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University of Wyoming

Graduate News

 

  • Three to Receive UW Honorary Degrees

         April 28, 2008 - The University of Wyoming will confer its highest award, the honorary doctoral degree, upon world-renowned mathematician Peter Lax of New York University, Cody businessman and community servant Jim Nielson and former governor and ambassador to Ireland Michael J. Sullivan of Casper. They will be recognized during UW commencement ceremonies May 10.

         Criteria for the award are: notable contribution to the health, education or general welfare of Wyoming citizens; outstanding accomplishment by alumni, either on a state or national level; or accomplishment so outstanding that it has received recognition on a national or international level.

         A graduate of New York University (B.S. '47, Ph.D. '49), Lax is a professor of mathematics at NYU's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. He has received some of the world's most prestigious scientific awards, including membership in the National Academy of Sciences, the National Medal of Science, the Wolf Prize and the Abel Prize, widely regarded as the "Nobel Prize of mathematics."

         Bryan Shader, head of the UW Department of Mathematics, writes that UW's recognition of Lax, one of the founders of scientific computing "builds upon Wyoming's recent success in securing the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) supercomputer." Diversification of Wyoming's economy and enhancement of energy research opportunities are among the benefits of the supercomputer center, to be located in Cheyenne.

         "This honor not only recognizes his tremendous contributions to science, but also allows UW to celebrate its arrival as a major international player on the scientific computation scene," Shader says.

         Applications of Lax's work include the flow of oil in a petroleum reservoir and the motion of gases -- topics central to UW's School of Energy Resources (SER).

         Lax has been a frequent visitor to UW and continues to have a profound impact on UW's curriculum and research in scientific computation.

         Industry visionary, ethical businessman and generous humanitarian are the words most commonly used to describe Nielson, a resident of Cody since his childhood. After graduating with a degree in business from UW (1954) and serving three years in the United States armed services, he returned to Cody to work alongside his father in the family business, Husky Oil, and to start a number of other successful energy related businesses.

         His belief that the application of innovative technology is the cornerstone to sustained growth in oil and gas production has changed the face of the energy industry in Wyoming and across the nation. He supports projects related to economic development, aesthetic quality and education throughout Cody, Park County and Wyoming.

         Last year, his company gifted $5 million to establish an endowment for the UW SER, which matches the largest endowment contribution for an academic program in the university's history.

         Nielson has been and remains active in a lengthy list of public service activities, including service as a director of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center and with the Wyoming Natural Gas Pipeline Authority, aimed at increasing the value received for minerals produced in Wyoming. He purchased the Sleeping Giant Ski Area west of Cody, which will reopen as a non-profit organization that provides recreational opportunities for the area's residents.

         A member of a prominent Wyoming family with long-time ties to UW, Sullivan practices law as a partner at Rothgerber Johnson & Lyons, LLP, in Casper. At UW, he received a B.S. (1961) in petroleum engineering and a J.D. with honors (1964) from the UW College of Law. He is recognized as an accomplished trial lawyer with expertise on issues related to arbitration and mediation, natural resources law and international business development.

         "Mike has contributed to the general welfare of Wyoming citizens and is an accomplished alumnus of the University of Wyoming, having brought distinction to the state, the university and himself on state, national and international stages," according to a nomination letter written by Harold Bergman, UW professor and director of the William D. Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources (RIENR), and Carol Frost, professor and associate vice president of research and economic development at UW.

         Sullivan has served on numerous boards and chaired or co-chaired many of them, including services as a founding member of the RIENR board starting in 1994. In 2002, he became chairman of the board, serving five years.

         Among Sullivan's many honors are the Wyoming National Guard's Distinguished Service Medal, the Wyoming Heritage Society's Award of Merit, the University of Wyoming Outstanding Alumnus Award and membership of the University of Wyoming College of Engineering Hall of Fame.

  • The Graduate School is pleased to announce the 2007-08 Graduate School award winners
    in the areas of: Ellbogen Outstanding Graduate Assistant Teaching Awards, Outstanding Dissertation Awards, Outstanding Masters Thesis Awards, and the Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award.
  • The journals of the British Ecological Society award an annual prize to an author early in their research career.  The prize awarded by the Journal of Applied Ecology carries the name of Professor Sir Richard Southwood.  For the publication year 2007, the Editors are delighted to announce that the winner of the Southwood Prize is Mr. Jonathan Pauli (doctoral student in ecology) for his co-paper with Steven Buskirk 'Risk-disturbance overrides density-dependence in a hunted colonial rodent, the black-tailed prairie dog Cynomys ludovicianus'.  It appears in volume 44, issue 6, pp. 1219-1230.

 

 

  • On June 21, 2007, Platt Price and Rena Stohrer (pictured above), both master's students working in nutrition, won first and third place, respectively, in the Graduate Student Competition papers at the 2007 Western Section, American Society of Animal Science (WSASAS) Meetings at the University of Idaho in Moscow.  The fifteen students in the competition were evaluated on both their written manuscripts and oral presentations.  With those two awards, UW Animal Science graduate students also won the 2007 Institutional Award, which includes a $2,000 stipend to be used by animal science graduate students to help cover travel expenses to attend future WSASAS meetings.  This is the fourth time in the five years in which the Institutional Award has been presented that it has been awarded to UW.

 

  • On June 18, 2007, Keith Underwood (pictured above), a doctoral student working in Meat Science, won first place in the Graduate Poster Competition at the 2007 Reciprocal Meats Conference held at South Dakota State University.

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