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| Dr. Robert F. Olin |
By Rebecca Florence
Dr. Robert F. Olin, dean of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences since August of 2000, has been appointed to a standing board of the National Research Council, a private organization of national experts chartered by Congress to advise the federal government and the nation on scientific and educational issues. Previously, he served as head of the department of mathematics at Virginia Tech for six years and as a member of the mathematics faculty for 25 years.
Olin joins the Committee on Undergraduate Science Education, one of the standing boards in the National Research Council’s Center for Education. The National Research Council is one of four arms of the National Academies that also includes the National Academy of Sciences, The National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
The National Research Council committees are comprised of national experts who seek solutions to problems of interest to the nation. Such problems may range from assessing the danger of airborne anthrax viruses, the effect of electromagnetic fields on humans, the consequences of human reproductive cloning, to how to ensure that plutonium from dismantled nuclear weapons is kept of out of the hands of terrorists.
The Undergraduate Science Education Committee is charged with addressing critical national issues in science education research, policy, and practice. It seeks to improve college undergraduates’ learning of science and its applications. The committee identifies and encourages the implementation of programs that enrich the understanding of scientific and technological knowledge.
"Dean Olin has headed the College of Arts and Sciences for just over a year, yet he has already opened our own Mathematics Technology Learning Center, where over 500 students a semester are learning in a way that promises to increase their rates of success, and he has begun to sow his characteristics seeds of enthusiasm for other innovative uses of technology elsewhere on campus as head of the University of Alabama’s Technology committee," said UA President Andrew A. Sorensen.
"Dean Olin is a scholar and teacher who knows how to think outside of the box. He is passionately committed to improving mathematics and science education and he will bring invaluable experience and a keen perspective to this distinguished body of national experts. He will represent the University and our state admirably," said UA Provost Nancy Barrett.
Under Olin’s leadership, Virginia Tech established the nationally acclaimed Mathematics Emporium in 1997. The Emporium is a self-paced, computer-assisted program of mathematics instruction that has become a national model for innovative mathematics education and for the use of technology in instruction.
Olin received his doctorate in mathematics in 1975 from Indiana University in Bloomington. More information about the National Academies can be found on the Web at www.nationalacademies.org.
University Celebrates African American Heritage Month
The University of Alabama and the West Alabama community will join the nation in celebrating African American Heritage Month in February. The following are highlights of campus events relating to the month (see the entire list at www.sa.ua.edu/dos/aahm.htm).
Feb. 4 - Lecture by Reanae McNeal, "African American Women Breathing Herstory," 10 a.m. in the Ferguson Theater. Sponsored by the Women’s Resource Center, SGA, National Council of Negro Women, National Panhell-enic Council, RHA, Women’s Studies Department, Turning Point.
"Don’t Speak My Mother’s Name in Vain," a one-woman play performed by Reanae McNeal, 7 p.m. in the Ferguson Ballroom. Sponsored by the Women’s Resource Center, SGA, National Council of Negro Women, National Panhellenic Council, RHA, Women’s Studies Department, Turning Point.
Feb. 5 - "Ethnic Notions," Marlon Riggs’ documentary examining the treatment and depiction of black stereotypes in American popular culture from the Civil War era to the early 1960s, 11:30 a.m.- 2 p.m. on the first floor of Carmichael Hall. Sponsored by the College of Education and New College.
Feb. 6 - Soul Food Dinner, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Burke Dining Hall. Sponsored by NAACP and Bama Dining.
Feb. 10 - Mr. Positive Black Male Competition, 6:30 p.m. in Ferguson Theater. Sponsored by NAACP.
Feb. 11 - Forum: African-Americans in the Media, 7 p.m. in 216 Phifer Hall. Sponsored by the Capstone Association of Black Journalists.
Feb. 12 - "Sankofa," a powerful film about Maafa - the African holocaust, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. on the first floor of Carmichael Hall. Sponsored by the College of Education and New College.
Third Annual Brotherhood Forum, 7-9 p.m. in 323 Ferguson Ballroom. Sponsored by the African American Association.
Feb. 13 - Third Annual Sisterhood Forum, 7-9 p.m. in 323 Ferguson Ballroom. Sponsored by the African American Association.
Feb. 15 - African American Heritage Month School of Social Work Celebratory Colloquium honoring the Civil Rights Freedom Riders, presenting Freedom Riders Hezekiah Watkins and Fred Douglas Clarke, 1 p.m., Little Hall. Sponsored by the National Association of Black Social Workers.
Feb. 17 - Gospel Extravaganza, 4 p.m. in Ferguson Theater. Sponsored by the NAACP.
Feb.18-22 - Eyes on the Prize, noon, outside the Judicial Affairs Office. Sponsored by the Office of Judicial Affairs.
Feb. 20 - Dr. Richard Lapchick, expert on civil rights and sports issues, 8 p.m., 30 Alston Hall. Sponsored by the UA Athletic department and the Office of the President.
Feb.
28 - Hip Hop Summit, beginning at 9 a.m. in the Ferguson Center.
Sponsored by the Office of Community Service and Volunteerism.
William Darity to Lecture on Economic Inequality as Part of MLK Distinguished Lecture Series
Dr. William Darity will speak on "Racial and Ethnic Economic Inequality: Why Culture is Irrelevant" at 7 p.m., Feb. 28, for the President’s Colloquium in Stinson Auditorium at Stillman College as part of the 2002 Martin Luther King Jr. Distinguished Lecture Series. Darity is the Cary C. Boshamer Chair of Economics at the University of North Carolina and a research professor of public policy studies, African American studies, and economics at Duke University.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Distinguished Lecture Series, created as an ongoing addition to the annual Martin Luther King Jr. concert on campus, attracts well-known civil rights advocates to the Tuscaloosa community to discuss the past and future of civil rights in America. The series is a joint effort between UA, Stillman College and Shelton State Community College.
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