College of Medicine grows healthier everyday

With its two most recent hires, the FIU College of Medicine continues to grow healthier everyday: On May 11, Dr. Pedro José “Joe” Greer was named assistant dean of academic affairs in the College. Three days later, Dr. Sanford Markham was named executive associate dean of student affairs.

The College’s dean and senior vice president for medical affairs, Dr. John Rock, believes Greer’s “well-known human touch with his patients and our College’s mission to serve the community are a perfect fit.”

Of Markham, Rock said, “He has been working very closely with me in the current ramp-up phase and will be instrumental in [the College’s] day-to-day operations.”

Greer, a gastroenterologist and hepatologist, is the founder of Camillus Health Concern, an agency that provides medical care to Miami’s homeless. Markham, an obstetrician and gynecologist, is the former assistant dean of student affairs at the University of Iowa’s College of Medicine.

The FIU College of Medicine expects to admit its first class in the fall of 2009.

FIU named “Disaster Resistant University”

FIU is the first public university in Florida to meet Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) hazard mitigation planning standards. Both FEMA and the Florida Division of Emergency Management commended the university’s Disaster Resistant University (DRU) All-Hazards Mitigation Plan, calling it a “solid document” that will guide hazard mitigation activities through March 2012.

To date, only 28 research universities nationwide have received this designation.

Carolyn Robertson, assistant director in the International Hurricane Research Center (IHRC), explains that thanks to a $100,000 grant from the Florida Division of Emergency Management, IHRC and Environmental Health and Safety developed this all-hazard pre-mitigation program for all FIU campuses.

By selecting and ranking buildings to be hardened (e.g., equipped with hurricane shutters), the university will help ensure the protection of the FIU community and its educational, research and public service functions.

This plan culminates nearly seven months of hard work by the 18-member FIU DRU Advisory Board, comprised of faculty/staff, students and Miami-Dade Emergency Management coordinators.

FIU professor receives award from the Emperor of Japan

In April, the government of Japan awarded Steven Heine, director of the Institute for Asian Studies and professor of religion and history, the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the advancement of the study of Japanese culture and the promotion of understanding of Japan.

“It’s very exciting to be in the company of the people who have been recognized before,” Heine said. “People like Douglas MacArthur, who oversaw the occupation of Japan from 1945-1951, and Mike Mansfield, a former ambassador to Japan for many years, not to mention eminent scholars from Columbia and Stanford. It’s an honor.”

Japan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Taro Aso, expressed his congratulations on the conferment.

Consul General Hiroshi Yamaguchi, Consulate General of Japan in Miami, will present Heine the award on behalf of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan in an upcoming ceremony. Along with the Medal of the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Rosette, the award consists of a certificate bearing the stamp of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan.

Pino Center director publishes entrepreneurship book

Alan Casrud, clinical professor of management and professor of industrial engineering, has co-authored a book titled Entrepreneurship with colleague Malin Brännback of Åbo Akademi University in Finland.

Casrud is the executive director of the Eugenio and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center.

Entrepreneurship is available on Amazon.com.

FIU students in China earn master’s degrees

Eighty-four students from the College of Engineering and Computing program in China participated in the first graduation ceremony held in Beijing on March 17, receiving master’s of science degrees in electrical engineering.

“I am extremely proud of this program and of the hard work and dedication all of you have demonstrated,” Vish Prasad, the College’s executive dean, told the crowd at the ceremony.

Joining Prasad in China were Jainendra K. Navlakha, associate dean of Graduate Studies at the College of Engineering and Computing, and A. Douglas Kincaid, vice provost for International Studies.

The partnership between the College of Engineering and Computing and the College of Software at Beihang University (Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics) began in May 2005 with 42 students. It is one of many alliances with institutions abroad, involving their faculty and students in collaborative research and training programs with FIU. Sixty-three more students have enrolled since 2006 and 82 new students began their studies in May.

For more information on the College of Engineering and Computing or the China program, visit www.eng.fiu.edu/ad/chinagrad.