Oct. 6, 2003

Shirley Ann Jackson, president of Rensselaer, was named to ESSENCE magazine’s “Top 50 Women Who Are Shaping Our World” list. The article states, “As president of one of the country’s leading research universities, this former chairwoman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is nurturing future generations of innovators and entrepreneurs. She’s also president-elect of the world’s largest general scientific society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science.” The article, in the October 2003 edition, says that the women listed are “leading corporations and advising presidents. They’re working to end poverty, injustice, and disease. They’re winning awards in Hollywood and on the global stage. They’re leaders, artists, visionaries, and peacemakers.” 9/29/03

Michael Shur, the Patricia W. and C. Sheldon Roberts ’48 Chair in Solid State Electronics at Rensselaer, will take part in the Distinguished Lecture Series at the University of Maryland Sept. 29. Shur will speak on solid-state lighting. 9/29/03

Minoru Tomozawa, professor of materials science and engineering, organized and hosted the 16th University Conference on Glass Science in Troy Aug. 13-15. Approximately 100 glass scientists and engineers from universities, research institutes, and industries from various parts of the world participated. R.H. Doremus, research professor of materials science and engineering, gave an invited talk, “Diffusion of Oxygen in Glass,” at the conference. 9/29/03

James Ferris, director of the New York Center for the Origins of Life and a research professor of chemistry, was invited to present an overview lecture on the topic "Catalysis and the Emergence of the RNA World" at the session "Origins and Distribution of Life in the Universe" at the Goldschmidt Conference in Geochemistry, Sept. 8-12 in Kurashiki, Japan. He also presented a paper on "A Laboratory Investigation of the Photochemical Generation of a Polymeric Haze in Titan's Atmosphere" at this meeting. 9/22/03

WRPI (91.5 FM) was recognized in Metroland’s 2003 “Best Of” issue as the “Best World News Radio Programming.” Metroland wrote: “Some of the most important radio broadcasts in the area during the build-up to and beginning of U.S. military intervention in Iraq came out of 1 WRPI Plaza. Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! and the media criticism show Counterspin, put together by the media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, offered local audiences perspective they couldn’t even dream of getting from Clear Channel.” 9/22/03