Geology colleagues honor geographer Jol

Dr. Harry Jol

UW-Eau Claire professor of geography Dr. Harry Jol has been recognized and honored by a group of scientists with whom he often collaborates. The Geological Society of America recently inducted Jol as a fellow, an honor given in recognition of distinguished contribution to the geosciences.

"This is a huge honor," said associate professor of geography Garry Running, one of Jol's colleagues. "I don't think any other member of the UW-Eau Claire faculty, regardless of departmental affiliation, is a GSA fellow."

GSA fellows can be nominated only by other GSA fellows or members with personal knowledge of the nominee's contributions. Jol was nominated by several GSA Fellows, including Dr. Ronald Goble, a professor in the department of geosciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, whose nomination cited Jol as "one of the top North American researchers on the use of ground-penetrating radar in sedimentology and geomorphology for the past 15 years." Full story.

SUREPAM brings summer math research to campus

Mohamed Elgindi	Michael Howe

Beautiful summer days and mathematics research may not be readily associated in most people's minds, but this summer UW-Eau Claire is buzzing with math research activity for the second consecutive year.

The Summer Research in Pure and Applied Mathematics program at UW-Eau Claire is funded by a $269,740 National Science Foundation grant awarded in fall 2006 to UW-Eau Claire mathematics faculty members Dr. Mohamed B. Elgindi, principal investigator, and Dr. Michael Howe, co-principal investigator.

Last year's program resulted in four student/faculty collaborative publications for scholarly journals (two accepted and two pending) and four off-campus presentations, and Elgindi said he believes SUREPAM 2008 has the potential to produce similarly impressive results. The theme for 2008 is "Applications of Analysis in Mathematical Biology."

Students from institutions around the country will attend one of two eight-week SUREPAM programs this summer, and distinguished faculty and speakers will come from the University of Utah, Wayne State University, New York University, University of St. Thomas, University of Texas, St. Olaf College and German University in Cairo, Egypt. Full story.

New freshmen include eight National Merit scholars
Eight of the approximately 2,025 new freshmen enrolled at UW-Eau Claire this fall are National Merit scholars, according to Kristin Blake, an admissions counselor. These most recent recipients of the prestigious scholarship bring the number of National Merit scholars attending UW-Eau Claire this fall to 31, Blake said.

The eight scholars are Kali Bolyard, Whitefish Bay; Kurt Behlmer, Wauwatosa; Kaitlyn Heisick, St. Cloud, Minn.; James Harder, Green Bay; Abigail Chilsen, Onalaska; Dexter Davis, Middleton; Angela Hudson, Brookfield; and Katherine Zabronsky, Appleton.

There are three types of National Merit Awards: National Merit $2,500 Scholarships, corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarships and college-sponsored Merit Scholarships. Seven of the students received college-sponsored Merit Scholarships. They have been awarded full in-state tuition for four years by the university, to be funded by the UW-Eau Claire Foundation. Behlmer received a corporate-sponsored scholarship and will receive additional funds to supplement that scholarship. Full story.

Classified Staff Scholarship deadline is Aug. 1

Each fall and spring semester, a $250 scholarship is awarded to a UW-Eau Claire classified staff member who is employed at least half time at the university and enrolled as a student at an accredited higher education institution.

Those qualified for the fall 2008 scholarship are encouraged to apply by 4:30 p.m. Aug. 1 by submitting (1) a brief summary of the employee/student's employment history and education background; (2) a brief statement describing the fall coursework and how it will benefit the employee/student; and (3) two letters of recommendation. Submit applications to Barb Bowers, Human Resources.

The UW-Eau Claire Foundation's Classified Staff Grant Fund, which supports the scholarship, was created by Susie Warden, who retired in March after 29 years as a UW-Eau Claire classified employee, and Linda Haag, who retired in 2004 after working as a UW-Eau Claire classified staff member for almost 37 years. Both women completed bachelor's degrees at UW-Eau Claire while working as full-time members of the university's classified staff. They wanted to make certain other classified staff members had a similar opportunity, so they created the Classified Staff Grant Fund.

Summer Events series continues with Jazz at Noon, Flamenco guitar master Michael Hauser

Michael Hauser

The eight-week Summer Events series at UW-Eau Claire continues today with free Jazz at Noon and Music on the Mall concerts.

Throughout June, jazz groups will perform from noon to 1 p.m. weekdays on the Central Campus Mall under the direction of UW-Eau Claire alumnus Steven Hobert. The rain site for Jazz at Noon concerts is The Cabin in Davies Center.

Michael Hauser, "one of America's few masters of the emotional flamenco guitar" (Mpls.St.Paul Magazine), will present a Music on the Mall concert today, June 23, on the Central Campus Mall (rain site is The Cabin, Davies Center). The audience is invited to bring lawn chairs, blankets and a picnic to the concert, which is free and open to the public. Free popcorn will be available.

One of only a handful of flamenco guitar masters residing in the United States today, Hauser has studied with a number of Spain's greatest flamenco guitarists, including Luis Maravilla, Niño Ricardo, Juan Maya "Marote" and Justo de Badajoz. He also studied classical guitar with Andrés Segovia's protégé Jesus Silva. Hauser's concerts combine flamenco guitar solos inspired by the great flamenco legends with his own original compositions and classical works by composers such as J.S. Bach, Isaac Albéniz and Enrique Granados. Full story.

Sonora Reed Trio to begin Summer Sounds series

Sonora Reed Trio members (from left) Dr. Christa Garvey, Dr. Richard Fletcher and Dr. Kristine Fletcher. (Contributed photo)

The Sonora Reed Trio will present the first performance of the UW-Eau Claire Summer Sounds concert series at 2 p.m. June 29 in Phillips Recital Hall of the Haas Fine Arts Center.

The Sonora Reed Trio, a UW-Eau Claire faculty ensemble formed in 2004, includes Dr. Christa Garvey (oboe), Dr. Richard Fletcher (clarinet), and Dr. Kristine Fletcher (bassoon). The ensemble's goal is to showcase the expressive instrumentation of the reed trio and perform fine compositions by leading 20th and 21st century composers.

Summer Sounds, presented by UW-Eau Claire's department of music and theatre arts, is a series of seven solo and chamber music recitals featuring weekly Sunday afternoon performances of music for winds, voice, guitar and piano. Summer Sounds concerts are free and open to all. Full story.

Summer Bulletin
Published weekly during the summer session by the UW-Eau Claire News Bureau. News items and notices should be sent to the News Bureau, Schofield 201, by 10 a.m. Thursday for publication in the following week’s issue. E-mail submissions to Julie Poquette at poquetjm@uwec.edu are encouraged. Faculty/staff news items are published on a space-available basis.