CU News
News from the University of Colorado in Boulder.
CU APPLIED MATHEMATICS PROFESSOR HARVEY SEGUR TO RECEIVE 2011 HAZEL BARNES PRIZE
May 2nd
Segur will receive an engraved university medal and a $20,000 cash award, the largest single faculty award funded by CU-Boulder. He will be recognized at a reception in his honor next fall and at the winter commencement ceremony on Dec 16.
The prize recognizes Segur’s highly cited and influential research on nonlinear waves, along with his exceptional teaching record as a CU-Boulder faculty member since 1989.
“Professor Segur’s transformational teaching and curriculum enhancements in service to our students embodies our Flagship 2030 Strategic Plan to redefine education for the 21st century,” said Chancellor Philip P. DiStefano. “It is because of faculty like Professor Segur that learning and teaching is one of our pillars of impact at CU-Boulder. But this honor also recognizes his influential scholarly work and service and that is why it is our highest faculty honor.”
Segur is helping to transform undergraduate education at CU-Boulder, focusing on improved student performance in lower-division calculus. The subject is a gatekeeper for majors and careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, fields, according to Segur.
To bolster student success in introductory calculus courses, Segur, instructor Mary Nelson and others in the applied mathematics department have implemented more reflective discourse in the classroom through oral assessments. They also expanded CU-Boulder’s Calculus I curriculum to include a two-semester alternative to the usual one-semester course, with the alternative designed to help students with weak mathematical backgrounds. Several universities across the United States are now adopting these reforms.
Segur received a 1994 Teaching Excellence Award from the Boulder Faculty Assembly and was awarded the Minority Engineering Program’s Faculty Award in 1995.
In 1998, Segur was named a President’s Teaching Scholar by former CU president John Buechner. He also served as chair of the applied mathematics department from 2000 to 2003.
Segur was selected to give CU-Boulder’s 97th Distinguished Research Lecture in 2005, the highest honor bestowed by the Graduate School on a faculty member, recognizing an entire body of research and creative work. His talk was on fluid dynamics, describing several types of ocean waves, including common, wind-driven waves and much rarer tsunami waves.
Segur has authored several books and numerous journal articles. He has been a principal lecturer at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts. He also has been a guest lecturer in 15 countries including Germany, Russia, Japan, China and Denmark.
Segur has conducted research in various mathematical fields for the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, NATO, the Office of Naval Research and the U.S. Army Research Office. He also has worked extensively in private industry.
Segur received his master’s and doctoral degrees in aeronautical sciences from the University of California, Berkeley. Before coming to CU-Boulder he was a research fellow at the California Institute of Technology, an associate professor at Clarkson College of Technology in Potsdam, N.J., and a professor at State University of New York, Buffalo.
The Hazel Barnes Prize was established in 1991 to recognize the enriching relationship between teaching and research. The prize was named in honor of CU-Boulder philosophy Professor Emerita Hazel Barnes, who taught at CU-Boulder from 1943 to 1986 and is noted for her interpretations of the works of French philosopher Jean Paul Sartre. Barnes died in 2008 at the age of 92.
For more information on the Hazel Barnes Prize and a list of recipients visit http://www.colorado.edu/chancellor/awards/index.html.
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CU-BOULDER STUDENT SHANE BALDAUF WINS NATIONAL UDALL SCHOLARSHIP
Apr 22nd
The $5,000 scholarship from the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation is awarded to U.S. sophomores and juniors with a commitment to careers related to the environment, Native American health care or tribal public policy. He will be recognized at an August ceremony in Tucson, Ariz., attended by other recipients, policymakers and community leaders.
Since setting foot on the CU-Boulder campus with a Boettcher Scholarship, which covers tuition and living expenses for four years, Baldauf has committed to using the time he would have spent working to pay for college for volunteering. His volunteer work with Flatirons Habitat for Humanity has enriched his interest in sustainable building practices and civic engagement.
“Not only is ‘green’ construction good for the environment, but homes that perform more efficiently benefit the occupants too,” said Baldauf. “If you think about it, the people who most need affordable housing are also the ones who need the lowest utility bills, and we’re working to provide that situation through Habitat for Humanity houses.”
Baldauf co-founded the company BOULD, which implements a program called HabitatPro. The program helps integrate U.S. Green Building Council benchmarks called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, standards into Habitat for Humanity construction. Through HabitatPro, professionals and students working and volunteering grow from experiential learning opportunities.
“Students can come out and gain unique, hands-on experience by building LEED homes, while also earning LEED professional credentials,” said Baldauf. “These Habitat houses are some of the most sustainable being built anywhere, and the experience gives participants a leg up in the building design and construction job market.”
Since 1996, eight CU-Boulder students have been recognized with a Udall Scholarship.
“Having yet another CU student recognized by the Udall Foundation is a wonderful testament to our students’ commitment to work on environmental issues and community development,” said Deborah Viles, top scholarship director at CU-Boulder. “Shane has shown exemplary skills and dedication as a student and he will undoubtedly make significant contributions to society in his career.”
An independent review committee selected this year’s class of 80 Udall Scholars. Baldauf was chosen from a pool of 510 candidates nominated by 231 colleges and universities across the country.
For a listing of all the 2011 Udall Scholars and honorable mentions, as well as more information about the Udall Foundation and its programs, visit http://www.udall.gov.
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DOZENS OF CU STUDENTS TO DISPLAY SERVICE LEARNING PROJECTS ON APRIL 25
Apr 22nd
Stone, a senior molecular, cellular and developmental biology major, is one of dozens of CU-Boulder students who will have booths at an event highlighting local service learning projects they completed this spring as part of the Program for Writing and Rhetoric’s “Writing Initiative for Service and Engagement” project.
The free, public event will be held Monday, April 25, from 3 to 5 p.m. in the University Memorial Center, room 235. Anne K. Heinz, associate vice-chancellor for outreach and engagement, will give the keynote address.
“During the semester, I helped students with biology papers who were explaining complicated processes, while also helping students who could barely speak English write simple essays,” Stone said. “Throughout this experience I gained a deeper appreciation of the education I have received. It also has motivated me to keep furthering myself and to keep giving back as well.”
Each semester about 350 CU-Boulder students participate in community-based writing courses through the Program for Writing and Rhetoric, contributing well over 5,000 hours of their time to local community and nonprofit organizations, according to CU-Boulder Senior Instructor Sally Green, who teaches a course that partners her students with Arapahoe Ridge High School and Boulder High School students.
“This experience gives students the opportunity to develop and apply their communication skills in authentic contexts,” Green said. “They complete valuable projects for their community partners and gain an understanding of social, environmental and economic issues which informs their entire college education.”
In Green’s service learning class, “Writing on Science and Society,” her students tutor Boulder at-risk high school students in math and science for a total of 15 hours throughout the semester.
“They bring their own recent experience as high school students and their expertise and enthusiasm about their subjects to the tutoring experience,” Green said.
Students who take Program for Writing and Rhetoric service-learning courses learn about a number of issues including sustainability, food, education, the elderly, poverty and hunger while gaining practical experience in grant writing and document design. They also work with an array of organizations: schools and afterschool programs, community gardens, homeless shelters, organic farms, food banks and Boulder Parks and Recreation.
“Through the coursework, we want students to gain an understanding of a social issue, community dynamics, problem solving and written advocacy,” Green said.
After graduation on May 6, Stone will work as a research technician in a campus laboratory. She then plans to apply for medical school, with the long-term goal of being a surgeon.
More than 13,000 CU-Boulder students participate in some form of community service each year, and more than 3,500 are engaged in academic service learning, a teaching strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction. For more information about CU-Boulder’s civic engagement efforts visit http://www.colorado.edu/news/reports/civicengagement/.
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