From the Desk of the Chancellor, May 23, 2011

Chancellor Charles R. Bantz View print-quality image

Two IUPUI scholars recently earned significant recognitions. My congratulations to Karen Kovacik, selected by the Indiana Arts Commission to be Indiana’s poet laureate, and to Stephen L. Boehm II, named the 2011 Young Scientist of the Year by the International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.

Professor Kovacik, who teaches English and directs the creative writing program in our IU School of Liberal Arts, will serve a two-year-term beginning January 2012. During her tenure as poet laureate, she plans to write a literary blog on Hoosier writers, create a downloadable poetry-teaching toolkit for the Indiana Humanities Council, and sponsor events at schools and libraries throughout the state. Her poem “Invisible Movements” is featured in the “Moving Forward” public art project, a series of three custom-designed eco-friendly bus shelters that showcase original poetry by published writers along the Indianapolis Cultural Trail.

Professor Boehm is in the Department of Psychology, Purdue School of Science, and received his award at the May 13 annual meeting of the society in Rome, Italy. The behavioral neuroscientist is being honored for his ongoing study of the impact of binge alcohol consumption on the functioning of neural circuits in the brain. The organization also cited Boehm's mentorship of students. Two of the School of Science doctoral candidates, Eileen Moore and David Linsenbardt, accompanied him to Rome, where they presented findings on their research in the Boehm lab. The studies may lead to a drug therapy that could be useful in treating alcohol abuse and dependence.

Comments? Write chancllr@iupui.edu.