At Brown

Tuition Aid Program (TAP)

Faculty or staff members whose natural or legally adopted dependent child will be enrolled full time this fall in an undergraduate degree program may be eligible to participate in the Brown University Tuition Aid Program (TAP). For information about specific eligibility requirements and program provisions, please refer to the TAP Information Guide online.

To participate in TAP, eligible employees must submit an application each academic year, as well as a new application if a child changes schools during any academic year. To allow timely processing for fall semester 2003, applications should be submitted now. Applications can be downloaded from the Human Resources Department’s forms Web site and scrolling to “T.”

A TAP benefit may affect the financial aid package and/or scholarship from the institution a child or children will be attending (including Brown University). Also, the manner in which financial aid is affected may differ from one institution to another. Specific information should be available from the financial aid office of the child’s institution.

Additional questions about TAP can be directed to the Benefits Office at 863-2141.

Summer hours for U.S. Post Office, University Mail Services

Summer business hours for University Mail Services in Faunce House will be 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, May 27 through Aug. 15. Also, Mail Services will be closed Saturdays beginning May 31 and will reopen on Saturday, Aug. 23.

Due to reduced business activity, the U.S. Post Office in Faunce House will be closed this summer from June 9 through Aug. 15. As a result, Mail Services will provide additional support, as listed below, for those sending out accountable mail (Registered, Insured, Express, Certified).

When sending accountable mail, please bring item/s to be mailed to the University Service Window no later than 3 p.m. Mail Services will bring all outgoing accountable mail received by 3 p.m. to the East Side Station Post Office to obtain mailing receipts. Receipts will then be sent to the mailer via campus mail.

Stamp sales and other postal products are available at the East Side Station Post Office, 306 Thayer St., open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Employees who have a particular service need may contact the clerks at the University Service Window at 863-2880.

Awards and Honors

Colin Harrington, M.D., received the Senior Citation award from the graduating students of the Medical School during the Medical School graduation convocation held May 26. The citation read: “Students are proud to call you their teacher, for you energetically and gently guide, give feedback, and instill confidence. We should all emulate your love of medicine, professional conduct and consideration for patients. This award is in recognition of the fact that we appreciate your dedication to interdisciplinary study, devotion to rigor, poised humanism and deep knowledge.”

Harrington is a clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and human behavior.

The dean of the faculty has announced that Réda Bensmaïa, University Professor and professor of French studies, is the recipient of the annual Wendy J. Strothman Faculty Research Award in the Humanities. The award will support his research on the role authors play in the development of democracy in North Africa. The Strothman award, endowed last year by Strothman ’72, a member of the Board of Fellows and secretary of the Corporation, will enable Bensmaïa to travel to France and the Maghreb to speak with writers and other intellectuals.

Paul Buhle, lecturer in American civilization, recently won $5,000 to develop an art exhibition and series of panel discussions titled "American Democracy Under Siege." Buhle will collaborate with the Hera Gallery of Wakefield, R.I., to examine the role of artistic expression, its freedoms and the threats against those freedoms, by looking at local history, national trends and cultural diversity in the arts.

Funded by the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH) and Verizon Foundation, the project is part of an initiative called "In Pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness: What Does Freedom Mean to Us?" RICH is an independent not-for-profit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Robert Scholes, research professor of modern culture and media, received an honorary doctor of letters degree from SUNY–Purchase on May 16.

Richard Besdine, M.D., was named president of the American Geriatrics Society, a nationwide not-for-profit association of geriatrics health care professionals dedicated to improving the health, independence and quality of life of all older people. Interim dean of medicine and biological sciences and Brown Medical School, Besdine is also the Greer professor of medicine, director of the Center for Gerontology and Health Care Research and director of the Division of Geriatrics.

Martin B. Keller, M.D., will receive the national 2003 Edward A. Strecker, M.D. Award, sponsored by Pennsylvania Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania Health System. Given annually since 1964, the award goes to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in the field of clinical psychiatry and who exemplifies clinical and educational excellence. Keller is the Mary E. Zucker professor and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. He is also executive psychiatrist in chief at the seven Brown-affiliated hospitals. Keller will receive the award in November during ceremonies at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia.

Graduate student Brian Silliman received a 2003 Walter B. Jones Award from The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for excellence in coastal and marine graduate study. Silliman’s research has provided insight into the processes that dictate production and structure of East Coast salt marsh ecosystems. His work has helped expand the understanding, conservation and management of shallow water estuarine systems. The award recognizes graduate students whose academic study promises to contribute materially to the development of new or improved approaches to coastal or ocean management. Silliman is based in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

Twenty-two faculty members based at Rhode Island Hospital were named among the top physicians in the country in the 2003 edition of “America’s Top Doctors,” according to a national survey by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.

In this annual survey, more than 250,000 leading doctors were asked to name the nation’s best physicians in various specialties. Researchers verified each physician’s education, board certification, professional reputation, hospital affiliation, medical school faculty appointment, experience and disciplinary history. Among the most important criteria for physician selection was patient care excellence.

The Brown physicians and their specialties were Edward Akelman, professor of orthopaedics, hand surgery; Sidney Braman, professor of medicine, pulmonology; Alfred E. Buxton, professor of medicine, cardiac electrophysiology; John Cahill, assistant professor of community health, preventive medicine; Anthony A. Caldamone, professor of surgery, urology; William Cioffi, professor of medical science, surgery; J. Donald Easton, professor of clinical neurosciences, neurology; Michael G. Ehrlich, professor of orthopaedics, orthopaedic surgery; Edward Feldmann, professor of clinical neurosciences, neurology; Gregory K. Fritz, professor of psychiatry and human behavior, child psychiatry; Henrietta Leonard, professor of psychiatry and human behavior, child psychiatry; David E. Mandelbaum, professor of clinical neurosciences, child neurology; Charles J. McDonald, professor of medical science, dermatology; Richard P. Millman, professor of medicine, pulmonary/sleep disorders; Timothy P. Murphy, associate professor of diagnostic imaging, vascular and interventional radiology; Barbara Schepps, professor of diagnostic imaging, radiology; Mark Sigman, associate professor of surgery, urology; Arun K. Singh, clinical professor of surgery, thoracic surgery; Patrick Kevin Sullivan, associate professor of surgery, plastic surgery; David E. Wazer, professor of radiation oncology, radiation oncology; Arnold Peter Weiss, professor of orthopaedics, hand surgery; and David Williams, professor of medicine, cardiology.

Just 8 percent of the nation’s hospitals had physicians on this year’s list. With 22 doctors recognized, Rhode Island Hospital placed among the top 50 hospitals in the nation.

Aaron Scherzer ’05 is one of only 20 undergraduates from across the United States and Canada honored as Goldman Sachs Global Leaders. The Global Leaders were selected on the basis of their outstanding academic abilities and leadership achievements. Scherzer is concentrating in public policy and American institutions at Brown.

The Goldman Sachs Foundation, along with its partner organization, the Institute of International Education, created the Global Leaders Program to identify and reward the academic excellence and leadership potential of 100 of the most accomplished second-year students to foster their leadership skills and prepare them for distinctive service to society and their future professions.

Off the Shelf

Norman B. Anderson, adjunct professor of community health, is the co-author of “Emotional Longevity: What Really Determines How Long You Live.” The book bridges the biological and behavioral sciences to create a new model of what it means to be healthy. Anderson and co-author P. Elizabeth Anderson uncover the connections between the existential and the physical, identifying six key ways to live longer and age successfully. Anderson also is CEO of the American Psychological Association, the largest scientific and professional association of psychologists in the world.

Judy Owens, M.D., associate professor of pediatrics, is the co-author of “A Clinical Guide to Pediatric Sleep: Diagnosis and Management of Sleep Problems in Children and Adolescents.” Sleep disorders affect 25 percent of all children. This reference book is designed to help practitioners recognize, evaluate and treat sleep issues in children and adolescents. Owens also directs the Pediatric Sleep Disorders Clinic at Hasbro Children’s Hospital.

On the Road

Barry Lester will discuss his research into substance abuse during pregnancy when he addresses participants in a nationwide audio-conference hosted by the Forum for State Health Policy Leadership at the National Conference of State Legislatures on June 20. The program, “Substance Use During Pregnancy: Time for Policy to Catch up with Research,” is sponsored by the Substance Abuse Policy Research Program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Lester is professor of psychiatry and human behavior and an expert on maternal drug exposure. His most recent study, published June 2 in the journal Pediatrics, provides evidence that even casual smoking during pregnancy harms a fetus.