April 13 inauguration
Several events are planned to celebrate the inauguration of Gretchen M. Bataille as the university's 14th president. The installation ceremony, open to the public, is scheduled Friday, April 13, at 10 a.m. in the UNT Coliseum. A free communitywide picnic at Traditions Field (the football practice area north of Fouts Field and west of North Texas Boulevard) will follow the formal ceremony.
The celebration of Bataille's installation will carry over into the evening with the Emerald Ball, a black tie dinner and dance in the University Union. The event is intended to raise funds for undergraduate need-based scholarships.
Also part of the celebration is Eagleation, a private party for UNT students featuring a performance by Bowling for Soup, Thursday, April 12, at 8 p.m. at Traditions Field.
The April 13 installation ceremony will be streamed live over the web beginning shortly before 10 a.m. Check www.unt.edu/inauguration for details on the live stream and for other information about inauguration events.
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PBS stars
Several UNT programs and experts will be featured in a documentary series called State of Tomorrow beginning this spring on Texas PBS stations.
The episode "Skeletons in the Closet" showcases the work of forensic anthropologist Harrell Gill-King and staff in identifying human remains. It also includes DNA testing work by Art Eisenberg at the UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth. "Passion for Jazz" features the sounds of UNT's One O'Clock Lab Band, and faculty member Bernard Weinstein appears in "The Economist."
The 13-episode documentary program begins in April and will showcase research taking place on several Texas college campuses. The series is co-produced by the University of Texas Foundation and Alpheus Media. Former student Mat Hames, who attended UNT in the early '90s, is the founder of Alpheus Media and the director of the series.
Check your local stations for times and dates, or go to www.stateoftomorrow.com for more information.
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UNT Research
The university's annual research magazine launched with a new name, design and format in December. UNT Research showcases the research and scholarly activity of UNT faculty, alumni and graduate and undergraduate students.
The latest issue includes stories about UNT researchers studying core samples to help improve tsunami-preparedness, predicting molecular energies through math and computer modeling, finding missing Iraqi art and exploring the human experience of music-making.
Check out these and other stories and student research at www.unt.edu/untresearch.
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ABA citation
John Haynie, Professor Emeritus of music, has received the Edwin Franko Goldman Memorial Citation from the American Bandmasters Association. The award -- created in 1962 to honor Edwin Franko Goldman, founder, first president and honorary life president of the association -- recognizes an individual outside of the association who has made significant contributions to bands and music education.
Past recipients have included former band leader for Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show, Carl “Doc” Severinsen; former president William Jefferson Clinton; and professional trumpeter Vincent Bach.
Haynie taught trumpet at North Texas from 1950 to 1985. His most recent book, Inside John Haynie's Studio: A Master Teacher’s Lessons on Trumpet and Life published by the UNT Press, is a compilation of his essays.
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Recent deaths
Hiram J. Friedsam
Hiram J. Friedsam, 87, Dean Emeritus and founding dean of the School of Community Service (now the College of Public Affairs and Community Service), died March 24 in San Antonio. He worked at North Texas from 1948 to 1983.
Friedsam, who served in the Marine Corps during World War II, earned his bachelor's degree from Baylor University and master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Texas. He was an instructor at UT before joining North Texas as an assistant professor of sociology. He was chair of the sociology department from 1954 to 1972.
In 1968, Friedsam founded the Center for Studies in Aging at North Texas (now the Department of Applied Gerontology) with a federal grant. It was one of the first centers in the country to train administrators in long-term care for the elderly. He served as director of the center and later as co-director when he was named the first dean of the School of Community Service in 1973.
He was a member of the Governor's Committee on Aging from 1960 to 1964, a discussion leader at the first White House Conference on Aging in 1961, co-chair of training at the 1971 conference and a research committee member at the 1981 conference. He set national policy as a member of the long-term care task force of the Association of University Programs in Health Care Administration and was one of the organizing members and an early president of the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. He also served as editor-in-chief of the journal The Gerontologist.
An international authority on aging, Friedsam received the President's Award for bringing outstanding recognition to the university in 1981. In 1983, a professional development fund was set up in his honor by his colleagues nationwide to provide financial assistance for graduate students in the field of aging.
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Raymond D. Nasher
Art patron and real estate developer Raymond D. Nasher, 85, founding chair of the advisory board of the School of Visual Arts and recipient of an honorary doctor of fine arts degree from UNT in 2002, died March 16 in Dallas.
Nasher received his bachelor's degree from Duke University and a master's degree from Boston University, and served on boards at both universities as well as at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and UNT.
With the commissioning of a sculpture for NorthPark Center in Dallas in 1971, Nasher became one of the first developers to regularly include art in commercial and retail buildings. He and his late wife had amassed one of the world's finest collections of modern sculpture. The Nasher Sculpture Center, a 55,000-square-foot museum and sculpture garden he built in downtown Dallas, opened in 2003.
At UNT, Nasher had served as chair of the SOVA advisory board for 16 years and was a President's Council fellow. The Raymond D. and Patsy Nasher Lecture Series at SOVA, endowed by the Nashers' daughter Nancy and her family, has presented nationally and internationally known speakers in sculpture and criticism to students, faculty and the community since 1998.
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