Awards & More

Pitt Law School Dean William M. Carter Jr. has been awarded the Leadership Diversity Award from the National Diversity Council and the Pennsylvania Diversity Council. The honor recognizes individuals with a background of developing and improving organizations and those who have served as professional role models, fostering innovative practices. The award was presented during the 2014 Leadership Excellence Awards Luncheon on Oct. 29.

The American Chemical Society has published a Festschrift issue—a volume of articles or writings compiled to honor a scholar—of The Journal of Physical Chemistry A in recognition of Pitt Professor Kenneth D. Jordan’s 66th birthday. The Festschrift issue, published online Sept. 4, includes a tribute by Jordan’s friends and colleagues; his autobiography; a curriculum vitae; lists of his publications and his students, postdoctoral fellows, and other collaborators; and 47 manuscripts from colleagues from around the world, including eight Pitt colleagues. Jordan is the Richard King Mellon Professor and Distinguished Professor of Computational Chemistry and codirector of the University’s Center for Simulation and Modeling.

James Misner, a University of Pittsburgh freshman and tenor saxophonist, won the 2014 Pitt-BNY Mellon Jazz Scholarship, an honor awarded annually to a Pitt student. Misner, a native of Athens, Pa., and a  bioengineering major, won the $5,000 tuition scholarship based on a recording of jazz standards he submitted to a judging panel comprising nationally recognized jazz musicians. He was recognized Nov. 1 during Pitt’s 44th Annual Jazz Concert at Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland. 

Charles Perfetti, director of Pitt’s Learning Research and Development Center, has been named a Fellow by the Society for Text and Discourse. Perfetti, also a Distinguished University Professor of Psychology, explores the cognitive science of reading and language processes.

Mark Roberts, professor and chair in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Pitt Graduate School of Public Health, received the Career Achievement Award from the Society for Medical Decision Making during its annual meeting in Miami last month. 

James N. Williams III, director for local government relations, Pitt Office of Community and Governmental Relations, was named one of Talk Magazine’s Minority Achievers during the magazine’s 2014 Annual Salute to Minority Achievers Reception held Oct. 24 at the Hilton Garden Inn Pittsburgh, Oakland. Williams, who joined Pitt in 2005, serves as the primary liaison between the University and local and county governments. He represents Pitt on such boards as the Oakland Task Force, the Nuisance Bar Task Force, and the Code Enforcement Task Force.