Taryn Bayles, vice chair for education and professor of chemical and petroleum engineering at the University of Pittsburgh’s Swanson School of Engineering, recently received the James Pommersheim Award for Excellence in Teaching Chemical Engineering. The award recognizes departmental faculty in the areas of lecturing, teaching, research methodology and research mentorship of students.

Bayles’ research focuses on engineering education, increasing awareness of the engineering field and understanding how to help students succeed once they choose engineering as a major. She co-authored the INSPIRES (INcreasing Student Participation, Interest and Recruitment in Engineering and Science) curriculum, which introduces high school students to engineering design through hands-on experiences and inquiry-based learning. 

Read more about Bayles and the award on the Swanson School's website.

Shelome Gooden was recently named as the University of Pittsburgh’s first-ever assistant vice chancellor for research for the humanities, arts, social sciences, and related fields, announced Senior Vice Chancellor for Research Rob Rutenbar. She will begin her position on Jan. 1, 2020.

Gooden will provide intellectual leadership across the humanities, arts, social sciences and related areas. She will work with and across leadership throughout the university to evolve new collaborations and research synergies that draw on strengths outside the laboratory and clinical areas. She will also participate in the University Research Council and will work to develop institutional-level funding to support research in the target areas.

“Our office (Pitt Research) needs to promote and engage with faculty working in all these knowledge domains, and creating this position helps us to do so,” said Rutenbar. “I know Shelome’s vision will help to advance the research conducted here at Pitt, and will enhance interdisciplinary opportunities.”

Rutenbar said that the new position was created because the University offers an incredible diversity of modes of research and creative endeavors, and corresponding ranges of research and creative products.

Read more about Gooden and her new position in @Pitt.

Shelome Gooden was recently named as the University of Pittsburgh’s first-ever assistant vice chancellor for research for the humanities, arts, social sciences, and related fields. She will begin her position on Jan. 1, 2020.

Gooden will provide intellectual leadership across the humanities, arts, social sciences and related areas. She has served as associate professor in Pitt’s Department of Linguistics, researching language contact and sound structure in Creole languages. For the past 14 years, she has served on the executive committee for the Society for Pidgin & Creole Languages and currently serves on the advisory board for an international research group, Creative Multilingualism.

Pitt created this position because the University offers an incredible diversity of modes of research and creative endeavors, and corresponding ranges of research and creative products. 

“Our office (“Pitt Research”) needs to promote and engage with faculty working in all these knowledge domains, and creating this position helps us to do so,” said Rob Rutenbar, senior vice chancellor for research at Pitt. “I know Shelome’s vision will help to advance the research conducted here at Pitt, and will enhance interdisciplinary opportunities.”

Sexual Assault Facilitation and Education (SAFE) peer educators were recently recognized during halftime at a Pitt women’s volleyball game for their work around preventing sexual misconduct and promoting healthy relationships on the Pittsburgh campus.

SAFE peer educators facilitate interactive workshops with student organizations and Greek Life, as well as in residence halls. The workshops range from topics about relationship violence, sexual violence, consent, interpersonal communication and bystander intervention. During fall 2019, SAFE peer educators facilitated 30 workshops and educated 60% of the University’s Greek community on bystander intervention.  

The program is sponsored by the Title IX Office and Sexual Harassment and Assault Response and Education Office and codirected by Michele Welker, clinician with the Counseling Center, and Carrie Benson (EDUC ’12G), Title IX specialist.

SAFE is currently accepting applications for undergraduate and graduate educators. Students can also submit request for workshops. For more information, email SAFEStudentLeaders@pitt.edu or visit the SAFE website.

Manuscripts by Argentinian writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges have been acquired by the University Library System (ULS). The new items include two poems and two essays—"El otro tigre (The Other Tiger)"; "La nadería de la personalidad (The Nothingness of Personality)"; "Poema conjetural (Conjectural Poem)"; and "Anotación al 23 de agosto de 1944 (Annotation to the 23rd of August of 1944)."

In March 2018, ULS acquired the Cuaderno Avon (Avon notebook) and several loose accompanying pages (Páginas sueltas), which included the story "La espera (The Wait)" and the notes for "El escritor argentine y la tradición (The Argentine Writer and Tradition)."

Borges, considered one of the foremost literary figures of the 20th century, was born on Aug. 24, 1899, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and died on June 14, 1986, in Geneva, Switzerland. He wrote essays, poems and short stories and was also a translator.

These new materials will contribute to the enrichment of the Eduardo Lozano Latin American Collection at the ULS and will be housed in Archives and Special Collections. Other pieces of Borges’ original work are held at the University of Virginia Library, the New York Public Library, Michigan State University, the National Library of Spain, the Fondation Martin Bodmer in Geneva and the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas.  

The University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine is the first dental school in the nation to establish opioid-free pain management guidelines for the vast majority of procedures performed in all of its clinics. The guidelines advocate that clinicians prescribe non-opioid pain-relievers first whenever possible.

The Appalachian corridor, which includes Western Pennsylvania, is a hot zone for opioid addiction. With deaths occurring every day from opioid abuse, and costs of rehabilitation care approaching $90,000 per hospitalization, deliberate strategies to minimize dental pain after treatment and eliminate the need for opioid pain relievers are now available to combat this public health crisis in the Appalachian region. 

“Pitt Dental Medicine is leading the way with the adoption of this new protocol by teaching our students and residents the best way to manage pain effectively without the unnecessary risk of opioid dependence,” said Bernard J. Costello dean of the School of Dental Medicine. “When these trainees move on to other practices, they’ll take these opioid-free guidelines with them.

Pitt Business professor Barry Mitnick’s course Market Manipulations: Crises, Bubbles, Robber Barons and Corporate Saints has been recognized with a 2019 Ideas Worth Teaching Award—one of only 10 courses worldwide to be selected.

The award honors “faculty who are redefining business education—providing learning experiences that equip managers of tomorrow with the context, skills and decision-making capabilities needed to lead in an increasingly complex business environment—and world.”

It’s not the first time the prestigious international organization has recognized Mitnick’s work; in 2014, he was a finalist in the Faculty Pioneer Awards.

Focused on U.S. business history from 1835-1935, Mitnick’s course aims to help students understand the major kinds of market manipulations, their historical contexts and consequences and what insights they can provide for modern business behavior.

Read more about Mitnick’s award-winning course in Pittwire.

The Healthy Lifestyle Institute (HLI) hosted its second annual summit on Friday, Dec. 6 on the Pittsburgh campus. The summit consisted of presentations and updates from researchers across campus on their work to transform lifestyle research into health and wellbeing for people in all stages of life.

Housed within the School of Education, HLI was founded in 2017 with a mission “to develop, translate and implement health and wellness programs” for the Pitt community and around the Pittsburgh region.

At the summit, HLI’s founding director John Jakicic (EDUC ’95G), introduced HLI’s Schools on the Move initiative, which will provide grants to support innovative physical activity programming at 43 K-12 schools in the Pittsburgh area.

“We’re asking teachers to get creative. We’re not just providing schools with basketballs and nets,” said Jakicic, who also serves as chair of the Department of Health, Physical Activity, and Exercise in the School of Education. “We’re really interested in seeing how these projects unfold.”

Three University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing faculty members were recognized in November at the 30th annual gala and celebration of the Nightingale Awards of Pennsylvania. Each faculty member who was nominated for her category received the award. 

Brenda Cassidy (NURS ’86G, ’97G, ’11G), assistant professor, won the Doctorate of Nursing Practice award; Jennifer Lingler (NURS ’98G, ’04G; A&S ’03G), professor, won the Nursing Research award; and Patricia Tuite (NURS ’85, ’92G), assistant professor, won the Nursing Education-Academia award.

The Nightingale Awards are a statewide program designed to recognize excellence in nursing. Over the past 30 years, more than 100 nursing professionals who best exemplify compassionate care, clinical expertise, education and leadership have been celebrated at the awards ceremony.