Mauricio Delgado on receiving the Presidential Early Career Award

Only 85 researchers nationwide are chosen each year to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, and this year Rutgers Assistant Professor Mauricio Delgado is one of the select few.  Delgado is on faculty in the Psychology Department at Rutgers University, Newark.

Mauricio writes:
On December 13, 2010, I had the distinct honor and pleasure of meeting President Obama. There were 85 recipients of the Presidential Award and we were all eagerly awaiting the President's arrival. It had been a full day of ceremonies with our families and nominating scientific agencies, but at the auditorium at the White House that afternoon everyone was quite excited about the main event. The President arrived to rousing applause by the award recipients and gave a brief, yet passionate speech about science and society. He posed for the group shot and then took the time to shake everyone's hand. It was an unforgettable experience. I am very thankful for having shared it with my family as well as for all the support I have received at Rutgers.

President Barack Obama poses for a group photo with the 2009 Recipients for the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in the South Court Auditorium of the White House Dec. 13, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

(Where's Mauricio? Right behind the president, slightly to the right. Click on the photo for a larger version)

Read the full press release on Delgado's award at the Rutgers-Newark Newscenter

1 Washington Park

Foong Soon Cheong, an assistant professor in the Rutgers Business School, sent me some photos of the new(ish) digs at 1 Washington Park, which officially opened last Fall. This one showing the Newark light rail in the foreground is my favorite:

Right next door to the Business School is the Newark Public Library. Did you know that library cards are not just for residents of Newark? If you're a students faculty or employee in Newark you're also eligible! I've gotten tons of great books here, and it's a beautiful building to visit.

Foong Soon Cheong has many more photos, not just of Rutgers, but also Jersey City and other locations, at http://www.panoramio.com/user/4586134

More on 1 Washington Park at http://www.business.rutgers.edu/files/rbs_highlight_1wp_issue_5_oct_09.pdf  and on the Rutgers Business School at http://business.rutgers.edu/

The Newark Public Library's website and full catalog available at http://www.npl.org/

Blacklight Project: Art and Social Justice

Thanks to the folks at Rutgers Today for creating this video!

The Blacklight Project brings together young people to express themselves through dance and other forms of art in the name of building community in Newark. Aimee Cox, who teaches African-American and African Studies at Rutgers-Newark, spearheads the project.




For more information, visit http://www.theblacklightproject.org/.

Lessons from Iceland

Law Professor Mark S. Weiner  (pictured below) spent the fall 2009 semester as a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Akureyi in Iceland, where he taught U.S. constitutional law and studied the country’s medieval clans, or kinship groups, and their relation to the growth of modern Icelandic law and society.

What he learned about the role of kinship in early Iceland shed light on efforts to develop the rule of law in current clan-based regions of the world, including those that nurture international terrorism. The Fulbright experience, says Weiner, “has fundamentally transformed my thinking about legal history and constitutional law in ways I hope to bring back with me when I return to Rutgers School of Law–Newark.”

Weiner will discuss kinship and the law in his February 23 Chancellor’s Distinguished Faculty Lecture and in a new book on the legal and cultural significance of clans.

He discusses his five-month Icelandic experience in this essay


For a slideshow of more spectacular photos from Iceland, go to
http://law.newark.rutgers.edu/files/u/WeinerIceland.pdf

Dharma Jazz Concert

Hope everyone had a great summer and has settled into their classes and fall routine by now. Last week we had our first free concert at the Dana Library, up on the fourth floor where the Jazz Institute is located.

The concert featured our very own professor of Jazz and musician Lewis Porter, along with Dharma, a group that blends Middle Eastern music with jazz. At left is Freddie Bryant on guitar.

The set included songs that Porter has arranged along with some improvisation and jamming, and even audience participation for one piece.

I recorded video for one of the songs and even got permission to post it but unfortunately am having technical difficulties getting it transferred from the camera to my computer (it's a large file). Hopefully I'll have it resolved soon so you can all hear how great they are for yourselves!

In the photo below, Dr. Lewis Porter on piano and synth.

Below, Karttikeya plays miscellaneous percussion - as you can see from the photo, he had quite a collection of different instruments (most of which I can't name unfortunately), and he was constantly switching over from one to another during each piece.

Below, Badal Roy on tablas. He also contributed vocals to one of the songs (and got the audience in on the act too)


Several of the band members have their own websites where you can find out more and listen to clips at the locations below.

WEBSITES:

Lewis Porter: www.lewisporter.com and myspace.com/Lrpjazz
Freddie Bryant: www.freddiebryant.com

Karttikeya: www.TheRedHawkFly.com

Dharma Jazz: myspace.com/Dharmajazz

Campus Plaza, Infrared-Style

If you're a fan of photography and haven't been to the Dana Room on the 4th Floor of the Dana Library in a while, you'll definitely want to head over to check out the set of photos on display there by librarian Ed Berger. Below are two of his campus plaza photographs:

Ed also has some beautiful black and white jazz photography on display in the Jazz Institute lobby, which you can view online at http://newarkwww.rutgers.edu/IJS/berger/