Employees of the year named at ceremony

Paul Diedrich, associate directorof project development at the Life Span Institute, was named unclassified employee of the year, and Sherrie Saathoff, public service administartor, special education was named university support staff employee of the year May 2. They received the honors at the annual employee recognition dinner.

Drahozal earns distinguished law professorship

Christopher Drahozal has been named the John M. Rounds Distinguished Professor of Law.

Drahozal joined the law school faculty in 1994 and is an internationally known expert on the law and economics of dispute resolution, particularly arbitration. He has published numerous books and articles on commercial arbitration and has made presentations on arbitration law and practice throughout the United States, Canada and Europe.

The Rounds professorship was established by John M. Rounds in 1986. Rounds was a 1939 graduate of the KU School of Law.

Butler named distinguished lecturer

James J. Butler Jr., a senior scientist at the Kansas Geological Survey, has been chosen as the 2007 Henry Darcy Distinguished Lecturer by the National Ground Water Association. The National Ground Water Association is the country's largest professional society for water scientists.

As part of the lectureship, Butler will describe his work to colleagues at academic institutions in the United States and around the world.

He has been at the Survey since 1986. He is an associate of the Center for East Asian Studies at KU and a courtesy professor in the Department of Geology.

Shimomura tapped as noted alumni at Washington

Roger Shimomura, distinguished professor emeritus of art, will be honored May 18 at the Celebration of Distinction Annual Award Dinner at the University of Washington as one of this year's four recipients of the Distinguished Alumnus Award.

The award, first bestowed in 1938, is the highest honor the University of Washington bestows upon any graduate and honors a former student in the College of Arts & Sciences whose achievements have earned him or her national or international prominence.

Shimomura retired from teaching at KU in the spring of 2004 and continues to lecture at art schools and museums and exhibit his work internationally.

Ozias interim director of KU Writing Center

Moira Ozias, assistant director of the KU Writing Center, will serve as interim director while a search for a new director is in progress. Ozias has been the assistant director since January 2004 and previously served as a graduate student-writing consultant in the center. She has a master's in English from KU.

Michele Eodice, director of the KU Writing Center, is leaving to take a position at the University of Oklahoma. Eodice is the founding director of a student writing consulting service.

Fernando joins University Press of Kansas

Kalyani Fernando has joined the University Press of Kansas as acquisitions editor. She will acquire books in American studies including the Culture America series, western history, Native American studies and environmental and natural history. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, she was most recently associate editor for the History Book Club in New York City.

Haufler receives Young adviser award

Christopher Haufler, professor ecology and evolutionary biology, received the J. Michael Young Academic Adviser Award for 2005-06 in the natural sciences division of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Haufler recently established a much-improved advising system in the Division of Biological Sciences.

Earle to be visiting professor at Occidental College

Jonathan Earle, associate professor of history, will be the Ray Billington professor of history at Occidental College next year. He will return as associate director of programming at the Dole Institute of Politics in fall 2007.

Steven Jacques will assume the role in Earle's absence. Jacques is a highly respected Democratic communications/advance expert who served as a fellow at the Dole Institute.

Guernsey named chair of art department

Dawn Marie Guernsey has been named chair of the Department of Art. Guernsey joins the art faculty as a professor and will begin her duties in August.

Guernsey has been a member of the painting and drawing program at Washington University in St. Louis since 1985. She has also held full-time teaching appointments at the University of Oregon and the University of Florida and has conducted workshops at many campuses across the country. She completed her graduate work at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and her bachelor's degree is from Tufts University in Massachusetts.

Guernsey's paintings, prints and drawings have been exhibited in commercial and museum venues nationwide, including Chicago and New York City.

Dealy to manage Survey's Wichita sample library

Mike Dealy, longtime head of a groundwater management district in south-central Kansas, will manage the Kansas Geological Survey's Wichita Well Sample Library.

Dealy has been the manager of the Equus Beds Groundwater Management District, located in Halstead, since 1984.

University Relations hires research writer

Brandis Griffith will join University Relations June 5 as its research writer and media relations specialist, succeeding Dan Lara who left earlier this year to join the Polycystic Kidney Foundation in Kansas City.

Griffith, currently a television news reporter in Arkansas, has a bachelor's degree from Dillard University in New Orleans and a master's degree from Columbia University in New York City. She previously worked for a public relations firm in New Orleans.