Community News & Notes

News

Distance Learning Study

• Last spring the Women’s Board of the University of Chicago awarded the Harris School a $35,000 grant for this academic year to help fund a study of distance learning technology in developing countries. This firstof- its-kind study will measure the impact of technology—primarily broadcast (television or radio) and computer/Internet—used directly for student instruction or teacher support. The study’s findings will help schools and communities invest in education that is both cost-effective and meets the needs of students and teachers.

  An initial survey, which demonstrated the lack of reliable data on distance learning programs, was conducted in 2006-07 by a group of Harris School students with financial support by James W. Harpel, senior partner of Palm Beach Capitol and chair of the Harris School’s Dean’s International Council.

DIC Meeting in Moscow

• In September, the Dean’s International Council met in Moscow. Members, panelists, and speakers discussed issues ranging from emerging Russian financial markets to the role of energy in Russia’s economy and foreign relations to demographic health crises facing the Russian Federation.

  Speakers and panelists included Al Breach, chief economist, UBS Russia; Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief, Russia in Global Affairs; Roland Nash, head of research (politics and economics), Renaissance Capital; Daniel Alison Russell, deputy chief of mission for the U.S. Embassy in Russia; William Shor, CEO, Core Carbon Group; and Anatoly Vishnevsky, director, Institute of Demography of the State University—Higher School of Economics.

Notes

Website

• The Harris School launched its refreshed website in October. But it is more than a face lift. Browse around to explore the dynamic, user-friendly site and to check out new features and information.

Welcome

• Dan Black, a professor and senior fellow at NORC (formerly the National Opinion Research Center). His research focuses on labor economics and applied econometrics. For more on his research, see “Not Separate But Still Unequal”.
• Ethan Bueno de Mesquita, associate professor, focuses on game theoretic models applied to a variety of political phenomena including terrorism, elections and representation, and law and politics. For more on his research, see “Igniting Extremist Support”.
• Jon Pevehouse, associate professor, focuses on American foreign policy and how domestic political institutions constrain the president’s ability to exercise military force abroad.
• The Harris School has also welcomed the following new staff members since the last issue of HarrisView: Brian Clark, associate director for strategic initiatives; Brooke Eisenmenger, associate director of international development; Elizabeth Jenkins, communications associate; Charles Jones, facilities coordinator; E. Raluca Rustandi, development associate; Laurel Joy Spindel, associate director of the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy; Elizabeth Spellmire, admissions coordinator; and Kasandra Zweig, assistant director for career services. Congratulations to Mario Polizzi who has been promoted to director of executive education.

Awards & Honors

• Research!America presented Professor Tomas Philipson with the 2007 Eugene Garfield Economic Impact of Medical and Health Research Award for his paper, “Who Benefits from New Medical Technologies?” (coauthored with Anupam Jena, PhD’06).
• Visiting Professor Donald M. Stewart was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in October. This year’s esteemed class includes a former vice president of the United States, the mayor of New York, a former associate justice of the Supreme Court, and winners of the Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes.

Centers

• Associate Professor Ariel Kalil has been appointed director of the Center for Human Potential and Public Policy.
• In October, the Center sponsored its first Annual Lecture on Science & Technology. James R. Flynn, a University alumnus (AB’52, AM’55, PhD’58) and professor emeritus of political studies and psychology at the University of Otago, New Zealand, gave a lecture on the four paradoxes that have plagued the theory of intelligence.

Events

• Mentors, students, alumni, and faculty gathered in October at the 2007 Annual Mentor Dinner. This year’s keynote speaker was Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth, who discussed the United States’ diminishing integrity in human rights and how to reverse the trend.
• Helen Caldicott, environmental and antinuclear advocate and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, spoke at the Gleacher Center in October about the danger of nuclear power and its effects on the environment. Caldicott was named one of the most influential women of the 20th Century by the Smithsonian Institute, has written seven books, and won an Academy Award for her film, If You Love This Planet.
• Several Harris School faculty members spoke in El Salvador at a presidential forum focusing on security, democracy, and trade. Co-hosted by the Harris School and Fundación Salvadoreña para el Desarrollo Económico y Social (FUSADES), the meeting held in October included the presidents of El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Faculty members James Heckman, William Howell, Robert LaLonde, and Jens Ludwig provided insight on the issues of human capital, presidential powers during war, immigration, and the economics of crime, respectively.
• In November, Harris School and University alumni in Washington, D.C., attended a Harper Lecture on North Korea—Still in the “Axis of Evil?”—by Bruce Cumings, chair of the University’s Department of History and Gustavus F. and Ann M. Swift Distinguished Service Professor in History and the College. After the talk, Harris School alumni gathered at M&S Grill for further festivities.
• In November, Harris School and University alumni enjoyed going “back to class” in New York at the East Coast Alumni Caucus with faculty from several disciplines—Professor José Quintans, a pathologist from the biological sciences division; Professor Michael Kremer, a logistician and philosopher from the Humanities division; Professor Ka Yee Christina Lee, an interdisciplinary researcher in physical sciences division; and Associate Professor Rachel Fulton, a medieval historian from the social sciences division.