Seven other Huskies also received academic honorable mention recognition.
“This is a huge achievement for our program to be recognized on the academic level as well as the athletic level,” said NIU head coach Connie Teaberry. “It shows the hard work and dedication level these athletes have put forth, both on and off the track. We are extremely proud of these ladies, Jenner and Mary, along with our seven honorable mention recipients, will continue to represent Northern Illinois at the highest level, both academically and athletically.”
Bull, a junior from Peoria, Ill., holds a 3.929 grade point average in nursing. Bull recorded five top-10 finishes in the shot put during the indoor season, including a personal-best toss of 40-9.50 to take sixth at the Eastern Illinois Early Bird Invitational.
Bull also recorded a personal-best in the weight throw at the Illinois State Invitational, throwing 42-4.0 to finish seventh.
Sio, a junior from Rockford, Ill., has a 4.0 grade point average majoring in management. Sio won the long jump competition at the Eastern Illinois Early Bird Invitational and also won the triple jump at the Illinois State Invitational.
Sio recorded a new school-record in the triple jump at the MAC Indoor Championships, recording a jump of 38-9.50 to finish fifth. This is the second-straight season in which Sio has garnered Academic All-MAC honors.
In addition to Sio and Bull, seven Huskies received Academic All-MAC Honorable Mention recognition.
The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled in athletics and academics. To qualify, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests for that particular sport.
First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award.
For more information on NIU track and field and Huskie athletics, visit www.niuhuskies.com.
Date posted: April 15, 2011 | Author: Thomas Parisi | Comments Off on Bull, Sio named to Academic All-MAC Team
The NIU Chamber Choir will once again showcase their talents at 8 p.m. Tuesday, April 19, in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall of the NIU Music Building.
They will present J.S. Bach’s Cantata Christ lag in Todes Banden, (Bach’s Easter Cantata) with guests the Avalon String Quartet.
Also on the program is Son of God Mass, a piece by contemporary composer James Whitbourn for chamber choir, organ and soprano saxophone. Steve Duke, NIU faculty and Distinguished Research Professor, is the special guest artist for this performance.
Duke is widely known for his work as an accomplished classical and jazz saxophonist and for performing new music and computer music.
His versatility on the saxophone prompted Allan Kozinn of the New York Times to write, “Stephen Duke played the music with a gorgeous tone and moved easily between, say, the Coltranesque leaps and the supple fluidity of the Hodges pastiche.”
Featured in major classical, jazz and new music festivals and conferences throughout the United States and Europe, Duke’s solo performances include appearances at International Computer Music Conference, Synthesis Computer Music Festival, Arts Now Music Series, International Association for Jazz Education Annual Conference, Music Today Festival, Contemporary Music Festival, Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS), World Saxophone Conference, World Music Institute Music Series, the North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial Conference, and Electronic Music Midwest.
Members of the Avalon Quartet are Blaise Magniere – first violin, Richard O. Ryan Endowed Chair in Violin; Marie Wang – second violin; Anthony Devroye – viola; and Cheng-Hou Lee – cello. The members of the Avalon Quartet teach applied lessons and coach chamber music, and are active in their performance career bringing attention to the NIU School of Music from the concert stage and in other outreach activities. They annually perform a number of concerts on campus and on a concert series produced by NIU at Symphony Center in Chicago.
Founded in 1995, the Avalon Quartet held residencies at NIU and the Hartt School, and prior to their appointment at NIU School of Music in 2007 was the faculty quartet-in-residence at the Indiana University-South Bend Raclin School of the Arts for four years.
The concert is free and open to the public. The building is accessible to all.
For more information, contact Lynn Slater at (815) 753-1546 or via e-mail at lslater@niu.edu
Date posted: April 15, 2011 | Author: Thomas Parisi | Comments Off on Chamber Choir to perform with special guests
The honor is based on President John Peters’ call for “engagement with the community through research, economic development, service and instruction. Establishment of these professorships places NIU in the company of the growing number of institutions which now recognize and reward this increasingly critical function.”
Each Presidential Engagement Professorship is accompanied by a $5,000 stipend, renewable annually during each year of a four-year award period. Presidential Engagement Professors also receive a specially minted medallion to be worn with their academic regalia.
The Presdiential Engagement Professorship awards will be presented Thursday, April 21, during the annual Faculty Awards Ceremony and Reception in the Altgeld Hall auditorium.
Cliff Mirman
For Department of Technology chair Cliff Mirman, a problem in local industry is a goldmine of opportunity for his students.
Mirman, who also serves as department chair, has spent much of his time over the past 12 years meeting with area manufacturers to understand their challenges and create partnerships that give students real-world experience.
“I consider it a priority to bring regional industry and education together,” Mirman says. “Not only do we help these industries with developing new products and finding ways to reduce costs, but the projects they give us to work on provide invaluable experience for our students.”
John Pechan, operations director at Olcott Plastics in St. Charles, says Mirman’s support of engaged learning directly benefits his company.
“I need research and technical development support,” Pechan says. “Typically, we have an idea of what we would like, but we do not have the resources to dedicate for transformation of the idea into a working process.”
“Cliff and his students make that happen, providing us with creative, cost-effective, robust solutions. Every project has resulted in acquisition of knowledge for all parties.”
The concept of mutual benefit that defines university engagement is much in evidence with all the partnerships Mirman has developed and continues to nurture.
Grateful for the assistance from NIU faculty and students, companies have given back by providing research projects, internships and cooperative education experiences, as well as full-time jobs for new graduates. They’ve also donated money and in-kind contributions for equipment and programmatic support, including naming rights-level funding for two department labs.
Mirman’s emphasis on finding industry partners also has paid off when seeking government grants for research. Nearly all of the major funding agencies require universities to have established relationships with corporations where new ideas can be tested.
Mirman’s commitment to outreach extends beyond industrial partners.
He is an enthusiastic promoter of engineering and technology careers, and has developed dozens of activities and programs for regional public schools and community colleges. He also has developed numerous off-campus academic programs – including online courses – and has established partnerships with 16 regional community colleges.
With expertise that is continually in demand both on- and off-campus, Mirman takes every opportunity to advocate for outreach and engaged learning. He serves on the Undergraduate Student Opportunities in Artistry and Research (USOAR) selection committee, the NIU Outreach Advisory Committee, the Distributed Learning Task Force and the Vision 2020 Steering Committee.
In 2010, he received the Target Corp.’s Faculty/Advisor Award, and for the last eight years has served on the Illinois Articulation Initiative panels in engineering and technology.
“I truly believe that Dr. Mirman wants students to gain as much real world experience as possible before they graduate,” former student Nick DiOrio writes. “I can honestly say that my time with him was some of the best education I ever received.”
Susan Russell
Susan Russell
To say that NIU anthropologist Susan Russell is engaged in her work with Filipino youth would be an understatement: Two months ago, she was officially adopted into an ancient tribe, the only non-Filipino ever granted such a privilege.
The institutes aim to promote partnerships between U.S. and Filipino groups and strengthen understanding of democratic values as well as to teach community activism, peace-building and conflict resolution, integration of minorities, civic engagement and volunteerism.
Russell, former director and current faculty associate of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), has received more than $2.2 million in State Department grants to fund the program, which participants call “life-changing.”
“I cannot begin to describe the impact of these programs Sue has run through NIU,” anthropology colleague Kathryn Wiegele writes.
“There is a large and growing network of alumni, educators, and other professionals in the Philippines and the U.S. who are now committed to peace, cultural and environmental sustainability, inter-ethnic and inter-religious understanding, and community engagement.”
Russell’s work has captured the attention of a world-wide audience, including Phi Beta Delta, the honor society for international scholars, which in 2009 gave her its annual Faculty Award for Outstanding Contribution to International Education.
In March of 2010, the U.S. State Department asked Russell to prepare a briefing on the Philippine peace process for the new U.S. ambassador to the Philippines. And, based on the success of her Philippine program, the State Department has asked CSEAS to develop a larger initiative called the Southeast Asia Youth Leadership Program.
Professor Michael Hawkins of Creighton University writes, “I have witnessed firsthand the remarkable contributions these young people make back in their communities in the Philippines. They always credit Dr. Russell and her programs.”
Russell’s commitment to international understanding underscores all her work. In addition to the Filipino youth project, she has:
overseen development of a strong outreach program to K-12 teachers that provides web-based resources on Southeast Asian language and culture;
provided teacher training workshops throughout the Chicago suburbs, helping teachers integrate content about Southeast Asia into their curricula;
developed a new course for the NIU Institute for the Study of the Environment, Sustainability and Energy; and
participated in development of NIU’s new Center for Non-Governmental Leadership and Development (NGOLD).
Russell involves NIU students in all aspects of her work, and encourages them to pursue fieldwork for their own research outside the classroom.
“Dr. Sue instills within her students a sense of civic responsibility,” graduate student Shahin Aftabizadeh writes. “As future academics, she wants to make sure we understand that we are entering a discipline that works directly with individuals and communities around the world.”
“She leads by example,” Wiegele adds. “Sue has shown her students how empathy, humility, and the will to understand can be combined with responsibility, self-confidence and the will to act.”
Kendall Thu
Kendall Thu
As votes of confidence go, it’s hard to beat having a colleague write you into his or her will.
But if you’re Department of Anthropology chair Kendall Thu, that gesture is just one of many honors earned in a career dedicated to public service.
Thu is one of the world’s top experts in agricultural industrialization, and has focused much of his research on the impact of large, commercial farming on air and water quality.
Writing in support of Thu’s nomination for the Presidential Engagement Professor award, Penn State professor E. Paul Durrenberger said he was leaving his estate to Thu “to continue his work of bringing scientific approaches to bear on the effort to achieve social justice for all.”
Since arriving at NIU in 1999, Thu has brought more than $640,000 from the McKnight Foundation to his study of rural communities and their struggles with the impact of industrialized farming.
A founding member of the Illinois Citizens for Clean Air and Water, Thu has helped many small farmers and communities understand how to organize and advocate for policies and practices that protect the environment, human health, and rural quality of life.
Thu is also a founding member of the Food, Farm and Jobs Act Task Force that successfully lobbied for legislation by the same name, and was an executive board member of the Illinois Stewardship Alliance, an organization dedicated to sustainable food production practices.
Thu’s work on rural environmental issues focuses primarily on water quality problems created by the rapid proliferation of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs. These giant animal warehouses produce enormous amounts of waste, which makes its way into groundwater and other water supplies. Thu works with small farmers and other rural residents to learn how to organize their protests and force producers to comply with the Federal Clean Water Act.
Beyond his applied research and advocacy work, Thu is a much-sought-after expert witness in cases involving environmental damage. Organizations regularly seeking his input include the Audubon Society, the National Sierra Club, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Water Keepers Alliance, the Minnesota Clean Water Fund and Illinois’ Prairie Rivers Network.
Among his most ardent admirers are colleagues from around the country who praise Thu’s commitment to making anthropology a more socially active discipline.
“Dr. Thu’s contributions center on the roles of applied anthropologist, advocate anthropologist, and publically engaged anthropologist,” writes Professor Alexander Ervin of the University of Saskatchewan. “He is among those making our discipline distinctive and distinguished in the larger public arena, making it directly useable at community, regional and national levels.”
Among his students, Thu is held in high regard for the guidance he provides and the example he sets.
Danielle Diamond was a third-year law student at NIU when she happened to take Thu’s class on environmental anthropology and decided to focus her career on environmental issues.
“Dr. Thu has empowered countless individuals across the state and nation to ensure their rights to clean air and water are protected,” Diamond writes. “Often, when you work closely with someone, you lose perspective about how impactful they actually are. Where Dr. Thu is concerned, I have never lost sight of this.
Date posted: April 15, 2011 | Author: Thomas Parisi | Comments Off on Cliff Mirman, Susan Russell, Kendall Thu earn first Presidential Engagement Professor honors
Three NIU officials headed for warmer climes in Malaysia during the university’s recent spring break, but the trip wasn’t about rest and relaxation.
College of Engineering and Engineering Technology Dean Promod Vohra engages with students in one of the electronics labs at the Universiti Malaysia Pahang during a recent trip to the partner university in Malaysia. (Photo by Deborah Pierce)
The trio instead visited the campuses of Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), one of NIU’s partner universities in Malaysia, to discuss development of three undergraduate programs in engineering technology.
The NIU delegation included Deborah Pierce, associate provost for International Programs; Promod Vohra, dean of the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology (CEET); and Omar Ghrayeb, associate dean of CEET. In addition, Christopher McCord, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, briefly joined the delegation in Malaysia after working on other projects in Thailand.
NIU faculty will assist UMP colleagues in meeting the goals set by the Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education for practice-oriented programs to be established and implemented at the university, Pierce said.
In addition, some UMP engineering technology students may spend part of their undergraduate programs at NIU, thereby strengthening the existing ties between the two universities.
The delegation also discussed joint research projects and a 4+1 program, leading to a master’s degree in 12 months of study beyond the bachelor’s degree. Both Vohra and Ghrayeb were impressed by the faculty and laboratories of UMP and expressed strong support for the cooperative project.
In developing the collaboration on engineering technology curriculum, NIU is responding to the objectives of the U.S. Department of Education for grant recipients to bring Southeast Asian Studies into the professional schools, such as CEET.
Date posted: April 6, 2011 | Author: Thomas Parisi | Comments Off on A working spring break in Malaysia
The exhibit, which is entirely online, features items from the Regional History Center’s archives, including letters, political cartoons and pictures from the Civil War era.
The war began April 12, 1861, with shots fired on Fort Sumter.
While exhibit documents originate from across the country, each has roots that trace back to the northern Illinois region.
They are displayed against a map of the United States to demonstrate that although the land was not used as a battleground, the war’s impact upon northern Illinois’ residents was far-reaching. Its farmers, doctors and tradesmen were sent to the distant corners of the country, while wives ran every aspect of the home in the absence of their men.
The Regional History Center is a unique component of NIU’s commitment to education, research and public service.
The center’s goal is to acquire, preserve and make available to the public the most significant historical records of the northern Illinois region. The center actively collects historical material from the 18 northernmost counties of Illinois, excluding Cook.
Date posted: April 6, 2011 | Author: Thomas Parisi | Comments Off on Regional History Center’s online exhibition commemorates 150th anniversary of Civil War
One is shedding light on the subatomic bits of matter that are the building blocks of nature, while the other is contributing to the understanding and conservation of reptiles and amphibians.
“Drs. Chakraborty and King are both premier scientists in their respective fields,” says Lisa Freeman, NIU vice president for research and graduate studies.
“Their respective contributions to the fields of particle physics and conservation biology are recognized nationally and even internationally. Their work has inspired new ways to view and study the world around us,” Freeman says. “Both Drs. Chakraborty and King involve NIU students in their research and field work. Their commitment to developing the next generation of scientists increases the impact of their work and our university.”
The Presidential Research Professorship is NIU’s top recognition for outstanding research or artistry. The award has been given out annually since 1982 in recognition and support of NIU’s research and artistic mission. Award winners receive special financial support of their research for four years, after which they carry the title of Distinguished Research Professor.
The awards will be presented during the annual Faculty Awards Ceremony and Reception beginning at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 21, in the Altgeld Hall Auditorium.
Click on the link below for a closer look at this year’s Presidential Research Professors.
Date posted: April 5, 2011 | Author: Thomas Parisi | Comments Off on Physicist Chakraborty, biologist King selected for 2011 Presidential Research Professorships
Not many children dream of becoming particle physicists, but Dhiman Chakraborty from a young age seemed destined for the field.
Early training, guidance and inspiration from his parents helped Chakraborty win entrance into an elite high school in his native Calcutta, India. Each day, he would pass by a statue of the school’s most illustrious alumnus, Satyendra Nath Bose, the co-formulator of Bose-Einstein statistics. The category of sub-atomic particles known as bosons is named in his honor.
“I always had an interest in trying to understand the physical world, and in my high school, physics was the cool thing to do,” Chakraborty says. “Having to walk by Bose’s bust several times a day did its part as well.”
Over the past two decades, Chakraborty has helped shed light on the building blocks of our universe. He has made contributions to scientific understanding of the subatomic world, the discovery of thetop quark and the pursuit of the Higgs boson— a predicted particle considered the holy grail of particle physics. Its detection would confirm the existence of the Higgs field, which is thought to permeate the universe and give particles mass.
Chakraborty first established his reputation while working as a research scientist at Fermilab’s Tevatron collider.
His doctoral research made important contributions to the 1995 discovery of the top quark, the heaviest known fundamental particle. He later served as co-leader of the top-quark physics group for Fermilab’s DZero Collaboration and was an early trailblazer in use of the top quark as a search tool for other new physics, including the charged Higgs boson.
In 2001, Chakraborty brought his talents to NIU. Now he is helping to define the university’s future role in particle physics research.
“Dhiman is the leader of NIU’s efforts to expand experimental particle physics beyond Fermilab,” says Laurence Lurio, physics department chair.
In 2008, Chakraborty formed an NIU team to join the ATLAS experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) near Geneva, Switzerland. The LHC recently replaced Fermilab’s Tevatron as the world’s most powerful particle accelerator.
The NIU team quickly proved its worth, writing computer codes to analyze collisions and monitoring calorimeters, which measure the energy of particles. By this summer, the team will grow to include 10 NIU faculty members, research scientists and graduate students, several of whom have won highly competitive fellowships to conduct research at CERN.
Working to forge partnerships with peer institutions involved in ATLAS, Chakraborty also spent a year as a guest scientist at LPSC Grenoble, a French national laboratory. Within the United States, his NIU group works closely with counterparts at Yale, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Oklahoma and Argonne National Laboratory.
Additionally, Chakraborty has led design of calorimeters and software that would be used at the proposed International Linear Collider, a next generation accelerator. He has published 340 articles in refereed journals, given invited talks at many academic and research institutions worldwide, and attracted nearly $4 million in competitive federal funding for research.
“Chakraborty has made outstanding contributions in generating new physics ideas and results, to the development of new software systems, and to novel instrumentation,” says Paul Grannis, distinguished professor emeritus at State University of New York at Stony Brook. “He has recently taken on important positions of leadership in the field. This breadth of achievement is impressive and is one of the hallmarks of a leading physicist.”
Satyendra Nath Bose would have been pleased.
Date posted: April 5, 2011 | Author: Thomas Parisi | Comments Off on Dhiman Chakraborty: Particle path-breaker
At times, Richard King’s research methods can be painstaking — and outright painful.
Known as the godfather of the Lake Erie Water Snake, King has captured and studied thousands of the bad-tempered, foul-smelling serpents. As a measure of their gratitude, the very creatures that King has championed frequently sink their tiny sharp teeth into him.
A 21-year veteran professor in NIU’s Department of Biological Sciences, King is an expert on reptiles and amphibians, and more broadly on evolution, ecology and conservation biology. The Lake Erie Water Snake, found only in a cluster of islands in western Lake Erie, is among his greatest triumphs.
King first identified snake-population declines in the 1980s, and his work eventually led to the snake being listed as a “threatened species.” He and his students then helped develop and implement a recovery plan.
The effort was so successful that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service honored King and his Ph.D. student, Kristin Stanford, with the 2010 Recovery Champion Award. The agency is now proposing to remove the snake’s threatened-species status — a remarkable achievement considering that of 1,900 protected species, just 22 have been delisted following population recovery.
The story of the watersnake’s comeback has attracted widespread media coverage from the likes of NPR and Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs,” but it only begins to describe the breadth of King’s research.
Along with students and colleagues, he has published studies on the ecology and conservation of spotted salamanders, woodfrogs, spring peepers and rattlesnake. King also has shed light on population ecology, the microevolution of color patterns in reptiles, new approaches to assess the effects of invasive species and new ways to reintroduce locally extinct species.
Marcio Martins, a biologist at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, calls King “an international reference in the areas of ecology, microevolution and conservation of amphibians and reptiles.”
Adds Steven Beaupre, professor of biological sciences at the University of Arkansas, “In Dr. King, you have an outstanding citizen and teacher who developed a world-class research operation. At a time when destruction of wetlands and invasive species has forced local extinctions and listing of many amphibians and reptiles, Dr. King’s research is extremely vital and timely.”
King has an impressive and highly cited publication record. He is a frequent invited speaker at scientific meetings and has served as a reviewer for 38 scientific journals and several funding agencies, including the National Science Foundation.
His work also has attracted more than $1.25 million in funding from NSF, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies.
“It is a tribute not only to his energy and resourcefulness, but also to the high esteem with which he is held in his field that he has been so successful in this endeavor,” says NIU Distinguished Research Professor Peter Meserve.
Interwoven throughout King’s work is a strong commitment to students. He helped develop new courses for the graduate program in biological sciences and also contributed to curriculum development for NIU’s new environmental studies program.
Additionally, King has directed 10 theses and dissertations, with five more in progress. His research projects have provided real-world experiences in cutting-edge conservation practices for dozens of students.
“Interest in conservation biology is high, but opportunities for training can be scarce,” King says. “Developing a strong conservation component in my work helped expand opportunities for highly qualified and motivated student researchers. My goal is to build on the success of these projects.”
Date posted: April 5, 2011 | Author: Thomas Parisi | Comments Off on Richard King: ‘The godfather’
The 10th annual festival is free and open to the public, and anyone with an interest in film is encouraged to attend.
It was originally started by media studies professor Laura Vazquez to give NIU students the ability to competitively screen their work. This year’s film festival received more than 40 entries from across the country and as far away as Cuba, South Africa and Australia.
Fourteen student-created short films have been chosen for screening at this year’s festival. A mix of both documentary and fiction films will be shown, all with running times of 30 minutes or less. The films selected for screenings range from comedy and drama to experimental pieces.
Student-film screenings will take place from 9 to 10:30 p.m.in the Visual Arts Building, Room 100, on Tuesday, April 5, and Wednesday, April 6.
On Thursday, April 7, award winners will be announced as the festival welcomes special guest Mike Ramsdell, founder of Under the Hood Productions, for the screening of his documentary, “The Anatomy of Hate.”
Ramsdell directed, produced, filmed and co-edited the documentary, which reveals individual and collective ideologies of hate. He also is working on another documentary, “The Conflict Mineral Project,” which follows three men traveling to the heart of genocide in Darfur.
The screening of “The Anatomy of Hate,” along with a question-and-answer session, will take place at 7 p.m. in Room 100 of the NIU Visual Arts Building. That will be followed by a presentation of festival awards.
Date posted: March 31, 2011 | Author: Thomas Parisi | Comments Off on Reality Bytes film festival to show student works
Northern Illinois University has named Jeffrey Chown, John Hartmann and Gerald Jensen as its 2011 Board of Trustees Professors — an honor that recognizes international prominence in research as well as excellence in all facets of teaching.
And Jensen is a professor in the Department of Finance who is highly regarded for his expertise in the business and academic worlds.
“Whether it’s engaging students, inspiring colleagues or expanding the limits of knowledge in their respective fields, our 2011 Board of Trustees Professors do it all exceptionally well,” NIU President John G. Peters said. “The university and our students have benefitted greatly from the hard work and creativity of Jeffrey Chown, John Hartmann and Gerald Jensen. And we look forward to more good things to come from these exceptional faculty members.”
Established in 2007, the Board of Trustees Professorships honor faculty members who have consistently demonstrated excellence in teaching, academic leadership, scholarship or artistry, and service and outreach. Special emphasis is placed on recognizing those who have earned widespread acclaim for their work while continuing to engage students in their professional activities.
Each BOT Professorship is accompanied by a $10,000 stipend, renewable annually during a five-year term.
The BOT Professorship awards will be presented during the annual Faculty Awards Ceremony and Reception beginning at 3 p.m. Thursday, April 21, in the Altgeld Hall Auditorium.
Click on the link below for a closer look at the 2011 BOT Professors.
Date posted: March 29, 2011 | Author: Thomas Parisi | Comments Off on Jeffrey Chown, John Hartmann, Gerald Jensen named 2011 Board of Trustees Professors
NIU communication professor Laura Vazquez this week will screen her award-winning documentary on homelessness, titled “on the edge,” before an audience that will include members of Congress.
Diane Nilan and Laura Vazquez
Vazquez spent four years working with Diane Nilan, a nationally known advocate for the homeless, to tell the stories of seven women and their children struggling to find permanent housing.
After attending the premiere screening in Naperville last October, U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert invited the filmmakers to screen the documentary in Washington, D.C.
Biggert chairs the subcommittee that oversees HUD policies and serves as co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Homelessness. She sent out a letter inviting colleagues and members of their staffs to a private screening of the one-hour documentary Wednesday evening.
“When you make a film like this, your goal is to affect awareness and policy so that the lives of people like those in your film might improve,” Vazquez says. “Rep. Biggert has invited many policy makers to this screening. So perhaps this is our chance to make a difference in the lives of women and children in America who struggle with poverty and eventual homelessness.”
A clip from the film also will be shown earlier in the day during a congressional briefing to explore issues pertaining to homeless children, youth and families.
“‘On the edge’ speaks truth to those who don’t understand homelessness, including our members of Congress,” says Nilan, who has spent 25 years advocating for the homeless and founded the non-profit Hear Us, a Naperville-based organization that aims to raise awareness.
“You can’t hear these seven amazing women speak about their experiences and not be profoundly moved to want to help,” she adds.
Jeffrey Chown is a cast of characters: mentor, charismatic teacher, scholarly film critic, NIU ambassador, documentary filmmaker and tireless colleague.
He also stars in the role of Genuinely Nice Guy.
A professor in the Department of Communication, Chown helped develop and champion its Media Studies program, which prepares students for TV, film and video-production work. During his career, he has taught more than 11,000 NIU students — including many who now work as university professors or in the film industry.
“My success, and the worldwide success of films I’ve worked on, are genuinely a result of his inspiration,” says alumnus Robert Katz, a film producer whose credits include “Crash,” winner of the 2006 Oscar for Best Picture.
In addition to preparing students for work in Hollywood, Chown has brought some of its brightest stars to DeKalb, arranging for visits by Katz and “Forrest Gump” director Robert Zemeckis, as well as an 80-minute classroom conference call with filmmaker Michael Moore.
Chown first arrived at NIU in 1982. Several years later he authored the book, “Hollywood Auteur: Francis Coppola,” a critical survey of Coppola’s films still used in college coursework today.
Chown is a worldwide authority on Irish films as well. And in 1991, inspired by a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Ireland, he founded NIU’s Media and Culture program at Dublin City University. “It’s one of the major joys of my career,” Chown says. “Placing students with Irish families keeps the costs low, enabling many students to travel abroad for the first time.”
Now one of NIU’s oldest and most successful study abroad programs — with more than 400 alumni — it has been replicated by other top universities and also helped establish the university’s reputation across the pond.
“In Professor Chown, (NIU) has one of its finest international ambassadors, all the more impressive because of (his) genuine modesty and courtesy,” says Luke Gibbons, a professor of Irish Studies at the National University of Ireland.
Peter C. Rollins, emeritus regents professor at Oklahoma State University, says Chown’s scholarly work is world-class. But Rollins is most impressed with Chown’s filmmaking.
“Unlike 99 percent of his international peers, he is not only a film scholar but a filmmaker,” Rollins says.
By collaborating with his students to produce Ken Burns-style documentaries, Chown provides them with work experiences that complement classroom learning. “Dr. Chown embodied the concept of ‘engaged learning’ long before the term gained currency on campus,” says NIU Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean Christopher McCord.
Chown’s documentaries have won awards, praise and large audiences, beginning with “Barbed Wire Pioneers.” Its 1998 debut at DeKalb’s Egyptian Theatre drew 1,600 people.
His other films include “John Peter Altgeld: The Eagle Remembered,” “DeKalb Stories” and “Lincoln and the Black Hawk War,” which appeared on Chicago’s PBS Channel 11.
More recently, Chown has been praised for his scholarly examinations of war documentaries. Again, his work incorporates students, who interviewed NIU veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan to produce a new film, “Degrees of Reality.”
All the hard work has brought accolades, including NIU’s Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award and Presidential Teaching Professorship, and the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award from the Illinois Humanities Council.
Yet Chown is just as prolific in behind-the-scenes service.
He has directed nearly 40 theses, contributed to nearly 200 graduate committees and served on countless administrative groups, including the Faculty Senate and Strategic Planning Task Force. He also served as acting communication department chair, director of its graduate studies and University Honors director.
Date posted: March 29, 2011 | Author: Thomas Parisi | Comments Off on Jeffrey Chown: NIU auteur
