Accomplishments - June, 2023
Kofi Akamani, associate professor in the forestry program, attended the Second Authors Meeting of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems (IPBES) at Kruger National Park in South Africa, as part of his role as a lead author of the IPBES nexus assessment report. The report analyzes the interlinkages among biodiversity, water, food and health with the aim of informing more integrative and sustainable policy options. It is scheduled for publication next year.
Ivan Sanchez, assistant coach, SIU swimming and diving, is serving as a member of the Team Mexico staff at this week’s Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador.
Meadow Boden, assistant instructor, School of Aviation, received the New Certified Flight Instructor of the Year Award at the Greater St. Louis Flight Instructors awards banquet recently. The award is presented to a certified flight instructor (CFI) with less than three years’ experience and who has outstanding performance and career potential as a CFI.
Jeff McGoy, director, exploratory student advisement, Center for Learning Support Services, and Anna Jackson, a retired senior lecturer in English, spoke during a Juneteenth celebration at Shawnee Community College on June 14.
Fred Martino, WSIU Broadcasting executive director, will be the featured speaker during the Southern Illinois Learning in Retirement meeting at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, June 21, at Grace United Methodist Church, 220 N. Tower Road, Carbondale. He will discuss efforts to build civic engagement and media innovation at WSIU and explain how the community can help in these efforts.
The 2023 Southern Illinois Musical Festival’s opening free concert on May 25 at the Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship raised $1,615. The performers were soprano Emily Hughes, cellists Randy Hughes and William Cernota, an assistant lecturer in the School of Music, and pianist Jace Kim. The festival runs through June 11.
Kwangho Choiy, associate professor, mathematics, in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, is invited as a gastwissenschaftler (guest researcher) at the Hausdorff Research Institute for Mathematics (HIM) in Bonn, Germany, to participate in a program there titled “The Arithmetic of the Langlands” from May 21 until June 3. He is also invited to attend the June and August conferences within the framework of the trimester program.
Kofi Akamani, associate professor in the forestry program, received the 2023 International Alumni Achievement Award from the College of Natural Resources, University of Idaho in Moscow. The university grants the award each year to an alum who holds citizenship of a country other than the U.S., and whose career in natural resources exemplifies a record of distinction and service internationally and in their home country.
Peter Filip, professor in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering, received an honorary doctorate from Technical University of Ostrava in recognition of his contribution to materials science and engineering. Filip, a 27-year SIU veteran, has a longstanding relationship with TUO, regularly teaching, researching and publishing with its faculty. As a part of this collaborative effort, SIU has hosted more than 30 students, six faculty and six postdoctoral researchers, and Filip has received two grants from the National Science Foundation to support such exchanges.
Camille M. Davidson, dean, SIU School of Law, is one of 29 senior-level higher education professionals chosen to participate in the 2023 Millennium Leadership Initiative sponsored by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. The initiative “connects aspiring presidents and chancellors to the expertise, experiences, and resources required to thrive.” Programming for the 2023 cohort started last month.
“How Can a Room Breathe Fire,” a poem by Father Joseph A. Brown, director, School of Africana and Multicultural Studies, writing as Luke, recently appeared in America: The Jesuit Review magazine.
