People, papers and presentations

Moshe Vardi, the Karen Ostrum George Distinguished Service Professor of Computational Engineering, professor of computer science and director of the Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology, will receive the Southeastern Universities Research Association’s (SURA) 2013 Distinguished Scientist Award at the SURA board meeting April 4. The award honors a research scientist whose extraordinary work fulfills the SURA mission of “fostering excellence in scientific research.”

The Office of Public Affairs’ “Challenging Convention” public service announcement won a Gold Award in the Television Advertising/Single category of the 28th annual Education Advertising Awards, a competition sponsored by the Higher Education Marketing Report. Rice’s “Timeline” and “Centennial” spots won Gold Awards the past two years in this same competition.

“The Arcadia Vista Landscapes,” an exhibition by Basilios Poulos, professor emeritus of visual arts, will be on display at Meredith Long and Company Gallery, 2323 San Felipe, this spring. An opening reception with Poulos will be held at the gallery at 5 p.m. March 7.

Elaine Britt, director of benefits and compensation in Rice’s Department of Human Resources, has been appointed vice chair of the Houston Business Coalition on Health. This new coalition resulted from a merger of the Houston Wellness Association and the Houston Business Group and is dedicated to improving the health and productivity of Houston-area employees.

Rajdeep Dasgupta, an assistant professor of Earth science, participated in a panel discussion at the Deep Carbon Observatory’s international meeting at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., March 4. The occasion marks the release of the 700-page “Carbon in Earth” study, based on a 10-year international collaboration to unlock the secrets of carbon buried deep in the planet. Dasgupta contributed a chapter, “Ingassing, Storage and Outgassing of Terrestrial Carbon Through Geologic Time.”