SMU Forum

Meadows Museum brings together Diego Rivera's Cubist works

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:03:33 -0600

Mexican artist Diego Rivera (1886-1957) spent several critical years early in his career in Paris, during World War I, where he immersed himself in literary and art circles and enthusiastically embraced the Cubist movement. While his Cubist works experimented with a range of genres, including landscape and still life, Rivera showed a particular affinity for portraiture, and he created empathetic and moving portrayals of some of the era's most important figures.

Thirty-one of these works are brought together for the first time in an exclusive exhibition at SMU's Meadows Museum. Diego Rivera: The Cubist Portraits, 1913-1917 will run June 21-Sept. 20, 2009 and is funded by The Wachovia Foundation and The Meadows Foundation.

"We are thrilled to have organized this exhibition, which will introduce to Dallas a fascinating aspect of one of Mexico's greatest artists," says Mark Roglán, Meadows Museum director. "Through the quality of the paintings, complexity of the drawings, and his always evolving technique, this exhibition presents a unique opportunity for our visitors to learn about and appreciate both Rivera's portraits and Cubism at its best."

The exhibition was inspired by a key piece in the Meadows Museum's permanent collection, Rivera's Portrait of Ilya Ehrenburg (top right). It is one of only 4 Cubist portraits by Rivera in a public American collection. The additional 22 paintings and 8 preparatory sketches and book illustrations are from museums and private collections in the United States and other countries, and include several works that will be exhibited publicly for the first time.

A complementary exhibition in the museum's first-floor galleries, Mexican Art at the Meadows, will showcase lithographs by Rivera and other Mexican artists in the Meadows Museum's permanent collection. Included will be Rivera's portrait of his wife, Frida Kahlo, titled Seated Nude with Raised Arms, and scenes of rural and peasant life in Mexico.

In addition, the Museum will host several public programs in conjunction with the exhibition, including drop-in art classes, family events, and public lectures by Roglán, SMU Professor Emeritus of History Luís Martín, and Paloma Alarcó, curator of modern paintings at the Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid.

Top right: Portrait of Ilya Ehrenburg, 1915, oil on canvas. Meadows Museum, Algur H. Meadows Collection. Photography by Michael Bodycomb.

Army Reserve general to chair Environmental & Civil Engineering

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:03:30 -0600

Jeffrey Talley (at right in photo), just selected for his second star (Major General) in the U.S. Army Reserve and lauded for his recent work in the "engineering battle for Baghdad," is joining SMU's Lyle School of Engineering as chair of the Department of Environmental and Civil Engineering and Bobby B. Lyle Professor of Leadership and Global Entrepreneurship.

Talley recently completed a year of service as Baghdad Provincial Engineer under Gen. David Petraeus, where he commanded more than 4,000 engineers and soldiers in the 926th Engineer Brigade. Talley is credited with developing a military and policy strategy widely referred to as "engineering the peace" that aims to reduce violence in destabilized communities by rapidly rebuilding infrastructure, schools and hospitals. His work is credited with reducing violence and terrorism in the militia stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, and he was awarded two Bronze Stars - one for his efforts in rebuilding Baghdad, and the other for meritorious achievement in combat during the January planning and execution of security operations for the Baghdad provincial elections.

Solving the community's most basic problems delivered an important message that supporting the official government of Iraq would result in a better life for Sadr City families, Talley said in December, near the end of his tour of duty. "You are showing them there is another option besides the militia," Talley said.

Lyle School Dean Geoffrey Orsak said Talley will put flesh and bones on the philosophy Orsak drums into his SMU students - that engineers have both the power and responsibility to change lives.

"My work has really been about service to others," Talley said. "In the case of Iraq, specifically, it was in recognizing that engineers and scientists play a unique role in providing peace and hope. Within the Lyle School of Engineering we can link scholarship, leadership and service to others locally, nationally and globally. I think that fits really well, not only with the Dean's vision for the school, but also with the vision of other great leaders in Dallas and the nation."

"Jeff Talley is simply one of the best and most influential engineers in the country," Orsak said. "He is a true engineering leader, a great scholar and educator, and a real national hero. We are so pleased that he will be heading the Lyle School of Engineering's Environmental and Civil Engineering Department. I fully expect that he will accomplish absolutely remarkable things here in Texas and at SMU."

Talley joins the Lyle School from the University of Notre Dame, where he is associate professor of civil and environmental engineering and geological sciences. He is also visiting scholar and professor at Ireland's National Centre for Sensor Research at Dublin City University. Talley's research focuses on the environmental processes and treatment of contaminated surface water, groundwater, soil and sediment. Talley has graduate degrees in religious studies, history and philosophy in addition to engineering. He received his Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Talley attended Louisiana State University on an ROTC scholarship and was commissioned into the Army Corps of Engineers when he graduated in 1981. He has been a member of the U.S. Army Reserve since 1992 and was awarded his first Bronze Star in 2003 for engineering work in Kuwait and Iraq.

(Above, Jeffrey Talley (at right in photo) talks with Gen. David Petraeus as they walk through Baghdad's Sadr City in June 2008, when Petraeus was commanding general of the multi-national force in Iraq.)

Research Spotlight: N. Texas earthquakes not unexpected

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:45:00 -0600

Geologists in SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences are deploying 10 portable seismic stations in North Texas to study the increasingly frequent rumbling of earthquake activity in the Metroplex.

But the recent quakes that have occurred near Dallas-Fort Worth and Cleburne are not unexpected: They illustrate the earth's natural dynamic nature, says Brian Stump (right), Albritton Professor of Geological Sciences in the Huffington Department of Earth Sciences and a faculty member in its Seismology Research Program.

Rocks in the earth's crust store energy that is relieved when faults slip; that motion generates the waves that are felt or recorded during an earthquake. And even in a stable continental region such as North Texas, "we expect to see small events," Stump told WFAA-TV. "But we've seen a whole series of small events, and what intrigues us now is to try and understand that series of events." The monitoring stations his team will use to collect data are on loan from the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology and supported by the National Science Foundation.

Recent oil and gas production in the Barnett Shale has raised questions about whether the North Texas quakes are related to those activities. Current information cannot provide a definitive answer, but improved monitoring of the earthquake locations and a deeper understanding of how the earthquake sequences form and vanish may provide some insight, Stump says.

• Find an ongoing recap of media coverage at SMU News

RSVP for Faculty/Staff Golf Tournament by June 11

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:29:27 -0600

Ready to dig up some divots with your fellow University community members? SMU Recreational Sports will hold its second Faculty/Staff Golf Tournament of 2009 at 12:45 p.m. June 12 at Firewheel Golf of Garland, 600 W. Campbell Road.

The cost per player is $36. To RSVP, e-mail Jack Harper or Chris Coleman in SMU Recreational Sports by Thursday, June 11. Please include your average 18-hole score in your message.

For more information, contact Chris Coleman, assistant manager of intramurals and sports clubs, 214-768-3362. (Right, a view of The Bridges, Firewheel's newest course.)

• Find directions to the greens at the Firewheel website
• Visit SMU Recreational Sports online

Information Technology provides details on new phishing scam

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:49:10 -0600

SMU's Office of Information Technology (OIT) discovered a new e-mail phishing attempt that was sent to several University community memmbers over the weekend of June 5-7, 2009.

Phishing is a common form of e-mail fraud in which perpetrators attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity such as a popular social website, auction site, online payment processor or IT administrator. Phishing e-mails often direct users to enter details at a fake website designed to look and feel almost exactly like the legitimate one.

OIT sent out the following information on June 8:

Several individuals received an e-mail this weekend indicating their webmail quota had been reached. The message asked individuals to send their email address, password, country and name to a non SMU email address. Please do not respond with your credentials. This was a phishing attempt and did not come from SMU. Remember, we will never ask you to provide your credentials. Please do not respond to any e-mail asking for your login information no matter how valid the email appears to be.
If you responded to the email, please go to the Online Password Reset tool and reset your password immediately (smu.edu/password).

Additional Details:

The e-mail contained the following characteristics indicating it was a phishing attempt:
In some cases, the From address is not an SMU address. Some messages were sent (in which) the From address was spoofed. However, most of these were trapped by the spam filter.
The To field was actually blank, indicating it was blind-copied (BCC) rather than addressed directly to an individual.
The e-mail requests that you send your credentials - and requests that you send them to a non-SMU e-mail address.

OIT is taking action to block any new responses to those addresses and to reduce the risk of this type of message making it through to your mailbox in the future.

If you have any additional questions or need assistance, please contact the OIT Help Desk at 8-4357.

SMU's statement regarding the trial of James McDaniel

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:35:38 -0600

A Dallas federal jury has convicted James McDaniel of causing the May 2007 overdose death of SMU student Meaghan Bosch.

The University released the following statement on June 5, 2009, the day the verdict was announced:

Our thoughts have been with the family of Meaghan Bosch during this trial, and we hope that its completion gives a measure of closure to the family.

SMU representatives have attended the trial so that we can continue to learn as much as possible about the issue of substance abuse among young people, about how best to extend our efforts to educate students and prevent such future tragedies, and to help students who already have substance abuse issues. Our many education and prevention programs will continue, we will remain vigilant to needed changes, and we will persist in raising awareness among students and parents of the dangers and consequences of substance abuse.

What we have heard at the trial will allow us to examine whether we need to make additional changes to our programs aimed at preventing substance abuse.

• Dallas Morning News: Accused drug dealer guilty in SMU student's overdose death
• Learn more about the University's permanent Commission on Substance Abuse Prevention

2009 President's Picnic in photos

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:18:26 -0600

The SMU staff gathered on the Clements Hall south lawn May 21 for the University's 2009 Staff Appreciation Day and President's Picnic. Hundreds of community members ate burgers and hotdogs, played games, and watched the always lively competition for rights to the Tug-O-War trophy.

• See the 2009 President's Picnic slide show

SMU Summer Youth Program comes to main campus

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:32:32 -0600

SMU-in-Plano's Summer Youth Program is bringing selected workshops to the University's main campus for summer 2009.

Offerings include the popular LEGO workshops for students ranging from kindergarten to grade 4, including Early Structures, Crazy Contraptions, Car Rally and Mindstorms: Apprentice Droids.

Entering kindergarteners may also sign up for Toy Builders classes, where they will learn to make playthings ranging from robot hands to musical instruments out of ordinary household items.

The Plano campus will continue to offer a full slate of programs, including workshops in math, writing, computer gaming, 3D animation, college prep and planning, reading enhancement, study and social skills, forensic science, cooking, fashion sketching, and web page design, among others.

Parents may register children online for both the Dallas and Plano workshops. Students registered for a full morning and afternoon of workshops may bring food for a supervised lunch at no additional cost.

For more information, contact SMU Summer Youth Programs, 214-768-5433.

Spaces still available for 2009 Taos Cultural Institute

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 11:02:30 -0600

Spaces are still available for the 2009 SMU-in-Taos Cultural Institute, set for July 23-26. Now in its 5th year, the Institute provides an opportunity for parents, alumni and other SMU community members to learn about the Southwest - its colorful history, diverse cultures, rich art and literature, and ancient archaeological sites.

Cultural Institute courses are taught by distinguished SMU faculty and local experts against the backdrop of northern New Mexico. Offerings this summer include courses on Southwest cooking and wine, the life and art of Georgia O'Keeffe, Taos history and politics, the Los Alamos nuclear project, northern New Mexico's geological history, digital photography and outdoor sports.

The registration fee of $700 per course covers tuition, designated meals and field trip fees. Class size is limited to allow for in-depth discussion and individual attention. Transportation and lodging are the responsibility of the student.

Learn more at smu.edu/culturalinstitute or call 214-768-8267.

Faculty, staff discounts available for summer sports camps

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:32:18 -0600

SMU's coaches and staff will make their expertise available to local children this summer with day and residential camps and clinics throughout summer 2009.

Faculty and staff discounts are offered for many camps and clinics. Visit the links below for more information, or visit the SMU Coaches' Camp and Clinics homepage:

• Men's Basketball
• Women's Basketball
• Football
• Rowing
• Men's Soccer
• Women's Soccer
• Swimming and Diving Camp
• Swimming and Diving - Summer Lessons (Beginning through Competitive)
• Tennis
• Track and Field Throwing Clinics
• Volleyball

Bright ideas: 2009 President's Partners grants fund campus innovation

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:26:13 -0600

SMU faculty and staff members have received 2009 President's Partners grants to implement innovative projects that range from making it easier for wheelchair students to take exams to sharpening researchers' budgeting and proposal-writing skills.

University faculty and staff members support their colleagues' work through their contributions to the program, which can be made by credit card, check and payroll deduction. Make a contribution or apply for a grant at the President's Partners website.

Learn more about this year's projects under the link.

21 faculty members promoted for 2009-10

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:54:07 -0600

Twenty-one outstanding faculty members received tenure as associate professors or were named to full professorships in May 2009. Read the full list under the link.

Nine professors retire with emeritus status

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:39:43 -0600

Nine distinguished faculty members with nearly 320 years of combined service to SMU retired with emeritus status in 2008-09:

• Regis Campfield, Professor Emeritus, Marilyn Jeanne Johnson Distinguished Law Faculty Fellow, Dedman School of Law

• Vincenzo DeNardo - Associate Professor Emeritus, Foreign Languages and Literatures, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

• Elbert B. Greynolds Jr., Associate Professor Emeritus of Accounting, Cox School of Business

• John Lewis, Associate Professor Emeritus of English, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

• Montie Monzingo, Associate Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

• George Reddien, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

• Lawrence Shampine, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

• Mandyam Srinath, Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering, Lyle School of Engineering

• Jutta Van Selm, Associate Professor Emerita of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences

Dedman College dean resigns effective May 31

Fri, 29 May 2009 16:25:46 -0600

Cordelia Candelaria, dean of SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, has decided for personal reasons to resign from her position effective May 31, as announced by SMU Provost Paul Ludden. Peter Moore, chair of the Department of Mathematics and Dedman College's associate dean for academic affairs, will serve as dean ad interim effective June 1.

Ludden sent the following e-mail to the University community May 29:

SMU Dedman College Dean Cordelia Candelaria has decided for personal reasons to resign from her position, effective May 31. Dr. Candelaria expressed "considerable regret that serious personal circumstances require this interruption of a productive and collegial collaboration in an exceptional institution that I have been privileged to serve."

Since her appointment as dean, Dr. Candelaria has brought new perspectives and a focus on interdisciplinary innovation to Dedman College. Under her leadership, Dedman College has made additional outstanding faculty appointments, has initiated new research efforts, and has contributed to the launch of SMU's Second Century Campaign.

The campus is fortunate to have Professor Peter Moore, chair of the Dedman College Department of Mathematics, prepared to serve as dean ad interim, effective June 1. Appointed by Dr. Candelaria in April to serve as Dedman's Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Dr. Moore has immersed himself in the workings of the College. He is well prepared to step into this important role.

A committee is being formed to begin the search process.

We thank Dr. Candelaria for her service as dean and wish her the best in future endeavors.

SMU joins partnership for West Dallas redevelopment

Wed, 27 May 2009 13:49:16 -0600

SMU has announced that it will work in partnership with community organizations in helping to rebuild the urban area of West Dallas. Under plans currently being developed, SMU will partner with Dallas Faith Communities Coalition and the West Dallas Education Task Force to explore the area's needs and goals for access to high-quality K-12 schools.

"This effort is part of SMU's commitment to apply the University's resources of intellect and involvement to make a positive impact on our city, in cooperation with community groups," said Paul Ludden, SMU provost and vice president for academic affairs.

Discussions with community leaders have involved several SMU deans and other top officials, as well as faculty with expertise in issues related to urban redevelopment.

University-wide involvement will be possible through SMU's seven schools: Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences; Cox School of Business; Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering; Meadows School of the Arts; Perkins School of Theology, Dedman School of Law; and the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development.

The Simmons School is particularly well suited to draw upon its expertise, research and training programs in areas ranging from reading to mathematics. "Our multidisciplinary approach at the University will allow us to study and deliberate on how to make the best contribution to the community," said David Chard, the school's Leon Simmons Dean. "We have great tools at hand, such as assessment and research, strong academic programs and a dedication to student placements and internships."

SMU, at the recommendation of its Community Engagement Council, will undertake further deliberations, studies and dialogue to determine how best to make an impact. Possibilities include involvement of faculty, staff and students in community and school activities; collecting and offering best practices for urban redevelopment; providing learning opportunities in a number of disciplines, both for students and for teacher training; mentoring and tutoring.

"These activities will also provide outstanding learning experiences for our students," said Vice President for Student Affairs Lori White, who chairs SMU's Community Engagement Council with Provost Ludden.

SMU officials took part in a breakfast and discussion May 18 at Dallas City Hall sponsored by Mayor Tom Leppert, the West Dallas Education Task Force and the Dallas Faith Communities Coalition.

"We don't yet know exactly what form our involvement will take in West Dallas," said Associate Provost Ellen Pryor, a member of SMU's Community Engagement Council. "But we are very excited about the possibilities that will strengthen both the campus and the West Dallas community in meaningful ways."

SMU's involvement in West Dallas will be in addition to its existing community engagement projects with other areas of Dallas, such as Dedman College's Academic-Community Experience program and house in East Dallas, activities in Vickery Meadows, college readiness programs available to many DISD schools, and pro bono legal services in South Dallas and East Dallas, among other programs.

Above, participants in Dedman College's Academic-Community Experience (ACE) Program outside its house in East Dallas.

• The Dallas Morning News: Investing brainpower and energy in W. Dallas
• SMU in the Community website