that from historical perspective, African Americans have been making contributions that are integral to our country."

Woodson is considered the father of Black History, having started Negro History Week in 1926. Since then, the week expanded to a month, celebrated nationwide

- University News Services

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