Trauma Center opens

The University of Chicago Medicine began providing adult trauma care on May 1, with the first patient brought by ambulance at noon that day. The level 1 adult trauma center adds to UChicago Medicine’s pediatric trauma and burn services, providing the community with a comprehensive system of care to treat the full range of trauma injuries in patients of all ages. Since announcing plans to become a level 1 adult trauma center in December 2015, UChicago Medicine has hired 18 experienced trauma professionals from around the country, including five surgeons.

New dean for Physical sciences

Angela V. Olinto, the Albert A. Michelson Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, was named dean of the Division of the Physical Sciences. Her appointment took effect July 1. Olinto is a leader in the field of astroparticle physics and cosmology, focusing on understanding the origin of high-energy cosmic rays, gamma rays, and neutrinos. She succeeds Edward “Rocky” Kolb, the Arthur Holly Compton Distinguished Service Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics, who served as dean from 2013 to 2018.

Making a splash at MBL

Nipam Patel, a top scholar of modern evolutionary and developmental biology, has been appointed director of the UChicago-affiliated Marine Biological Laboratory, effective September 4. In addition, Patel will be appointed as a faculty member at UChicago. He currently holds the William V. Power Endowed Chair in Biology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he is a professor and cochair of the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology and a professor in the Department of Integrative Biology.

Provostial post

Daniel Abebe, AM’06, PhD’13, was named vice provost of the University, effective July 1. In this role, he will lead a range of critical efforts in support of the University’s academic units. He also will serve as the faculty director of UChicagoGRAD, the University’s initiative for graduate students and postdocs. Abebe is the Harold J. and Marion F. Green Professor of Law and Walter Mander Teaching Scholar. His research focuses on the relationship between foreign relations law and public international law.

Strong economic forecast

Economist Sendhil Mullainathan joined the Chicago Booth faculty as University Professor on July 1. He previously was the Robert C. Waggoner Professor of Economics at Harvard. His research spans behavioral, labor, and public economics; corporate finance; and the intersection of machine learning and public policy. Mullainathan is the 22nd person to hold a University Professorship, and one of nine active faculty members with that title. University Professors are selected for internationally recognized eminence and potential for impact across the University.

Board reelects Neubauer as chair

The Board of Trustees has reelected Joseph Neubauer, MBA’65, as its chair, and Ashley D. Joyce, AM’01, and Brien M. O’Brien have joined the board as new members, the University announced June 11. O’Brien also has been elected chair of the UChicago Medical Center’s Board of Trustees, which he joined in 2005. Neubauer, the retired chairman of the ARAMARK Corporation, has served on the University’s Board of Trustees since 1992 and as chair since 2015. He and his wife, Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer, have a long history of service and generous philanthropic giving to the University.

Curbing conflict

The Pearson Global Forum will take place October 4–5, bringing together scholars, policy makers, and other stakeholders to examine strategies to prevent, deescalate, and resolve violent conflicts around the world. The inaugural Forum will be held at the University of Chicago and hosted by The Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts, launched at UChicago in 2015. The Forum will convene researchers, students, policy makers, and individuals working in conflict zones or with victims of conflict. The event will focus on bridging a critical gap between research and policy and using empirical insights to inform more effective policies.

Courting success

Angel Ysaguirre has been appointed executive director of the University of Chicago’s Court Theatre, effective September 4. Ysaguirre, who previously led the nonprofit Illinois Humanities, will work alongside Charlie Newell, the Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director, as coleader of the University’s professional theater. Founded in 1955, Court was dubbed “the most consistently excellent theater company in America” by the Wall Street Journal in 2006.

An apple for the teacher

At convocation, 10 members of the UChicago faculty were honored for their work in the classroom. Stuart Gazes, senior lecturer in physics; Kimberly Hoang, assistant professor in sociology; Boaz Keysar, professor in psychology; Peggy Mason, professor in neurobiology; and Nadine Moeller, associate professor of Egyptian archaeology, received the Llewellyn John and Harriet Manchester Quantrell Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. The Faculty Awards for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentoring went to Niall Atkinson, associate professor of art history; Rina Foygel Barber, SM’09, PhD’12, associate professor in statistics; John Brehm, professor in political science; David Freedman, professor in neurobiology; and Susan Schreiner, professor of the history of Christianity and theology.

Decades in the making

On June 9, more than 70 years after taking her first UChicago course, June Gordon Marks Patinkin, 90, received her bachelor’s degree in political science. Patinkin, LAB’44, AB’18, left school early to work for the Marshall Plan. When her family learned that Patinkin regretted never receiving her degree, they contacted the College and learned that, counting several classes she took at Northwestern University, she had enough credits to graduate.