Concordia Journal Home > Archives > January 17, 2008 issue >

Accolades 

Assistant professor Damon Matthews, who joined the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment in January 2007, is a contributing author for the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In October 2007, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize to the IPCC and Al Gore for their efforts to spread the word about man-made climate change. Matthews is conducting research in global climate modelling, human land use, the role of the global carbon cycle in future climate change, and the development of sound national and international climate policy.

After 10 years out of the art spotlight, John Miller (Professor Emeritus, Painting & Drawing, 1965 to 1996) had a show of paintings entitled Family Affair at the Haskell Library and Opera House, in Stanstead, Quebec, during December.

Congratulations to William Byers, whose book, How Mathematicians Think, was chosen by CHOICE magazine as one of the 600 or so outstanding academic books for 2007 and one of the 20 outstanding titles from Princeton University Press. Byers also reports, “It got a great review in Nature, which my scientific colleagues tell me is quite a coup. Also excellent reviews in the Times Higher Education Supplement (London), Science News, Physics World, and others.”

Tony Proudfoot is showing how to face adversity. The former Alouettes football player and CFL colour commentator, who lectures in Exercise Science at Concordia, was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) last spring. He met it head-on by calling a news conference. As he said in a recent article in The Gazette, “I have become a public face for this crippling disease.” Not only is Tony fundraising for a cure, he is determined to live life to the fullest, drinking “from a very large, half-full glass.” He will also write a book, for a practical reason. “I plan to morph from a talker to a writer in expectation of losing my voice.”

The Journal took a bronze award in the newspaper category at the recent Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) 2007 Communication Awards. Concordia Media Relations earned an honourable mention in the specialty website category. The awards were open to eastern Canada and the northeastern U.S.

David Franklin, who has taught international business at Concordia and Sir George Williams University for a remarkable 45 years, has written a handbook called International Commercial Debt Collection, an outline of procedures in 80 countries, 10 Canadian provinces and five major U.S. states that publisher Thomas Carswell promises is the first book of its kind. The veteran lawyer, adjunct professor and world traveller was the subject of a profile in The Gazette’s business pages.

Congratulations to psychologist Carsten Wrosch, whose paper with Gregory Miller of the University of British Columbia, published in the September issue of the journal Psychological Science, caught the attention of the New York Times Magazine on Dec. 9. In a study, they found that teenage girls who are unable to disengage themselves from trying to attain hard-to-reach goals exhibited increased levels of the inflammatory molecule C-reactive protein (CRP), which in adults is linked with diabetes, heart disease and early aging. The lesson seems to be that too much persistence, in some cases, can be costly.