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Press Releases in May, 2010

The 242nd Commencement

Nelson Mandela Receives Honorary Degree in Absentia, One of Eight Recipients

Nelson Mandela: Doctor of Laws (LL.D.)
Brown University conferred honorary degrees on Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela and seven other distinguished recipients during its 242nd Commencement exercises, Sunday, May 30, 2010. The degrees were conferred on actor Morgan Freeman, computer scientist Barbara Liskov, human rights leader Nelson Mandela, author Shahrnush Parsipur, civic leader Cecile Richards, reporter David Rohde, historian Romila Thapar, and historian Gordon S. Wood. The charge d’affaires at the Embassy of South Africa in Washington accepted the degree on Mandela’s behalf. (Distributed May 30, 2010)
The 242nd Commencement

Brown University Confers 2,259 Degrees

Brown University conferred 2,259 degrees, including eight honorary doctorates, during its 242nd Commencement exercises Sunday, May 30, 2010. Lists of degree recipients are available in the printed Commencement program and online (pdf). (Distributed May 29, 2010)

A New Approach to Finding and Removing Defects in Graphene

Removing impurities on the atomic scale: Engineering professor Vivek Shenoy (right) and graduate student Akbar Bagri have explored the atomic configuration of graphene oxide, showing how defects in graphene sheets can be located and treated.
In a paper in Nature Chemistry, Vivek Shenoy and colleagues pinpointed noncarbon atoms that create defects when graphene is produced through a technique called graphene-oxide reduction. The researchers also propose how to make that technique more efficient by precisely applying hydrogen – rather than heat – to remove the impurities. (Distributed May 28, 2010)
Building Brown

Brown Breaks Ground on Athletic Complex Project

Healthy and Green: Construction has begun on a new facility, incorporating a fitness center, swimming pool, varsity strength and conditioning center, and a new landscaped athletics quadrangle.
Members of the Brown Corporation formally broke ground Friday, May 28, 2010, on a major new addition to the athletic complex, including the Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center, the Nelson Fitness Center, the David J. Zucconi ’55 Varsity Strength and Conditioning Center, and the Ittleson Quadrangle. The project, to be built on and near the site of the former Smith Swim Center on Hope Street, is scheduled to open in March 2012. (Distributed May 28, 2010)
Meeting of the Corporation

Brown University Establishes School of Engineering

School of Engineering: The Corporation of Brown University has transformed one of the nation’s oldest engineering programs into the Brown School of Engineering.
Brown University has transformed its Division of Engineering into the Brown School of Engineering. The Corporation of Brown University approved the designation, effective July 1, 2010, at its May meeting. (Distributed May 28, 2010)
Meeting of the Corporation

Brown Corporation Elects Three New Fellows and Six New Trustees

The Corporation of Brown University, the University’s governing body, established the Brown University School of Engineering, elected three new fellows and six new trustees, and accepted gifts totaling $15.5 million at its regular spring meeting Friday, May 28, 2010. (Distributed May 28, 2010)
News and Media Advisory

Brown to Break Ground for Construction at Athletic Complex

Alumni, parents, and members of the Brown Corporation will join senior University leaders for a groundbreaking ceremony at 3:30 p.m. Friday, May 28, 2010, at the Wendell R. Erickson ’19 Athletic Complex, Hope Street at Cushing. (Distributed May 25, 2010)

Brown Chemists Report Promising Advance in Fuel-Cell Technology

Metal masters: Vismadeb Mazumder (left) and chemistry professor Shouheng Sun, both of Brown University, have demonstrated that a unique core-shell nanoparticle is a cheaper, more active and longer-lasting fuel-cell catalyst than commercially available platinum products.
Chemists at Brown University have come up with a promising advance in fuel-cell technology. The team has demonstrated that a nanoparticle with a palladium core and an iron-platinum shell outperforms commercially available pure-platinum catalysts and lasts longer. The finding, reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, could move fuel cells a step closer to reality. (Distributed May 24, 2010)

Are Invasives Bad? Not Always, Say Brown Researchers

New research at Brown University challenges the notion that invasive species can't coexist with native animals. The researchers studied the Asian shore crab, which has proliferated along the Atlantic shore. In a paper in Ecology, the team explains why the crab has been successful in its new home without hurting native species. (Distributed May 17, 2010)

Graduate Student Dies in Auto Accident at Trenton, Maine

In a campuswide e-mail message this morning, President Ruth J. Simmons informed the Brown community of the death of Tam Ngoc Tran, a graduate student in American Civilization. The accident also claimed the life of a graduate student from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. A second Brown graduate student was treated and released from the hospital. (Distributed May 16, 2010)

Brown Geologists Show Unprecedented Warming in Lake Tanganyika

Warming Lake: Researchers drilled cores into Lake Tanganyika to document the lake’s surface temperature for the last 1,500 years. They found unprecedented warming in the 20th century. Brown geologist James Russell, kneeling at drill head, led this core sampling mission in 2004.
Geologists led by Brown University have documented that Lake Tanganyika in east Africa has experienced unprecedented warming in the last century. Using core samples obtained from the lakebed, the team determined the lake is currently the warmest it has been in the last 1,500 years. The warming likely is affecting the valuable fish stocks upon which millions of people depend. Results appear in Nature Geoscience. (Distributed May 16, 2010)
Media Advisory

U.S. Rep. John Lewis To Speak on Student Activism

U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.):
U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), former chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, will give a lecture titled “On The Importance of Student Activism Today” Monday, May 10, 2010, at 5 p.m. in the Salomon Center for Teaching, DeCiccio Family Auditorium. (Distributed May 5, 2010)