James E. Auer, director of the Vanderbilt Center for U.S.-Japan Studies and Cooperation, has received the Japan-America Society of Tennessee Inc.’s John D. Walker Iris Award for “visionary contributions to Tennessee-Japan relations.”
Thom Golden, senior associate director of undergraduate admissions, has received the New Leader Alumni Award from Ohio State University’s College of Education and Human Ecology.
Lara Jazmin, a graduate student in chemical and biomolecular engineering, has been selected to attend the 63rd Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates, to be held in Lindau, Germany. The annual gathering convenes Nobel laureates in chemistry, physics and physiology/medicine for open and informal meetings with students and young researchers. This marks the sixth year in a row a Vanderbilt student has been selected to attend, with Jazmin the 13th student overall selected from Vanderbilt since 2002.
Amy-Jill Levine’s interview with U.S. Catholic, titled “A Jewish take on Jesus,” has received an award of excellence from the Associated Church Press, the oldest interdenominational religious press association in North America. Levine is University Professor of New Testament and Jewish Studies and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies. Judges in the competition said the Q&A was “framed by excellent questions that elicit thoughtful, insightful responses that illuminate both the subject and the topic.”
Ed Saff, professor of mathematics, has been elected a foreign member of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. The distinction will be officially conferred to him at the International Conference on Constructive Theory of Functions in Sozopol, Bulgaria, in June.
Steve Schach, professor of computer science, emeritus, has published a historical spy thriller, Old Bach is Come, available from Wandering in the Words Press.
Karen Swoopes, an administrative assistant at Peabody Library, was selected by her peers as Member of the Year of the Nashville Chapter of the International Association of Administrative Professionals.
Michael Zoorob, a College of Arts and Science sophomore, presented a paper examining the impact of U.S. aid on Pakistan at the Midwest Political Science Association annual conference held in Chicago. Zoorob, an honors student from Brentwood, Tenn., wrote and submitted the paper as part of an independent study course under the direction of Assistant Professor of Political Science Carol Atkinson.