Monday Memo October 16, 2017
Dean's Message
Dear Colleagues:
Homecoming week was a whirlwind resulting in a number of successes as well as some very sad news.
The Raise Some L day of giving was great fun, and we were very successful. We received 236 gifts, 22% of the UofL total, and $60,875, 49% of the UofL total. Special shout outs to Graphic Design (63 gifts), Miracle Monocle (22 gifts) and our Portland Project (22 gifts). Thanks to all the faculty, staff, family, and friends who participated in Raise Some L. I also want to thank my husband, Charlie, for sharing my commitment to the College of Arts & Sciences.
We proudly honored our Alumni of the Year, Ken Crawford, II, a 1987 Fine Arts graduate with a concentration in Interior Design. Ken has had a marvelous career, and now heads his own interior design firm in Florida. He has designed homes in prominent locations all around the world, and restaurants in Japan, France, Canada, and across the U.S. Many of his designs have been featured in design magazines and on television, and been recognized with many awards, including Best Designer by Houzz in 2014, 2015, and 2016. Ken comes from a large Louisville family, all of whom have attended UofL.
Several graduates of the class of 1967 were honored too, including many A&S and ROTC graduates. They had delightful stories of their time at UofL. Collectively this class has donated over $6 million to the university. Knowing the love these alumni have for UofL should help invigorate us all.
But, the week also brought us terrible news. We are mourning the loss of Dr. Carol Hanchette, Associate Professor of Geography and friend and mentor to many. Her tragic death and the void she leaves on campus are difficult for us. A memorial service for Prof. Hanchette will be held Wednesday, October 18, 5-8 pm at Yew Dell Botanical Gardens in Crestwood. More information about her life and the service can be found here.
Additionally, Nate Walker, the brother of our promising debate student Savannah Walker who was senselessly murdered this past Winter, took his own life last week. His death leaves their father, Dean Walker, alone after also losing his wife last year. In lieu of flowers, Mr. Walker requests donations to the Savannah Walker Scholarship, a project which Nate championed and with which he was deeply involved. His obituary can be found here.
Our thoughts are with these families and their friends. These tragedies remind us to enjoy life as it is far too brief.
Sincerely,
Kimberly Kempf-Leonard, Ph.D.
Dean
Announcements
“Ask the Dean” this Friday, October 20
Join Dean Leonard an for an informal Q&A on Friday, Oct 20 at 9AM in SRB 139. This is your opportunity to ask the Dean questions or just provide comments or feedback.There will be light refreshments. If you would like to submit your question in advance, you can do by going to this Google form. You will not be required to provide your name or your contact information if you wish to remain anonymous.
Benefits open enrollment is here
Open Enrollment for your 2018 benefits begins Monday, October 16 and lasts through 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 27. The choices you make during this open enrollment period begin Jan. 1, 2018. This is your once-a-year opportunity to make changes to your benefits without a qualifying event. We encourage you to review the Open Enrollment website at louisville.edu/hr/oe for full details on 2018 benefit options and changes.
Research & Creative Activity
Women's & Gender Studies affiliated faculty information/interest meeting
Please join WGS for a glass of wine and some productive brainstorming. We will offer updates and solicit feedback on new initiatives in the Women's & Gender Studies, ask for feedback on how the department can support you in your work, preview our research forum series for 2017-18, and discuss research support grants for affiliated faculty. Wednesday, October 25, 5:00 p.m. in Humanities 300. Email Jan Rayburn if you wish to attend. And feel free to invite non-affiliated colleagues whose research and teaching areas include gender and sexuality and who might like to become affiliated faculty.
Discourse & Semiotics workshop
The next Discourse & Semiotics workshop is Friday, October 20 from 2-3:30PM in Stevenson 417. Sabrina D'Souza (MA student in Speech Language Pathology) will discuss her research on "Motherese" (child-directed speech used by adults) in Spanish and ESL speakers and whether "Motherese" has an effect on child language learning. You can find the full event description, as well as our fall schedule of Discourse & Semiotics workshops, posted on our website here.
Kudos
MFA student Zed Saeed wins Best in Show
MFA student Zed Saeed won the Best in Show award at the 2017 Midwest SPE (The Society for Photographic Education) Conference student exhibition in Peoria, Illinois. The awards event took place at the Peoria Riverfront Museum and the exhibition is at Peoria Public Library. The award winning photo is one of his images from the "36 Miles-Revealing the Ohio" project.
Items of Note
Prof. Dugatkin's talk broadcast on CSPAN-2
Prof. Lee Dugatkin gave a talk on his recently published book, How to Tame a Fox and Build a Dog, at The Southern Festival of Books this past Saturday (10/14). CSPAN-2 broadcast the talk live. It is now available for viewing in its entirety from their archives.
In the News
Exploring Photography Art Tour with Mary Carothers, Artist and Professor of Fine Arts, University of Louisville (Do502 Louisville Public Media) - Nov 3 at 21C Museum.
Soccer team owners helped fund campaigns of mayor, council members (WFPL, 10/13/17) - Prof Dewey Clayton (Political Science) weighs in on the influence campaign donations can have on politicians' decision making.
McConnell plans conservative judicial strategy amid health, tax battles (Bloomberg BNA, 10/12/17) - Prof. Laura Moyer (Political Science) discusses McConnell's long-term Republican strategy of putting conservative judges on the federal bench.
Kentucky lands $3 million grant expected to further backlogged rape kit testing (Courier-Journal, 10/11/17) - Bradley Campbell (Criminal Justice) who is analyzing the results of the backlogged kit testing as well as the effects of 2016 legislation intended to prevent a future backlog.
UofL Offering Economic Development Forum In Louisville
(WHAS11, 10/10/17) - UofL's College of Arts and Sciences economic development forum for Nov. 2 and will concentrate on issues facing west Louisville.
Provost, deans and department chairs call on UofL board of trustees to reverse decision on closed presidential search (Insider Louisville, 10/10/17) - A letter signed by the chair of all 21 departments in the College of Arts & Sciences was delivered on Oct. 3, in addressing issues with a closed door presidential search.
Amazon HQ2 in the Louisville area? City might have a shot after all, observers say (The Messenger, 10/10/17) - Matt Ruther, (Kentucky State Data Center) on the a local workforce for Amazon.
Snapshots from space: Scientist to discuss JunoCam At UofL (WFPL 89.3, 10/8/17) - Gerry Williger (Physics & Astronomy) discusses planetary scientist Candice Hansen's upcoming talk at the university on the camera-telescope.
