Blog Post
UM Professor, Dr. Susan Murphy, is one of this year's MacArthur Foundation 'Geniuses'
by sernabad
This morning, Dr. Susan Murphy, the H.E. Robbins Professor of Statistics and Professor of Psychiatry at The University of Michigan, was awarded one of two dozen new MacArthur Fellows,
Dr. Murphy's current focus is on adaptive intervention, which involves developing plans to work with patients who have chronic or relapsing illnesses (such as, substance abuse or depression) where effective courses of treatment are constantly adjusted for maximum benefit.
Novelist Karen Russell is another new Fellow. The first story in her debut collection, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves (2006) served as the basis for her much acclaimed first novel, Swamplandia (2011), set in the Everglades and narrated by 13-year-old Ava. Swamplandia was one of three finalists for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. Alas, no award in that category was given last year, due to the lack of the minimum required number of votes.
These "Genius Awards", as they are affectionately known, come with no strings attached. The Fellows are free to spend the money as they wish. This year, the Geniuses received a raise. The formerly half-million dollar reward has been bumped to $625,000, paid out yearly for five years.
For a complete list of the MacArthur Foundation Fellows for the Class of 2013, check here.
Blog Post
"Ole 98" Is Safe! Lt. Tom Harmon - Great on the Field, Heroic in Battle
by oldnews
On September 7, 2013, The University of Michigan football team unretired the jersey of one of their greatest, All-American Tom Harmon. Most Michigan fans know about his many exploits on the field that won him the Heisman Trophy. Fewer know that he served heroically in World War II. On April 15, 1943, the story broke in the Ann Arbor News that his Army bomber plane went down and he was Missing in Action. Harmon's ordeal dominated the front page of the News for much of April, as family, friends and fans assured each other that "Ole 98" was tough enough to survive a crash and the jungles of South America. The Ann Arbor News wondered if the flight was his Last Play?
Then, on April 17th, news came that Harmon was safe, having survived a solo, four-day ordeal in the jungle. His parents got the news just after returning from a mass in his honor at St. Mary's Student Chapel. An emotional Michigan coach, Fritz Crisler, and the city were overjoyed at the news. Harmon was the only crew member to survive the crash. He shared the story of the crash and his jungle odyssey in a column released by the Army. The photo that ran in the News on April 23 showed a worn and weary but thankful soldier. Harmon got right back into the fight and in October, 1943, he was shot down over China only to escape capture a second time. He was awarded the Purple Heart and Silver Star. Harmon died in 1990.
Blog Post
Learn How to Apply for Jobs at the University of Michigan
by Stewart
Monday July 22, 2013: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm Pittsfield Branch Training Center
Looking for a job? Join Kathleen McCollum to learn about searching and applying for jobs at umjobs.org. Learn tips like saving job searches, connecting with Careers at the U on Facebook or Twitter, and subscribing to emails and news feeds. Can't make it to the class? No worries, check out the How To Videos.
Registration is not required and classes are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Check out the complete class schedule.
See you in class!
Blog Post
How to Apply for Jobs at the University of Michigan
by Stewart
Thursday June 20, 2013: 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm -- Malletts Creek branch Training Center
Looking for a job? Join Kathleen McCollum to learn about searching and applying for jobs at umjobs.org. Learn tips like saving job searches, connecting with Careers at the U on Facebook or Twitter, and subscribing to emails and news feeds. Can't make it to the class? No worries, check out the How To Video.
Registration is not required and classes are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Check out the complete class schedule.
See you in class!
Blog Post
Hill Auditorium ~ One Hundred Years of History
by oldnews
On June 25, 1913, Hill Auditorium was officially opened to the University and the community with the mission to bring the world to Ann Arbor. Grace Shackman's Old News feature tells the story of Hill and the thousands of performers, speakers, events and controversies that have made Albert Kahn's gorgeous building so central to Ann Arbor's history. Old News has published hundreds of Ann Arbor News articles and photographs that chronicle the history-makers, the premiere performers, the celebrations and the one-of-a-kind.
In collaboration with the University Musical Society, the complete UMS Concert Program Archives have been digitized. The program notes offer some of the best music criticism written. In keeping with a long-held Town & Gown tradition, UMS will celebrate Hill's 100th with a big Community Sing of Verdi's Requiem on May 14th, one hundred years to the day that they did the Requium in 1913. Come, sing and be a part of the continuing history of Hill Auditorium.
Blog Post
America's Music Film & Discussion: A Space for Music, A Seat For Everyone: 100 Years Of UMS Performances In Hill Auditorium
by hillary dorwart
Wednesday May 8, 2013: 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room
As a final segment of the America's Music series, Mark Clague, Associate Professor of Musicology and Director of Research at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance, along with local filmmakers Sophia Kruz and Anna Prushinskaya, lead a screening and discussion of the just-released documentary "A Space for Music, A Seat For Everyone: 100 Years Of UMS performances In Hill Auditorium."
America's Music has been made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor.
Blog Post
Hot New Book Tells How to Get Ahead by Giving
by annevm
A friend who saw Adam Grant speak recently in Ann Arbor highly recommends his book, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success. If you missed Grant's visit here, you can read the New York Times magazine article about him or visit the book's website. This graduate of the University of Michigan apparently believes that the way we relate to other people has a lot to do with the success we achieve. From a book description in the AADL catalog: "Using his own cutting-edge research as a professor at Wharton Business School, Adam Grant shows how helping others can lead to greater personal success. He demonstrates how smart givers avoid becoming doormats, and why this kind of success has the power to transform not just individuals and groups, but entire organizations and communities."
Blog Post
Les Blank, innovative documentary filmmaker, has died
by sernabad
Les Blank, whose much-praised documentaries covered topics as disparate as garlic, the blues, and shoe diets, has died.
Born in Florida in 1935, his first documentaries focused on musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie and Lightnin' Hopkins. Then he broadened his subjects to include food, women with gapped teeth, and the German director, Werner Herzog.
In the 1980s, Blank came to The University of Michigan for a showing of his sweetly weird Garlic Is as Good as Ten Mothers. To the delight (and digestive torture) of his audience, Blank had arranged to have garlic roasting in the back of the theater. Currently, this iconic Les Blank film is unavailable in DVD format, which is a shame. In 2004, the Library of Congress selected it for preservation in the United States’ National Film Registry for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
Another famous Blank documentary made in 1980 is Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe, a 20-minute film of the famed director fulfilling a bet he lost to eat his footwear. Herzog wagered that director Errol Morris would never make a film. Morris collected on the bet with the release of his first documentary, The Gates of Heaven,1978, about a California pet cemetery. This odd meal can be seen in the DVD, Burden of Dreams, 1982, Blank's examination of Herzog's challenges in filming his award winning Fitzcarraldo, 1982.
Blank, who had been diagnosed with cancer less than a year ago, was 77.
Blog Post
University of Michigan Open Forum On Diabetes Prevention, Treatment And Cure
by hillary dorwart
Wednesday May 1, 2013: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Malletts Creek Branch: Program Room AB
The University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) has been working to help assess future directions in diabetes care and research as well as how UM can make an impact on the future for diabetes and diabetes care for both individuals at risk and those with diabetes.
UMHS invites the community to come together to strengthen our impact on diabetes with this open forum to obtain input from the community. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with a panel of UMHS experts to provide input and perspectives about the future direction of diabetes care, research, and education.
Blog Post
Bright Nights Community Forum: Current Treatments For Adolescent Eating Disorders
by hillary dorwart
Tuesday March 19, 2013: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm -- Downtown Library: Multi-Purpose Room
Eating disorders involve serious disturbances in eating behavior, such as extreme and unhealthy reduction of food intake or severe overeating, as well as feelings of distress or extreme concern about body shape or weight.
Join us as Daniel Gih, MD and Renee Hoste, PhD, from the U-M Comprehensive Eating Disorders Program, give a brief overview presentation on eating disorders and treatment options. Their presentations will be followed by a panel discussion with experts in the field. An audience Q&A is included.