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Focus on FacultyBy Tommie Wingfield
The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries are sponsoring a speakers’ series called Focus on Faculty to provide a forum for members of the university community to meet some of UTA’s most distinguished faculty and learn about their research interests. Goals for the series are to host a variety of programs that will appeal to a general audience. All events are scheduled at noon in the Library Parlor located on the sixth floor of the Central Library, and the talks generally run from 12:15 pm-1:30 pm. They are free and open to the public, and a light lunch is provided. Reservations are not required. It was difficult to select potential speakers from the many outstanding scholars at UTA. The a wards and promotions announced by Dr. Witt at the spring 2002 faculty meeting became the working list for the initial roster. Focus on Faculty events in September and October drew audiences of more than 100 students, faculty, staff, and members of the community. More about the SpeakersDr. William Ickes, Professor of Psychology, recipient of UTA’s Distinguished Record of Research Achievement Award, Spring 2002, began the series with the topic “Measuring Mind Reading: Research on Empathic Accuracy.” About fifteen years ago, Dr. Ickes developed a way to measure how well people can “read” other people’s minds by accurately inferring the specific content of their thoughts and feelings. Since then Dr. Ickes and his colleagues have been using this measurement technique to study different aspects of the psychology of empathic accuracy (“everyday mind reading”). To quote from Dr. Ickes’s web site, “The major focus of our research in the UTA Social Interaction Lab is the study of naturally occurring social interaction. For the past several years we have studied empathic accuracy and other aspects of intersubjective social cognition.” The award he received recognizes faculty members for achieving a distinguished record of research and scholarship or creative accomplishment over an extended period of time. As a measure of Dr. Ickes’s impact on scholarship, the Web of Knowledge (Science Citation, Social Science Citation, Art & Humanities Citation Indexes, 1975-current) had 171 different citations, referenced 1732 times, to works by him. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in 1973. He joined the UTA faculty in 1981. For more information about his research, visit http://www.uta.edu/psychology/faculty/ickes/index.htm.
The second speaker was Dr. Jennifer Gray, Assistant Professor of Nursing. Dr. Gray received a Faculty Development Award, was selected as Southern Nursing Research Society Scholar in 1999-2000, and in 2001 she received the first President’s Award for Excellence in Distance Education teaching. Her topic “ HIV/AIDS: Are You at Risk?” grew out of her extensive research on the disease and treatment modalities. According to Dr. Gray, around 40,000 new cases of HIV infection are diagnosed in the United States each year. This translates into a new case every eleven minutes. Dr. Gray engaged the audience in evaluating his/her own risk factors and suggested changes in behavior that could reduce personal risk. An overview of the worldwide spread of the epidemic was provided, along with potential benefits of new drugs for AIDS that will soon be on the market. While medications have slowed the progression of the disease, they have numerous side effects and require strict adherence to a medication schedule. She shared the results of two of her studies that described the challenges of being infected and adhering to the treatment plans. Dr. Gray received her Ph.D. from Texas Woman’s University in 1997. She has been a member of the UTA faculty since 1989. Additional information is a vailable at http://www.uta.edu/nursing/jgray.htm. Our next speaker will be Dr. Elise M. Bright, Associate Professor of the School of Urban and Public Affairs, Institute of Urban Studies. Dr. Bright sponsored a successful bid for UTA to host the national annual conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning in 2006. She also received the first Faculty Recruitment Ambassador Award by UTA’s Graduate Recruitment Advisory Board for outstanding achievement in advising. She is the author of a book significant in the field of urban renewal, Reviving America’s Forgotten Neighborhoods: An Investigation of Inner City Revitalization Efforts (New York, Garland/Taylor and Francis, 2000). A paperback edition is due to be published in January, 2003, by Routledge/Taylor and Francis. Reviving America’s Forgotten Neighborhoods is the winner of the biannual Paul Davidoff Award for Best Book on Social Justice, given by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, in 2001. It is currently used as a text in courses at Portland State, UCLA, UNC, USC, and Rutgers among others. Dr. Bright’s presentation will address the gap between America’s rich and poor. Despite the great economic prosperity of the past forty years in one of the wealthiest nations on earth, the gap continues to widen in America. In her research over the past decade, she has sought poor neighborhoods that have rejuvenated themselves--Harlem, the South Bronx, Manchester in Pittsburgh and Boston’s Dudley Street area--to see what lessons their successes hold for us, and what conclusions can be drawn that can be applied elsewhere. Dr. Bright will discuss these conclusions and more, including the devastating effects of the local property tax system, how to make reusing abandoned inner city property attractive to developers, and whether controlling sprawl is important for inner city health. Dr. Bright received her M.A. in City Planning from Harvard University in 1975 and her Ph.D. in Environmental Design from Texas A&M University in 1980. She has been a member of the UTA faculty since 1995. For more information, see http://www.uta.edu/supa/academic/cirp.htm. The February speaker is Dr. Paul B Medley, Assistant Dean of Science and Adjunct Professor of Biology. He will present “An Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a Tool for Interdisciplinary Research.” As UTA offers Certification in Spatial Information Systems and The Libraries have added a staff person to assist students and faculty with GIS applications, Dr. Medley’s topic is quite relevant to our programs. He received his B.S. from UTA, his M.A. from Auburn and his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. He joined the UTA faculty in May of 2002. Medley's university home pages is at http://cos.uta.edu/gis/. For more information about his presentation, visit http://www.uta.edu/library/faculty/medley.html The final speaker for the year will be Dr. Craig A. Depken II, Associate Professor of Economics. His topic is “The Economics of Sports Arenas: A Property Rights Approach.” Dr. Depken, recently promoted to Associate Professor, was invited to speak because of the appeal of his field of interest. Stadium financing in particular is a source of perennial interest, and with rumors circulating of a new football stadium possibly being built for the Dallas Cowboys, his presentation could take on increased local significance. His web site is interesting (it currently has a ballot for the dumbest red light in the world); he writes articles such as “Experts Say City Can Live without Cats”; and he has the distinction of being married to Linda Depken, a UTA librarian. Such credentials made him irresistible. His primary research fields include Industrial Organization, Applied Microeconomics, International Trade, and Economics of Sports. Dr. Depken received his A.B. in 1991 and his Ph.D. in Economics in 1996 from the University of Georgia. He has been on the faculty at UTA since 1996. Learn more about his research interests at http://www.uta.edu/depken/. The Libraries cordially invite you to attend the Focus on Faculty speakers and to bring along a friend! |
UTA Library Notes, vol 8 no 2 Fall 2002 |