USD Magazine Summer 2008

USD President Mary Lyons was elected chair of the board of the Association of Catholic Col- leges and Universities this spring. Lyons attended Pope Benedict XVI’s address at the Catholic University of America inWashing- ton, D.C., in April; there the pontiff spoke about the important role of Catholic education to more than 400 university presidents and diocesan education leaders from around the country. The School of Business Administration has named David F. Pyke incoming dean, effective Aug. 1, 2008. Currently the associate dean of the MBA Program at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, Pyke has helped to develop Tuck into one of the nation’s top busi- ness schools. . USD’s undergradu- ate business program, for the sec- ond straight year, is ranked by BusinessWeek as one of the top 50 programs in the nation. USD’s Chemistry and Biochemistry Department has been awarded more than $2 million from the National Science Foundation and other private foundations. Assistant Professor of Chemistry Peter Iovine received the prestigious $475,000 CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation. Associate Professor of Chemistry David De Haan received a major research grant of $310,000 from the NSF, funded through the Research in Undergraduate Insti- tutions Faculty Research Projects program and NSF’s Directorate of Geosciences. The Chemistry and Biochemistry Department was also awarded a $500,000 Depart- ment Development Award from the Tucson, Ariz.-based Research Corp. that will be matched by funds from USD for a $1 million- [ etc . ]

plus investment in science. Final- ly, the department received near- ly $600,000 from the Henry Luce Foundation to establish the Clare Booth Luce Professorship in chemistry and biochemistry. The 35th annual San Diego Crew Classic in Mission Bay was a“home”event for USDmen’s and women’s rowing teams, but it was also the site of a special shell dedi- cation. The“Karen L. Cosgrove”shell was named for the late wife of Tom Cosgrove, associate vice president of student life. TomCosgrove start- ed USD’s crew program 30 years ago in 1978. The new shell was christened and is being used by the men’s program. Quarterback Josh Johnson was selected in the fifth round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the National Football League draft on April 27. Johnson, who threw 43 touchdown passes and only one interception in 2007, was the 160th overall player selected. The record-setting senior posted a 30- 4 mark in three years as the start- ing quarterback. He leaves as USD’s all-time passing leader for most touchdown passes (113), completions (724), attempts (1,065) and passing yards (9,699). The Office of Alumni Relations is seeking nomina- tions for the Mother Rosalie Clifton Hill Award, which recog- nizes outstanding service to the USD community, and the Bishop Charles Francis Buddy Award, which is bestowed for outstanding service for humanitarian causes. Go to alumni.sandiego.edu or call (619) 260-4819. Find current stories about student achievements, faculty research and special events at Inside USD , a newWeb site devel- oped by the Office of Public Affairs. From academics to athletics, peacebuilding to sustainability, up-to-date campus news is at www.sandiego.edu/insideusd.

LUIS GARCIA

USD’s David Shirk spearheads the Justice in Mexico project.

recent one at USD, on April 21, examined national and local initia- tives and, in the wake of recent developments, the conversation should be valuable.“(The reforms) will fundamentally overhaul the administration of justice in Mexico in very significant ways over the next eight years,”Shirk says.“Many reforms have already been imple- mented in states we’ve been study- ing. We’ll benefit from a better understanding of what’s going on at the federal level and how states throughout Mexico have experi- mented with components of the reform package.” The project’s collection of infor- mation, available online, is crucial. It has produced books, a mono- graph series, monthly news

reports and scholarly research papers on rule of law issues in Mexico. In short, Mexico’s leader- ship has information available to help its country thrive. “You can’t really have a func- tioning democracy without the rule of law or vice versa,” Shirk says. “I really think the people we’re talking to on the ground, especially students, will experi- ence an incredible transformation in the next 20 years. It’s a great honor for us to be part of the dis- cussions, to work with people who 100 years from now will be looked back on as having made a major change in Mexico.”

To learn more, go to www.justicein- mexico.org.

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