VCU news

Peter S. Kirkpatrick, Ph. D., executive director of VCU International Education and associate professor of French
Kirkpatrick recently served on the Jury CST (Commission Supérieure Technique) at the Cannes Film Festival. Kirkpatrick and four other jury members screened all films in the official competition and, after deliberations, decided to bestow the prestigious award, le Prix Vulcain de l’Artiste Technicien, to film editor Stephen Mirrione for his work on the film “Babel” by Mexican director Alejandro González Iñáarritu.

Chuck Biddle, Ph.D., director of research, Department of Nurse Anesthesia
Biddle was awarded the Excellence in Patient Safety Award at the Virginians Improving Patient Care & Safety conference on May 24 for a video series he created. "Simulation-based Patient Safety Vignettes: An Occam's Razor Approach to Patient Safety" portrays real occasions where patients have been harmed due to medical mistakes. Biddle has been a professor and the director of research in the School of Allied Health Professions’ Department of Nurse Anesthesia since August 1999. The VIPC&S coalition was formed by health care providers in 1999 in response to a report that medical mistakes result in the deaths of between 40,000 and 100,000 patients annually.

Kenneth Daniels, Ph.D., professor, Department of Finance, Risk Management and Real Estate
Gov. Tim Kaine reappointed Daniels to the Commonwealth of Virginia Treasury Board, which manages the municipal debt for the state of Virginia and manages several investment portfolios. Daniels is also a board member of the Virginia Community Development Corporation and serves on the investment advisory committee for the City of Richmond Retirement System.

Micah L. McCreary, associate professor, Department of Psychology
McCreary has been awarded an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow for 2006-2007. McCreary is one of 40 selected from a pool of more than 150 applicants. The fellowship is an opportunity for those interested in a career in senior university administration to work closely in a mentoring relationship with a university president or provost. Pre-fellowship classes begin June 3, and McCreary begins his fellowship experience in August.

Everett Worthington, Ph.D., professor, Department of Psychology
Internationally reknown forgiveness expert Worthington will travel to four countries this summer to conduct seminars. Worthington will speak in Singapore in mid-June, the Hong Kong special administrative region of the People’s Republic of China in late June, the Philippines in early July and in New Zealand in mid-July. Topics include the theory, research and practice of forgiveness, forgiveness and reconciliation in marriage and justice and forgiveness.

Robert J. Mattauch, Ph.D., dean and professor, School of Engineering
Mattauch received the IBM Leadership Award from the Greater Richmond Technology Council at its 11th Annual Technology Stars Awards Gala. The award recognizes leadership that advances technology-related activity in the Richmond area. Mattauch is a founding faculty member and has been dean since 1999 of the engineering school, which has graduated more than 800 students with engineering and computer-science degrees. Today the school has more than 1,000 undergraduate and nearly 200 graduate students in its five departments. Mattauch is retiring from the dean’s position effective June 30 but will remain on faculty.

Claudette Black-McDaniel, Ph.D., recreation specialist, OT/PT Department
Black-McDaniel, a 47-year veteran of VCU, recently completed training to join the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s elite team of conflict resolution specialists whom the Department of Homeland Security will deploy to deal with disaster issues as needed. She is one of just 25 people to qualify for the newly created team. A former Richmond vice mayor, Black-McDaniel’s experience in conflict resolution includes service as a Virginia Supreme Court-certified general and family mediator.

Bruce E. Hillner, M.D., professor of internal medicine, VCU School of Medicine
Hillner, a nationally recognized expert on cost-effectiveness analyses of new cancer therapies, contributed to an editorial in the May 17 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. In the editorial, Hillner, who also has interest in breast cancer outcomes research and quality of care issues, provided support to a research article by Benjamin D. Smith, M.D., and his research team from the Yale School of Medicine that found that radiation therapy in elderly women with breast cancer was associated with lower risk of recurrence. Jeanne Mandelblatt, M.D., a colleague from Georgetown University Medical Center, also contributed to the editorial. Hillner and Mandelblatt wrote, “High-quality observational studies such as that by Smith, et al. can be used to provide information for clinical and policy decision-making for the rapidly growing older population of women at risk for breast cancer. These data could also be used to provide information for shared decision-making between older women and their providers.”

Katherine Vatalaro Hill, health educator, Office of Health Promotion
Hill will be honored with an Affiliate New Professional Award on June 1 at the annual meeting of the American College Health Association in New York. The award is designated for ACHA members who have provided service to the field of college health for three years or fewer and who have made significant contributions to their institution or affiliate. Hill’s contributions at VCU include the creation of a peer education class, implementation of new technology for feedback during educational activities and the development of a team approach to follow-up care for eating disorder patients.

Sonali Gulati, assistant professor, Department of Photography and Film, School of the Arts
Gulati’s documentary film, “Out and About,” was selected for the Tribeca All Access Connects Program at the renowned Tribeca Film Festival in New York. The program, which runs May 1-4, connects U.S. directors and screenwriters of color with film industry insiders. “Out and About” explores the social and cultural stigma related to South Asian parents having homosexual children.

Elizabeth King, professor, Department of Sculpture, School of the Arts
King was recently selected as one of five winners of this year’s Academy Awards of Art. The awards, which are handed out by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, are worth $7,500 each. King, who will be honored in New York on May 17, was among the winners selected from a group of finalists who had been invited to participate in the academy’s annual invitational exhibition of painting and sculpture.

Jill Stover, undergraduate services librarian, James Branch Cabell Library
The Library Journal selected Stover as one of the “Movers and Shakers 2006.” Stover was one of 49 librarians, library workers and vendors chosen for the honor from the United States and Canada. Stover was honored in the category of “Marketers” for her innovative ideas to create awareness of the Cabell Library and of libraries in general. Stover is the creator of the blog “Library Marketing: Thinking Outside the Book.”

Robert Trumble, Ph.D., professor, Department of Management, School of Business
Trumble, the director of the Virginia Labor Studies Center at VCU, received a $75,000 grant from the Virginia Employment Commission to undertake a workforce study of the safety and health compliance officer professions in Virginia. The study will establish new benchmarks and evaluate algorithm and data used to determine the appropriate number of these positions in the state and will recommend any improvements in the efficiencies of staff.