6 Feb. 9, 2015 columns.uga.edu
A 2013 paper has landed a UGA College of Education researcher on the Council for Learning Disabilities’ list of “most influential” articles. Scott Ardoin’s paper, published in the Journal of School Psychology, examines the recommendations and research surrounding curriculum-based Scott Ardoin measurement of oral reading. The educational psychology department researcher and his team evaluated more than 100 studies examining the appropriateness of a widely used measure for monitoring the academic gains made by students provided with reading interventions. The primary reason for conducting this research, Ardoin said, was his concern that curriculum decisions for students were made based on unreliable data. Dr. K. Paige Carmichael, a professor of veterinary pathology and the former associate dean for academic affairs at the UGA College of Veterinary Medicine, is the recipient of the 2015 Iverson Bell Award, given by the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges. During her eight years as Paige Carmichael the college’s associate dean for academic affairs, Carmichael authored or co-authored multiple successful grants to address the recruitment of underrepresented groups to veterinary medicine and to support their careers. She also created the veterinary medicine college’s popular VetCAMP— Veterinary Career Aptitude and Mentoring Program—which aims to recruit young underrepresented minority students with an aptitude for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The award will be presented to Carmichael at the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges’ 2015 annual conference March 13-15 in Washington, D.C. The Iverson Bell Award is presented every other year to a member of the association’s academic veterinary community in recognition of outstanding leadership and the promotion of diversity in veterinary education. Carmichael will be the 14th veterinary educator to receive the award. David P. Landau, Distinguished Research Professor of Physics and founding director of the Center for Simulational Physics, was elected a corresponding (foreign) member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences in December 2014. Landau has been actively involved with the Brazilian physics community since 1989 when he co-organized the first Brazilian satellite meeting on computational physics in Ouro Preto, Brazil. He also helped create the series of biennial Brazilian Meetings on Simulational Physics modeled somewhat after the annual workshop series organized by UGA’s Center for Simulational Physics. John Snider, a faculty member in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, was named the Outstanding Young Cotton Physiologist at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences held last month in San Antonio, Texas. The national honor was given to Snider, an assistant professor of crop and soil sciences on the college’s Tifton campus, primarily for his work on alternate irrigation methods. He received a plaque and a $1,000 cash award from Dow AgroSciences, which sponsors the program. The award was started to recognize cotton physiology researchers in the early part of their careers. It is modeled after the Outstanding Cotton Physiologist Award given at the same conference for career-long accomplishments. Kudos recognizes special contributions of staff, faculty and administrators in teaching, research and service. News items are limited to election into office of state, regional, national and international societies; major awards and prizes; and similarly notable accomplishments.
FACULTY PROFILE
Peter Frey
Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, an associate professor in the School of Law, first had an interest in the legal field after she spent a year overseas working with the Mediation Network for Northern Ireland.
Talking the talk: Associate professor helps students learn language of law By Lona Panter lonap@uga.edu
Learning a second language can be a daunting task, but for Elizabeth Chamblee Burch, an associate professor in the School of Law, sharing the language of law with her students is exciting. “One of the things I tell my firstyear civil procedure students on the first day of class is, ‘You intuitively know something about a lot of the areas of the law. If you have a brother or sister, you know about torts and battery. And you know about property and contracts if you’ve ever signed a lease for an apartment,’ ” she said. “But civil procedure is an insider’s law; it’s almost like learning a new language. That’s what makes it exciting, but that’s also what makes it really difficult.” Burch, who teaches complex litigation, mass torts and a two-semester civil procedure class in the law school, educates her students on some of the more intricate topics in the legal world. “I hope to show them that the rules of procedure can be used strategically, to teach them how to deploy the rules in a way that helps their clients and to understand the rules’ impact on substantive policies and clients’ rights and remedies,” she said. Teaching means that Burch has the opportunity to share her expertise and knowledge with her students, while also
furthering her own research, which centers on complex litigation. “There’s a strong nexus for me because I teach in the area in which I write,” she said. “My complex litigation class, for example, uses a casebook I co-authored. Just preparing for class using current events such as the GM ignition switch litigation or the Toyota acceleration recalls and having the opportunity to talk through the judicial system’s handling of those problems with my students gives me new ideas for scholarship.” Burch first had an interest in the legal field after she spent a year overseas working with the Mediation Network for Northern Ireland. The group “mediates some of the disputes between Protestants and Catholics, and it gave me a chance to see how law can actually influence behavior and influence daily life,” she said. “I decided to go to law school from there.” While in law school, Burch became interested in complex litigation and civil procedure. “When I started writing about those topics in law school, I found them fascinating—and continue to do so,” she said. After graduating from law school, Burch moved into practice and then decided to test the waters of academia, first taking a position at the Cumberland
FACTS Elizabeth Chamblee Burch
Associate Professor of Law School of Law J.D., Florida State University, 2004 B.A., English, Vanderbilt University, 2000 At UGA: Four years
School of Law at Samford University, then as an assistant professor at the Florida State University College of Law. Burch received her first offer to teach shortly after dipping her toe in the academic pool, and it was an offer she didn’t expect to come so quickly. “Being a professor was not something I thought would be an option for me, but I was lucky enough to get a job teaching (at Cumberland),” she said. “They were very receptive, and I was very fortunate.” At UGA since 2011, Burch praised the “great faculty” she works with in the law school. She also has found teaching to be an enjoyable and fulfilling experience. “What’s not to enjoy about it?” she said. “My job now lets me do all the things I loved about practice all of the time. Plus it allows me to teach and (share) the excitement of all the first-year law students.”
SCHOOL OF LAW
IT help desk manager named law school employee of year By Courtney Brown lawprstu@uga.edu
Brad Grove, an information technology help desk manager, received the 2014 Emma P. Terrell Distinguished Employee Award from the School of Law’s Staff Representative Group. The award is given each year to an employee who demonstrates dedication and service to the law school. Grove joined Georgia Law in 2008, and he oversees a variety of technological resources and provides guidance to faculty, staff and students throughout the law school. He was recognized for his “helpful, reliable, professional, friendly and knowledgeable” demeanor. According to written nominations, Grove’s work ethic and commitment to the law school
community are “unparalleled.” One person wrote: “(He) is constantly on the move throughout the three buildings yet he always seems to be where he is most needed.” A native of St. Simons Island, Grove earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1995 and a bachelor’s degree in management information systems in 2007, both from UGA. Presented annually, the Terrell Award recognizes staff members who demonstrate an outstanding work ethic, a commitment to service and exceptional job performance in addition to the cooperation necessary to increase the quality of education and service provided by the law school. Formerly known as the Employee Distinguished Service Award, this honor was renamed in 2005 for the late law school employee.
Brad Grove, left, received the 2014 Emma P. Terrell Distinguished Employee Award from the UGA School of Law’s Staff Representative Group. He is pictured with Marie Mize, the chair of the law school’s Staff Representative Group.