At Brown

Congratulations to the 2003 Brown University employee graduates!

Brown University students aren't the only ones getting degrees: Brown employees have successfully balanced both school and job responsibilities to demonstrate their continued commitment to learning.

The Employee Education Program has helped the following group of employees earn certificates, undergraduate or advanced degrees in 2003.

Chandra Alassah,Budget Office -- Accounting, CCRI
Abigail Tichenor, Development-Brown Annual Fund -- Culinary Arts, Johnson & Wales University
Adrienne Varner, Health Services -- Health Care Management, Johnson & Wales University

Bachelor of Arts and Science Degrees

Deborah Kopel, CIS -- Information Science, Johnson & Wales University
Shelley Longergan, University Library -- Psychology, URI
Jennifer Mello, Health Services -- Social and Health Services, Roger Williams University
Nicole Palin, Development-VP's Office -- Biology and Psychology, Rhode Island College
Brigitte Palmer, German Studies -- Human Studies, URI
Debra Papa, Bio Med Community Health -- Business Administration, Providence College
Carol Walker, Annenberg Institute -- General Studies/History, URI

Graduate Degrees

Eileen Harrington, Education Alliance -- Educational Counseling, Bridgewater State College
Patrick Mc Ginty, Office of Summer Studies -- MBA, Johnson & Wales University
Kristin Sanna, Investment Office -- MBA, Bryant College
Annette Smith, University Library -- Library Science, Simmons Graduate School of Library and Information Science

Doctorate Degrees

Cathy Lalli, Education Alliance -- Instructional Technology and Distance Education, Nova Southeastern University
Karen Sibley, Office of Summer Studies -- Higher Education, University of Pennsylvania
Susan Storti, Bio Med Alcohol and Addition -- Nursing Research, University of Connecticut

Certificate Programs

Bryant College Executive Development Center
Human Resource Management Certification

Denise Capoverde, Human Resources
Barbara LePage, Human Resources
Donna Silva, Human Resources

Project Management Certification

Gary Martins, Facilities Management

Digital Forensics Specialist

Jie Zhang, Applied Mathematics

Roger Williams University Center for Professional Development

A+ Certification

Christopher De Blois Computer Information Services
Christine Brown, Computer Information Services
Susan Waldman, East Asian Studies

Security + Certification

Shashi Mishra, University Library

Windows XP Professional

Bernard Kane, Development
Jeffrey Pierce, Development

CIW Web Application Development

Carol-Ann Del Pico, College Admissions

Culinary Institute of America

Pro-Chef Certification

John O'Shea, Food Services

New England Institute of Technology

Microsoft Windows 2000

Nate Broomfield, Economics

Boston University

Microsoft SQL

James Scheuerman, Engineering

If you have completed your degree or certification in 2003 with the help of the Employee Education Program and do not see your name listed please contact Michele Wise at 863-2459 or send e-mail.

Awards and Honors

Maurice Herlihy, professor of computer science, is the recipient of the 2003 Edsger W. Dijkstra Prize in Distributed Computing for his paper on wait-free synchronization.

The award is presented to an outstanding paper whose significance and impact on the theory and/or practice of distributed computing has been evident for at least a decade.

Herlihy's paper developed a useful theory of fault-tolerant computation in distributed systems where asynchronous processes communicate by accessing shared objects of arbitrary type. He showed that objects of different type can differ widely in their ability to support fault-tolerant computations, and defined a hierarchy that classifies objects according to that ability. He also proved the universality of consensus, a fundamental result that facilitates this classification of object and highlights the central role of the consensus problem in fault-tolerant computing.

Herlihy's paper has been influential in shaping the theory of distributed computing. It has also been influential in practice, by providing solid justification for modern multiprocessors to support in hardware universal synchronization primitives such as compare-and-swap rather than weaker primitives such as fetch-and-add.

The award is sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) Special Interest Group on Algorithms and Computation Theory and ACM Special Interest Group on Operating Systems.

The John Nicholas Brown Center for the Study of American Civilization has awarded the following research fellowships for summer and fall of 2003:

Margaret Abruzzo, University of Notre Dame, for a project titled "Polemical Pain: Slavery, Suffering and Sympathy in Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century Moral Debate."

Denise Ileana Bossy, Yale University, for a project titled "The Problem of Indian Slavery: Public Controversy and South Carolina's Slavery Policies, 1660-1735."

James Revell Carr, University of California, Santa Barbara, for a project titled "Sea Music and Global Culture: American Sailors and Polynesians in the Nineteenth Century."

Ann Johnson, Fordham University, for a project titled "Engineering the Nation: Communities, Practices, and the American Landscape, 1820-1870."

Patricia E. Kane, Yale University Art Gallery, for a project titled "Early Rhode Island Furnituremaking."

Heather Miyano Kopelson, University of Iowa, for a project titled "Performing Faith: Religious Practice and Identity in the British Atlantic, 1660-1710."

Jane Lancaster, an independent scholar, for a project titled "Eliza Bowen Jumel Burr (1775-1865): A Horatio Alger Heroine."

The University has named Classical High School graduate Jannella Sanbour and Central High School graduate Sobondo Josiah its City of Providence scholars for the Class of 2007.

Established in 1991, the scholarship emphasizes Brown's commitment to supporting talented applicants from local public schools area. It is based on financial need and covers a portion of the student's financial aid package. The total cost for the 2003-2004 academic year, including tuition, room, board and fees, will be $37,942. Two scholars are selected each year.

Sanbour was at the helm of a variety of clubs at Classical. She was president of the Asian Club, and co-captain of both the Science Olympiad and Latin Club. She also was a member of the Math Team and served on the Student Council. Sanbour represented Classical on the field hockey and track teams, and she mentored younger students and tutored peers.

Josiah immigrated to the United States from Ghana and enrolled at Central High School as a junior. Her father wanted Josiah and her siblings "to have a better education," she said. In Ghana, Josiah played volleyball, basketball and soccer. Once at Central, she continued to compete on the soccer field. Josiah also served as secretary of her youth group at the Grain Coast Fellowship Church in Cranston and sang with the church choir. At Brown, Josiah plans to pursue study in biology, with the hopes of a career in pediatric medicine.

Brown received 15,153 applications for admission to the Class of 2007. Of those, about 1,400 are expected to matriculate this fall.

On the Road

P. Terrence Hopmann, research director of the Watson Institute's Program on Global Security and Brown professor of political science, was program co-chair for a joint conference of the International Studies Association (ISA), which is based in North America, and the Central and Eastern European International Studies Association, held in Budapest June 26­28.

The conference theme was "Global Tensions and Their Challenges to the Governance of the International Community." The event drew approximately 750 scholars of international studies worldwide. Hopmann and his co-chair, Professor Zlatko Sabic of the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), assembled about 100 panels on a wide range of topics in interdisciplinary international studies. Sessions were held at the facilities of the Central European University in Budapest.

Four Watson Institute faculty and associates, and three doctoral candidates in political science at Brown, presented papers at the conference. Watson faculty included Professors Catherine Kelleher and Peter Andreas, as well as Adjunct Professors Dennis Michaud and Peter Dombrowski. The graduate students were Kim Hudson, Carmen Pavel and Josip Dasovic.

ISA is the world's largest professional association focusing on interdisciplinary international studies.