Book festival closes chapter on eighth annual event

Garson named VP and dean of Medical School

By Carol Wood

Arthur “Tim” Garson Jr., senior vice president and academic dean for operations at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, on Monday was named vice president and dean of U.Va.’s School of Medicine, effective June 25, 2002.

University President John T. Casteen III, who made the announcement at a gathering of Medical School faculty and staff, said that Garson’s years of experience in administration, teaching and research give him an intimate understanding of the myriad challenges facing the medical profession. “Tim Garson is a unique blend of visionary and strategic planner,” Casteen said. “He comes to us with a strong track record in education, patient care, health policy and business, and he is ready to lead the school into the highest tier of academic excellence.”

Garson, the dean at Baylor since 1996, said he was drawn here because “the University of Virginia is one of the great learning institutions in the world. As I came to meet the faculty and administration, both within the School of Medicine and in the University, I was attracted to the spirit of excellence and collaboration that I already have found to permeate the institution.” Full story.

U.Va. to confer Thomas Jefferson Medals in architecture and law
Former U.S. Solicitor General Waxman and artist James Turrell are this year’s recipients

By Jane Ford and Fariss Samarrai

Seth Waxman, former Solicitor General of the United States, and James Turrell, an artist whose ground-breaking work explores the perception and manipulation of light, will receive the 2002 Thomas Jefferson Medals in Law and Architecture.
The medals are the highest outside awards offered by the University, which grants no honorary degrees.

Waxman, a partner with the Washington law firm Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, will receive the 26th annual Thomas Jefferson Medal in Law. Turrell, whose work has influenced the disciplines of art, architecture and landscape architecture, will receive the 37th annual Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture.

The awards, sponsored jointly by the University and the Thomas Jefferson Foundation Inc. (the non-profit organization that owns and operates Monticello), will be presented as part of the University’s Founder’s Day celebration. The event usually is held on Jefferson’s birthday, April 13, but since that date falls on a Saturday, the presentations will be made April 12.

As part of the celebration, both recipients will give public lectures. Waxman will speak April 11 at 4:15 p.m. in Caplin Pavilion at the Law School. The title of his talk is, “On Ruby Ridge: Federalism, Law Enforcement and the Supremacy Clause.”
Turrell’s lecture, “The Other Horizon,” will be April 12 at 3:30 p.m. in Old Cabell Hall auditorium. There will be an exhibit of the artist’s work in the School of Architecture April 8-23. Full story.

Genius at work

Author and consultant Michael Gelb gave a talk March 21 during the eighth annual Virginia Festival of the Book about his latest work, Discover Your Genius: How to Think Like History’s Ten Most Revolutionary Minds — one of those being Thomas Jefferson’s, of course. Gelb spent several days at U.Va. with a fellowship at the Darden School’s Batten Institute, which focuses on entrepreneurship and leadership.

A retired professional juggler who once performed with the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, and founder of the High Performance Learning Center, Gelb has been a professional speaker and organizational consultant for 20 years, concentrating on ways to use creative thinking methods in work and life.

See Book festival closes chapter on eighth annual event.