It's
Your Day, Millie Russell
Loftus
Selected for an Honor of the Century
Listing of Additional A&S Awards and Honors
When Millie Russell celebrated her birthday on October 29, 2001, one of her presents was particularly memorable: the City of Seattle named the day after her.
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| Millie Russell. Photo by Tom Gray. |
The honor was recognition for Russell’s years of extraordinary work in minority affairs. As assistant to the UW vice president for minority affairs and a lecturer in the Biology Program, Russell has devoted more than 40 years to supporting the University’s minority community.
Seattle Mayor Paul Schell declared the day Dr. Millie L. Russell Day, and Governor Gary Locke prepared a congratulatory letter. The proclamation and letter were presented to Russell by friends, colleagues, and family at a surprise birthday party. Also present was U.S. Representative Jim McDermott, who was there to read the Extension of Remarks that he has added to the United States Congressional Record for October 29.
“I was stunned,” recalls Russell. “It was an absolute surprise. I thought I was going to a meeting on fundraising at my church. At this stage of my life, I never thought anyone would go to so much trouble.”
Russell’s long list of accomplishments explains why the city chose to honor her. She co-founded the UW's Multicultural Alumni Partnership (MAP), which brings diverse alumni back to campus to support current students; the Ron McNair Camp-in, through which 8- to 12-year-old minority students are invited to stay overnight at the Pacific Science Center to interest them in the sciences; the Seattle Mombasa Sister City Association; and many other campus and community projects.
Barbara Wakimoto, director of the Biology Program, describes Russell as a “warm and inspiring woman—with a heart of pure gold.” Vivian Lee, who co-founded and currently heads MAP, adds two more adjectives: energetic and humble.
“Everyone loves Millie,” Lee told The Daily when the honor was announced. “You’ll find her at two or three events in one evening sometimes, speaking to high school students to let them know about the accessibility of the University.” But, adds Lee, “she always downplays her role... she seldom draws attention to herself.”
Russell, a lecturer in the Biology Program, originally hoped to study dance. She changed her major to biology (with a little parental persuasion) and discovered that she really enjoyed science. “I love the inquiry—probing a question and trying to solve it,” she says. She went on to earn a master’s in health education and a doctorate (Ed.D.) in education at the UW.
After all her years at the UW, is there more that Russell hopes to accomplish? “I’d like to gradually pass the torch on, so the programs I helped create don’t die,” she says. “I want to see the success rate of students of color in the biomedical sciences continue to increase. And I want K-12 students of color to know that this place is also their place. In my lifetime, I’ve seen a time when we weren’t welcome in many places. Things are much better now, but we still have plenty of work to do.”
Loftus Selected for an Honor for the Century
Given the advancements in psychology during the twentieth century, it is quite a feat to be selected as one of the most influential psychologists during the past 100 years. But Arts and Sciences’ own Elizabeth Loftus, professor of psychology, made the cut.
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| Elizabeth Loftus |
Loftus has been named one of the “100 Most Eminent Psychologists of the 20th Century” by Review of General Psychology. The listing is based on citations in the professional psychological journal literature, survey responses from the American Psychological Society, and other considerations. Loftus was ranked number 58 and is the top-ranked woman on the list.
Loftus, who has authored or co-authored 20 books and hundreds of articles, has been delving into the mysteries of human memory for more than two decades. Her research has made her one of the world’s leading experts on the malleability of human memory and eyewitness testimony. Her work has helped show that memories are not neatly or always accurately stored in the brain the way people once believed they were. Rather, Loftus’ research has shown that memories can be influenced, enhanced, and distorted, and that even false memories can be created.
Over the past decade this research has involved her in the contentious debate over the recovery of so-called “repressed memories” in cases of sexual or child abuse. Loftus, also an adjunct professor of law, has testified in hundreds of court cases as an expert witness on memory and the validity of eyewitness testimony. These have included not only sexual abuse cases but also the much-publicized trials of Oliver North, the police officers in the Rodney King beating, and others.
Her role in these cases has made her a lightning rod for controversy, with some people lauding her research and others damning it. “If I had known what my life would be like now—the frantic phone calls, the tearful confessions, the gruesome stories of sadistic sexual abuse, torture, even murder—would I have beaten a retreat back to the safety and security of my laboratory?” asks Loftus in her 1994 book, The Myth of Repressed Memory. “No. Never. For I am privileged to be at the center of an unfolding drama, a modern tale filled with such passion and anguish that it rivals an ancient Greek tragedy.”
Also included on the list of the century’s most eminent psychologists is the late UW Psychology Professor Allen Edwards, at number 82.
Additional Awards, Honors, and Professorships
Bruce Balick, professor and chair of the Department of Astronomy, was awarded the distinction of Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his “efforts toward advancing science or fostering applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.”
Stephanie Chang, research associate professor of geography, received the 2002 Shah Family Innovation Prize from the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. The prize rewards younger professionals and academics for creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit in the field of earthquake risk mitigation.
Valerie Curtis-Newton, assistant professor of drama, was awarded the Sir John Gielgud Fellowship for Classical Theatre from the Society for Stage Directors and Choreographers. The fellowship recognizes outstanding early-career directors.
W.T. Edmondson, professor emeritus of zoology, was included in the Seattle Times’ “MetropoLIST 150: People who shaped Seattle.” The newspaper notes that Edmondson “studied Lake Washington and gathered data that led to the design of the Metro sewage system and cleanup of the heavily polluted lake.”
Tilmann Gneiting, assistant professor of statistics, has won a National Science Foundation Early Career Award, which supports exceptionally promising junior faculty committed to the integration of research and education.
Richard Gray, professor of Germanics, has received a Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The award is intended as a lifelong tribute to the past academic accomplishments of award winners.
J.W. Harrington, professor and chair of the Department of Geography, has received the 2001 David E. Boyce Award from the North American Regional Science Council, for distinguished service to the field of regional science.
Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies and the University Libraries were recognized for their WTO History Project website in The Scout Report.
Mary Hu, professor of metals in the School of Art, has been awarded a 2001-02 Flintridge Foundation Award for Visual Artists. The unrestricted award of $25,000 is meant to enhance “artistic capacity, talent, and development.”
Robert R. Kitsos, artist-in-residence in the Dance Program, has received a Donald E. Petersen Endowed Fellowship for Excellence to recognize his outstanding work on the UW Summer Arts Festival.
Marsha Linehan, professor of psychology, was awarded the Distinguished Scientist Award from the Society of Clinical Psychology, for her research on developing therapeutic treatment for people with borderline personality disorder.
Heather McHugh, professor of creative writing in the Department of English, and Nikolai Popov, lecturer in comparative literature, won a Washington State Book Award for Glottal Stop: 101 Poems, their translation of the poetry of Paul Celan.
Shahid Naeem, associate professor of zoology, was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for his “efforts toward advancing science or fostering applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.”
The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization’s Arabic Language and Middle East/North Africa Cultural Studies Program received a Heiskell Award for Innovation in International Education. The program is a distance learning project that involves collaboration with colleagues at Montana State University and in Morocco.
Frederick Newmeyer, professor of linguistics, has been elected president of the Linguistic Society of America, the world’s largest linguistic society and the only group in the U.S. working on behalf of linguists and linguistics at the national level.
Richard Reed, professor emeritus of atmospheric sciences, was honored by the American Meteorological Society with an all-day symposium at the society’s annual meeting. The symposium included 12 invited talks by colleagues and collaborators of Reed, covering his whole scientific career, followed by a banquet in Reed’s honor.
Elizabeth Thompson, professor of statistics, was awarded the Weldon Memorial Prize from Oxford University for outstanding contributions to biometric science.
George Wallerstein, professor emeritus of astronomy, has been chosen to receive the Harry Norris Russell Award of the American Astronomical Society—the highest honor bestowed on U.S. astronomers for lifetime achievement. Wallerstein started the UW Astronomy Department and chaired it for 15 years, overseeing its explosive growth into one of the top astronomy departments in the nation.
[Winter/Spring 2002 - Table of Contents]