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

Accolades 

Congratulations to Jerry Tomberlin, former dean of the John Molson School of Business, who has been named dean of the Sprott School of Business at Carleton University in Ottawa.

Philip Abrami (Centre for the Study of Learning and Performance) was quoted in a Canadian Press article published online by the CBC. The article was about a partnership between Nortel’s LearniT and Curriki, which provides free digital textbooks and lesson plans anywhere in the world. Abrami said that while sharing learning materials online is laudable, caution should be exercised. “It’s very early in the game. Textbooks are still popular, because all of the pieces fit together and make a coherent whole. Right now, [online materials] aren’t kicking off like wildfire, in my judgement.”

Daniel Dagenais (Sociology/Anthropology) was responsible for a special issue on suicide of Recherches Sociographique. It is available in bookstores and online at www.soc.ulaval.ca/recherchessociographiques/

Paulos Milkias (Political Science) has presented six scholarly papers this year on Ethiopia, including on human rights, the demise of feudalism and the increasing emphasis on Western education; the influence of warlords; and the effect of Islamic courts. He was guest editor for an issue of Northeast African Studies, published by the State University of Michigan Press, and was interviewed by CTV, Fox and CBC Radio regarding conflict in the Horn of Africa. His most recent book, Haile Selassie, Western Education and Political Revolution in Ethiopia (Cambria Press, 2006), received positive reviews from the Canadian Journal of Political Science, the International Journal of African Historical Studies, The Africa Review of Books and Choice.

A paper by Suresh Goyal has been listed by the journal Decision Sciences as one of the 100 most-cited papers in the field during a 36-year period (1970-2006). Published in 1988, it was titled “A Joint Economic-Lot-Size Model for Purchaser and Vendor — A Comment.” It ranked 17th, with 82 citations over the period.

Hearty congratulations to Jane Stewart, founding member of the Centre for Studies in Behavioural Neurobiology in Concordia’s Department of Psychology, who was invested with the Order of Canada by Governor-General Michaëlle Jean at her residence, Rideau Hall, in Ottawa, on April 11.

Congratulations to John Capobianco (Chemistry and Biochemistry) for securing a grant from the Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export. His project on the “adaptation de nanoparticules pour utilization dans des systèmes de detection biologiques” builds on his expertise on the synthesis and characterization of lanthanide-doped complexes.

Joyce Pillarella, who is doing her MA in Oral History, talked about her research into Montreal’s large Italian community on March 20 at the Leonardo Da Vinci Centre in St. Léonard. As reported by The Suburban, she said that many immigrants created their own dialect, giving an Italian flourish to unfamiliar terms like paycheque. She also said they have lovingly handed down customs now forgotten in modern Italy.

Désirée McGraw, an outstanding graduate of Concordia’s School of Community and Public Affairs in 1993, has succeeded former Concordia president Frederick Lowy as executive director of the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation and Scholars Program.