F A C U L T Y / S T A F F    N E W S

Gil tapped as  dean of the College of Arts and Sciences
McNeil honored for leading, mentoring women in science
Vigiolto, Barker named to positions in research, information technology
Walden to lead Center for Faculty Excellence
Honors

Gil tapped as  dean of the College of Arts and Sciences

Karen M. Gil, Lee G. Pedersen Distinguished Professor of Psychology and professor of psychiatry, will be recommended to the Board of Trustees at their meeting later this month as the next dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Bernadette Gray-Little, executive vice chancellor and provost, announced to the campus community last week. If the recommendation is approved, Gil's appointment will be effective July 1.

After a national search to fill the position led by an advisory search committee headed by Jack Boger, dean of the School of Law, Gil was selected by Chancellor Holden Thorp and Gray-Little.

“We felt that Dr. Gil was a perfect fit for Carolina in many ways,” Gray-Little said.

A Carolina faculty member since 1995, Gil twice has served as senior associate dean in the college. Currently she is senior associate dean for social sciences and international programs, where she oversees all of the college’s social sciences departments as well as its international programs based in the FedEx Global Education Center.

From 2001 to 2004, she served as senior associate dean for undergraduate education, and from 2004 to 2007, Gil chaired the Department of Psychology. She is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and the Society of Behavioral Medicine, and has been the author of numerous publications on health psychology, acute and chronic pain, stress and coping, and childhood medical illness.

“We are fortunate to have someone with Dr. Gil’s impressive credentials and stature as a candidate to head our University’s largest and oldest academic unit,” Gray-Little said. “With her background as a faculty member, researcher and administrator within the college, she is ideally suited to lead our faculty, staff and students in addressing future challenges, not only on our campus but also around the world.”

Gray-Little thanked Bruce Carney, Samuel Baron Distinguished Professor of Physics and Astronomy and senior associate dean for the sciences, who has served as interim dean of the college since last July.

“Dr. Carney is a true citizen of the University and one of the college’s strongest advocates. The Carolina community is grateful to him for stepping into this crucial role and keeping the college moving forward during the search process,” Gray-Little said.

Gil received a doctorate in clinical psychology from West Virginia University in 1985 and a bachelor of arts degree in psychology with highest honors from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1978. Before coming to UNC, she was a faculty member at Duke University for a decade.

McNeil honored for leading, mentoring women in science

Laurie E. McNeil, professor of physics and astronomy and of applied and materials sciences, has won the 2009 Mary Turner Lane Award.

Established in 1986, the award recognizes people who make outstanding contributions to the lives of women students, faculty, staff and administrators at Carolina. It is named after Mary Turner Lane, founding director of the Curriculum in Women’s Studies and the first recipient of the award.

The University’s Association for Women Faculty and Professionals presented the award to McNeil April 29 at the group’s annual banquet.

McNeil, who has chaired the Department of Physics and Astronomy since 2004, was cited for her leadership of women in science through scholarship and example, not only at Carolina, but also throughout the country and around the world.

One of only six female physics chairs in the United States, McNeil is “the visible face of a department that unites experimental and theoretical science,” said Joy Kasson, professor and chair of American studies, as she read the award citation.

One nominator commented on McNeil’s tireless efforts on behalf of Working on Women in Science (WOWS). As one of four members of the first cohort of WOWS scholars, McNeil has advised department chairs and personnel and search committees in the recruitment, retention and advancement of women faculty. Through the Women in Science lectureship, the group also has brought eminent women researchers to campus.

Another nominator said, “She serves as a terrific role model. She led the college’s recent effort to obtain funding from the National Science Foundation for an ADVANCE program to stimulate gender equity in the sciences at UNC.”

A Carolina faculty member since 1984, McNeil is a condensed matter/materials physicist, specializing in optical spectroscopy of semiconductors and insulators. She held a Bowman and Gordon Gray Professorship for “excellence in inspirational teaching of undergraduate students” and has worked to transform the teaching of introductory physics at Carolina through a Chapman Family Faculty Fellowship at the Institute for the Arts and Humanities.

McNeil was instrumental in establishing UNC-BEST (UNC Baccalaureate Education in Science and Teaching), a joint program between the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Education to prepare science majors to become high school science teachers. And she spearheaded the college’s multi-year project to revise Carolina’s undergraduate general education curriculum.

An aficionado of classical music with a wry sense of humor, McNeil has worked hard to combat many of the common stereotypes of scientists.

“The evidence, from her students and her colleagues, shows that Laurie McNeil has made a huge difference for women on this campus and beyond,” Kasson said.

Vigiolto, Barker named to positions in research, information technology

Vigiolto

Barker

The Office of Research and Economic Development and Information Technology Services have announced that Margaret Vigiolto, formerly with Drexel University, and Michael Barker, formerly with Florida State University, respectively, are joining their staffs.

Vigiolto
Margaret (Peg) Vigiolto has become the associate vice chancellor for research and director of the Office of Sponsored Research, effective May 4. The Office of Clinical Trials also reports to Vigiolto.

Vigiolto, whose career in research administration spans 18 years, came to Carolina from Drexel University in Philadelphia, where she had been the associate vice provost for research since 2000. In that capacity, she directed the central office of research administration at Drexel. Before she assumed that role, Vigiolto served in various positions in the post-award fiscal and costing policy areas, beginning as a coordinator of research accounts at Lehigh University.

Vigiolto earned her bachelor’s degree in education and English at East Stroudsburg University and her M.B.A. from Lehigh University.

She has been active in the National Council of University Research Administrators, serving as chair of the Financial Research Administration Neighborhood and chair of the Neighborhood Program Committee.

The Office of Sponsored Research provides comprehensive pre-award and post-award contract and grant services to Carolina faculty.

Barker
Michael Barker has been appointed assistant vice chancellor for infrastructure and operations and chief technology officer in Information Technology Services (ITS) effective May 15.

In his new position, Barker will be responsible for establishing a cohesive IT architecture for the University with a coordinated set of IT technologies, services, standards and policies as well as the day-to-day operations of the infrastructure and operations function of ITS.

Barker is a senior information technology specialist with broad IT experience.

Before coming to Carolina, he served as director of university computing services within the office of technology integration at Florida State University. 

Walden to lead Center for Faculty Excellence

Ruth Walden, the James Howard and Hallie McLean Parker Distinguished Professor of Journalism and Mass Communication, will become director of the Center for Faculty Excellence beginning July 1.

The center was created last summer to promote faculty development in teaching, research and leadership. Walden, who has been at Carolina since 1985, is widely respected by colleagues and regarded as an excellent role model and mentor, said Bernadette Gray-Little, executive vice chancellor and provost, in announcing Walden’s appointment.

“Dr. Walden is an accomplished scholar with an in-depth understanding of the issues related to enhancing success for faculty members in their various roles,” Gray-Little said.

As she provides leadership for the center, Walden will continue to teach and conduct research in mass communication law and First Amendment theory. She serves on the editorial boards of Communication Law and Policy and Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly and is the author of “Insult Laws: An Insult to Press Freedom,” a worldwide study commissioned by the World Press Freedom Committee.

A teaching award winner, Walden has worked extensively with graduate education and tailored an existing pedagogy class designed to help graduate students prepare for academic careers.

She has served on advisory committees for the Graduate School, and within the journalism school she has been coordinator of the master’s and doctoral programs and director and associate dean of graduate studies.

She currently chairs the University Committee on Appointment, Promotion and Tenure.

“We are fortunate to have someone of Dr. Walden’s stature agree to lead the next phase of the Center for Faculty Excellence,” Gray-Little said.

Until Walden assumes her role, the center will be led by Todd Zakrajsek, who was appointed executive director last August. Zakrajsek came to Carolina from Central Michigan University, where he was the inaugural director of the Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching from 2001 to 2008.

For information about the center and its programs, refer to cfe.unc.edu.