INSIDE Pitt Day in Harrisburg....................2 Horoho: Women’s History Month profile...................3 PittNewspaper of the University of PittsburghChronicle Volume XIII • Number 8 • March 19, 2012 Pitt’s Dick Thornburgh Forum, Swanson School to Host March 27-28 Symposium on Future of Nuclear Power attorney general of the United States, and “This symposium brings together former U.N. under- secretary general, highly regarded experts with a and now counsel to the international law variety of vantage points to con- firm K&L Gates in its Washington, D.C., sider the future of nuclear power. office—will open the symposium with wel- And there could be no more coming remarks. Pitt appropriate venue for this event Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg and Gerald than Pittsburgh, where nuclear D. Holder, the Swan- son School’s U.S. Steel power was born.” Dean of Engineering, —Dick Thornburgh also will speak. Dick Thornburgh Gerald D. Holder “This symposium is built on two of the highly regarded experts with a variety of Clue Uncovered for many strengths of this vantage points to consider the future of By Patricia Lomando White University,” said Pitt nuclear power,” said Thornburgh. “And Chancellor Mark A. there could be no more appropriate venue Origins of Type of “From Its Birthplace: A Symposium on Nordenberg. “The first is the Dick Thorn- for this event than Pittsburgh, where nuclear the Future of Nuclear Power”—a two-day burgh Forum for Law and Public Policy, power was born. During the symposium, event that will include presentations on such which honors the legacy of achievement the in-depth presentations will examine Supernovae Explosion topics as engineering technology, public and impact of University of Pittsburgh not only the many aspects of nuclear power, health, emergency management, insurance, trustee and alumnus Dick Thornburgh, but also the accidents at Three Mile Island, By B. Rose Huber and financing—will take place March 27-28 who, through a lifetime of public service, Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union, and in the University of Pittsburgh William Pitt has made extraordinary contributions to the Fukushima Daiichi in Japan.” An important clue has been uncovered Union Ballroom. The symposium is cospon- public good. The other is Pitt’s Swanson According to Edward McCord, direc- about the origins of an important type of sored by Pitt’s Dick Thornburgh Forum for School of Engineering, which is among tor of the Dick Thornburgh Forum, the sym- exploding star, Type Ia supernovae, thanks Law and Public Policy and Swanson School this country’s finest by almost any standard posium stands apart from others by virtue to a research team at the University of of Engineering. of measure, among them its cutting-edge of the role Western Pennsylvania has played Pittsburgh. Studying supernovae of this Dick Thornburgh (LAW ’57)—Pitt research, faculty stature, industry partner- historically and continues to play as a leader type helps researchers measure galaxy emeritus trustee, former governor of the ships, and quality of its student body.” distances and can lead to important astro- Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, former “This symposium brings together Continued on page 9 nomical discoveries. A paper detailing this research has been accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters. Principal investigator Carlos Badenes, Pitt Researchers Develop New Science of assistant professor of physics and astronomy Spotlight on Research in Pitt’s Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, detailed the ways in which his National Preparedness team used the Sloan Digital Sky Survey—a collection of multicolor images and more than a million spectra covering more than By Daniel Bates a quarter of the sky—to determine what kinds of stars produce Type Ia supernovae It could be said that nothing shook the explosions. nation to its core—and catalyzed a transfor- “We knew that two stars had to be mation in the way the nation thinks about involved in such an explosion, and that one the complexities of national security and of them had to be a white dwarf,” says Dan disaster preparedness—like the tragedies Maoz, professor of physics and astronomy of Sept. 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina at Tel-Aviv University in Israel and coauthor in 2005. of the soon-to-be-published paper on the Certainly, preparedness discussions discovery. “But there were two possibilities already were occurring at places like the for what the second star is, which is what University of Pittsburgh long before those we sought to discover.” infamous events. But amidst those disas- According to Badenes, there were two ters, the nation’s lawmakers, law enforc- potential outcomes for the star’s type. It ers, policy analysts, constitutional rights could be a “normal star,” like the sun, or advocates, public health officials, first it could be another white dwarf, which is responders, the military, and academia sud- a smaller, more dense faint star composed denly found themselves front and center in of electron-degenerate matter. The team national and regional debates. With a new suspected the latter, as two white dwarfs sense of urgency, they grappled with the within the same star system would revolve future what-ifs of disasters—how to better around one another at half a million miles prepare for them, anticipate them, manage an hour, speeding up and getting closer them, and mitigate their consequences. and closer until one day they merge, most An intellectual “Code Orange” thus likely producing the fireworks of Type Ia ensued over the coming years as thought- supernovae. ful leaders around the country theorized, develop science-driven, big-picture frame- and Nursing, as well as, among others, “There were obvious reasons to sus- planned, and simulated possible future works to harness the complexities of large- the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts pect that Type Ia supernovae come from disasters—and worked to solve technologi- scale disasters. That collective initiative and Sciences and the Graduate Schools of the merging of a double white dwarf,” cal problems at a level of intensity not seen culminated in 2004 with the launch of the Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) says Maoz. “But our biggest question was before. University of Pittsburgh Center for National and Public Health (GSPH). The center’s whether there were enough double white Among them, of course, was a diverse Preparedness. researchers have developed new innova- dwarfs out there to produce the number of group of University of Pittsburgh research- Since then, the multidisciplinary center tions in such areas as disaster management, supernovae that we see.” ers and policy experts who joined forces has helped drive the national agenda. Its robotic search and rescue, information Because white dwarfs are extremely to hold their own academic discussions, leaders hail from Pitt’s Schools of Medicine, conduct intensive research, and, ultimately, Information Sciences, Engineering, Law, Continued on page 6 Continued on page 5 2 • Pitt Chronicle • March 19, 2012 Brieflynoted Pitt Day in Harrisburg, 2012 1 Pitt Schools, Programs Chakraborty, the Robert T. Haslam Professor Advance in U.S. News’ Best of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Graduate Schools Rankings Bioengineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as the recipient of the Bayer In the latest edition of U.S. News & Distinguished Lectureship 2012. Chakraborty World Report’s Best Graduate Schools, a is one of the nation’s leading researchers in number of University of Pittsburgh schools and experimental immunology through theoretical and programs have advanced in the guidebook computation methods, especially autoimmune rankings, according to the publication’s 2012 deficiencies and HIV. 2 3 methodology. These rankings appear in Chakraborty will present two lectures at Pitt: BURKE/CIDDE JIM BY PHOTOS highlights form in the Best Graduate Schools “How to Hit HIV Where It Hurts” at 5 p.m. March As many as 500 Pitt students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni, and other supporters participated in the annual Pitt Day in book, available for newsstand purchase on April 22 and “Understanding Adaptive Immunity: A Harrisburg on March 13. Six buses departed from the William Pitt Union at 7 a.m. for the three-hour journey to the state’s 3, and for purchase online; visit www.usnews. Crossroad of the Physical, Life, and Engineering Capitol, where they joined supporters from the University’s four regional campuses. At the top of participants’ to-do lists was com/usnews/store/grad_school_compass.htm Sciences” at 9:30 a.m. March 23. Both lectures, to discuss with legislators the state’s proposed 30 percent cut in Commonwealth appropriations to three of the four state- for more information. which are free and open to the public, will be related universities: Pitt, Penn State, and Temple. 1. Students gathered in the Capitol Rotunda before fanning out to visit Within the Top Schools of Medicine— held in Room 102 Benedum Hall. For more their respective legislators to discuss how the proposed cuts would affect Pitt. 2. Jeff Gleim (left), Pitt Alumni Association Primary Care category, Pitt’s School of Medicine information, call 412-624-9630. executive director, talks with State Rep. Dan Frankel (D-23), minority caucus chair. 3. Michael Pinsky (left), Pitt Faculty advanced to No. 18, up from No. 28 last year. The Bayer Distinguished Lectureship Senate president, and Jack Smith, Pitt Alumni Association president. The event was organized by Pitt Advocates, a network And in the Medical Specialties—Pediatrics is presented annually by Pitt’s Department of alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends who share a commitment to higher education and to Pitt; the Pitt Alumni category, Pitt moved up to No. 9 from No. 11 of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering and Association; and Pitt’s Office of Governmental Relations. last year. In the Health Disciplines categories last recognizes excellence in chemical education, ranked in 2008, Pitt jumped from No.