VCU news

Wei Zhang, Ph.D., professor and director of computer engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, School of Engineering

The National Science Foundation awarded Zhang a nearly $50,000 grant for “EDU: Collaborative: Integrating Embedded Systems Security into Computer Engineering and Science Curricula.” Four universities are participating in the project, of which Zhang is the principal investigator.

The NSF awarded Zhang a $500,000 research grant in 2014 for his project titled, “CSR: Small: A Time-Predictable Integrated CPU-GPU Architecture for Hard Real-Time System,” which dealt with enhancing time predictability in Graphic Processing Unit based hard real-time systems.

In addition, Microsoft has awarded Zhang $20,000 to run a large-scale simulation to advance big data-oriented computer architecture research.

Pamela H. Lawton, Ed.D., associate professor, Department of Art Education, School of the Arts

Lawton was among the first to tour the new Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C., where artifacts from her ancestor will be displayed.

Richard T. Jones, Lawton’s great-great-grandfather, traveled with Gen. Philip Sheridan in the 1880s to the lands now known as Yellowstone National Park, keeping a diary of his experiences. That diary, along with his Army-issued, pearl-handled revolver, are part of a display highlighting African-American experiences in the West.

“We marched from 10 to 12 miles in as beautiful a place of country as I ever saw,” Jones wrote in the journal.

A fifth-generation Washingtonian, Lawton was connected with NMAAHC curator Paul Gardullo through colleagues. They met and she donated many items, including the diary and gleaming revolver. Lawton attended a donors’ preview of the museum Sept. 17.

“Seeing the items on display Saturday and walking through the museum, where the entire history of my people is laid out for all to see and learn from, was emotionally mind blowing, but in a positive way,” she said. 

Gardullo “was especially happy to gather stories and artifacts about black people in the West — as most of what they have collected is from the South, Northeast and Midwest,” Lawton said. “It has been a great source of pride to be included. I look forward to attending the dedication and official opening this coming Saturday.”

Marsha D. Rappley, M.D., chief executive officer, VCU Health System and vice president, VCU Health Sciences

Rappley is featured among the Becker’s Hospital Review 2016 edition list of 110 Physician Leaders of Hospitals and Health Systems, featuring presidents and CEOs of hospitals and health systems who also hold medical degrees.

All recipients have demonstrated outstanding leadership and clinical expertise throughout their careers, leading initiatives to improve their individual organizations and the health care of the communities they serve.

“I am honored to be recognized by Becker’s Hospital Review as one of 110 physician leaders to know 2016,” said Rappley. “This recognition is possible because of the extraordinary work our entire team puts forth each and every day. I am very proud to be part of a team that works tirelessly to provide exceptional care to all we serve.”

Rappley joined VCU Health in August 2015. Prior to coming to VCU, she served as dean of the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. Rappley, a tenured professor of pediatrics and psychiatry, has consistently been named a Top Doc and Best Doctors in America by her peers. She has been recognized for distinguished service by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Her much-cited research has focused on children with ADHD, learning problems and other serious mental health challenges.

The Becker’s Hospital Review editorial team selected hospitals for inclusion based on editorial judgment and discretion, and nominations were considered when making selections for this list.

The full list features individual profiles of all 110 leaders.

Note: Individuals did not and cannot pay to be included on the list. Leaders are presented in alphabetical order.

Karen Rader, Ph.D., Director of the Science, Technology and Society Program and professor in the Department of History in the College of Humanities and Sciences

Rader and Victoria Cain, Ph.D., assistant professor of history at Northeastern University, were named recipients of the Media Ecology Association’s 2016 Lewis Mumford Award for Outstanding Scholarship in the Ecology of Technics for their book, “Life on Display: Revolutionizing U.S. Museums of Science and Natural History in the Twentieth Century.”

The Lewis Mumford Award recognizes works, books and articles that focus on the history and/or philosophy of technology or science; studies of specific technologies, techniques, or media and/or their social, cultural and psychological effects; and analysis and criticism of the technology/information society.

Rader, a professor in the Department of History and an affiliated faculty member of the Media Art & Text (MATX) PhD Program, said she and her co-author were excited to receive such a “wonderful interdisciplinary honor.”

“That our book was chosen underscores the importance of museum and exhibit histories to this larger scholarly project, as well as to science and technology studies more broadly, so we could not be more thrilled,” she said.

“Life on Display,” published in 2014 by the University of Chicago Press, uses the history of biological exhibitions to analyze museums’ shifting roles in 20th-century American science and society.

David Wojahn, professor, Department of English, College of Humanities and Sciences

Wojahn, a professor of poetry in the creative writing program, has received the literary magazine Shenandoah’s James Boatwright III Prize for Poetry, which is awarded to the best poem published in the journal during the previous year.

Wojahn’s winning poem, “Briefe Historie of the Noose in the Colonie of Virginia,” will appear in his new collection of poetry, “For the Scribe,” which will be published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in winter 2017.

“Shenandoah is a venerable literary journal of the highest standards, and I've always been thrilled to have my work appear there,” Wojahn said. “And it's especially gratifying to win the Boatwright Prize — this was a terrific surprise.”

To read "Briefe Historie of the Noose in the Colonie of Virginia," visit http://shenandoahliterary.org/652/2016/03/16/briefe-historie-of-the-noose-in-the-colonie-of-virginia-2/

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