News

Troy, N.Y. — Donald Siegel, a distinguished professor in England, has been named chair of the Economics Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Siegel was professor of industrial economics at the University of Nottingham in England. His research interests are the economics of technological change; university technology transfer; productivity analysis; and corporate social responsibility.

Troy, N.Y. — Michael Century, a former teacher at McGill University and art-and-technology consultant from Canada, has been named chair of the Arts Department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Partnership With IBM Will Position New York as a Leader in Information Technology Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, with generous support from IBM, is forming a $33 million research center that will create an information technology infrastructure so advanced that it can handle any level of Internet traffic, data storage, and new scientific challenges that require immense computing power, such as bioinformatics.

Troy, N.Y. — Wolf von Maltzahn, vice president of biomedical engineering at the Whitaker Foundation, has been named the new associate vice president for research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute beginning in August. Von Maltzahn is also appointed as professor in the department of biomedical engineering.

Troy, N.Y. — Shanghai, a city of commercialism and consumerism, is a place where any Westerner would feel at home. Yet underneath this facade of coffee houses and fast food restaurants lies the regimented order of Communism that controlled a physical and economic transformation unparalleled in urban history.  

Troy, N.Y. — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has received $1.2 million from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to improve undergraduate science education through the development of new biotechnology-related courses and student and faculty exchanges with other universities. A total of $80 million was given to 44 research universities across the country.

Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners, London, Selected as Design Architect for Technologically Advanced Performance and Electronic Arts Facility Troy, N.Y.- Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, today announced that the innovative, London-based architecture firm of Nicholas Grimshaw & Partners has been selected to design Rensselaer’s new electronic media and performing arts center.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the State Business Council Will Lead Next Steps Troy, N.Y. — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) called for today the creation of the New York Research Coalition. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and The Business Council of New York State agreed to bring together the private sector institutions to create the partnership. The announcement was made at a roundtable discussion of higher education and economic issues, hosted by Rensselaer and organized by Senator Clinton.

Troy, N.Y. — John P. Harrington has been named dean of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Harrington has served 10 years as the dean of humanities and social sciences and is a full professor of humanities at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art — an exceptionally competitive college in New York City that provides full-tuition scholarship for each of its 900 undergraduates. He will begin his tenure at Rensselaer in August.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Professor Part of International Research Group Refuting Popular Theory Troy, N.Y — In 1996, marine geologists William Ryan and Walter Pitman published a scientifically popular hypothesis, titled Noah’s Flood Hypothesis. The researchers presented evidence of a bursting flood about 7,500 years ago in what is now the Black Sea. This, some say, supports the biblical story of Noah and the flood.