• C. David Allis, professor of biochemistry in the School of Medicine, has been selected 2002 recipient of the Dickson Prize in Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The award is given each year to an American investigator whose work represents significant and progressive contributions to the field of biomedical research.

• Dr. Thomas Bleck, professor of neurology, neurological surgery and internal medicine at the School of Medicine, has been selected to receive the 2002 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Alumni Association of Rush Medical College.

• Michael Davis, graduate student in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the School of Medicine, has received the Acres of Diamonds Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Minority Trainee Research Forum. He won in the national abstract competition and earned distinction in the oral presentations and poster session category.

• Dr. Gerald Mandell, professor of internal medicine and head of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Health System, has been named the Cornell University Medical College 2002 Distinguished Alumnus.

• Debbie A. Cote, the Health Systems’ manager of renal services, has been selected to serve a two-year term as a commissioner on the Nephrology Nursing Certification Commission, which has oversight for the national certification exams for nephrology nurses and technicians.

• Sarah E. Turner, assistant professor of education and economics, shared a 2002 Milken Institute Award for Distinguished Economic Research with John Bound, a professor in the University of Michigan Department of Economics, and Michigan graduate students Jeffrey Groen and Gabor Kezdi. Their paper, “Trade in University Training: Cross-State Variation in the Production and Use of College-Educated Labor,” studies the relationship between institutes of higher education and an area’s stock of skilled workers.

• Peter L. Sheras, professor of education and human services, has been elected a practitioner member of the National Academies of Practice, founded in 1981 to recognize the need for interdisciplinary collaboration in health care.

• Paul A. Levine, chair of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, has been inducted as president of the American Head and Neck Society.

• H. Eugene Lockhart Jr., president and CEO of the New Power Co. in Purchase, N.Y., was elected president of the U.Va. Alumni Association. Lockhart received an engineering degree in 1972 and an MBA in 1974. He succeeds Glynn Key on July 1. David L. “Casey” Bowlin, class of 1969 and president of Summit Global Partners Inc., a regional insurance brokerage firm based in Dallas, was elected vice president.

The Alumni Association also presented employee awards. The Distinguished Service Award, for exhibiting leadership and inspiring others, was given to Faye B. Cline, a research administrator at the School of Engineering and Applied Science. The Distinguished Professor Award, for promoting superior instruction and enrichment of University life, was presented to Barbara Brodie, professor of nursing.

• Rebecca White, director of Parking and Transportation, was honored May 8 at the annual Give Air a Brake Day luncheon, for wat te organizaers called “her commitment to reduce parking and traffic congestion by promoting alternative transportation, initiating projects to protect the environment and the community’s quality of life and for her promotion of JAUNT’s Crozet Commuter Route.”

Melissa Cox Norris, coordinator of communications for the University Library, won the grand prize drawing, a weekend bed and breakfast getaway at the Brierley Inn in Lexington and $500 in cash.

• Jeffrey Plank, assistant vice president for research and public service, won the 2002 Independent Book Award for Architecture for The Early Louis Sullivan Building Photographs, which he co-authored with the late modern architect and preservationist Crombie Taylor.

• Katherine Thornton, professor of technology, culture and communication, and assistant dean of engineering, received the Eminent Woman Award from the University’s Women’s Club at its annual spring luncheon. Given only three times in the club’s history, the award was bestowed previously upon Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, head women’s basketball coach Debbie Ryan and professor and poet Rita Dove. A former astronaut, Thornton holds a women’s record with four space walks, totaling 21 hours, outside the space capsule.

• Three clinical nurses at the Health System received awards for excellence as part of Week of the Nurse. Bethany Coyne Johnson, registered nurse and nurse practitioner in the Division of Pediatric Nephrology, was recognized for excellence in clinical practice. Liz Browne, registered nurse and clinician in the Medical Intensive Care Unit, received the Excellence in Caring Award. Browne for helping patients and their families physically and emotionally. Clinician Esther McClure received the Nurse of Distinction Award for her clinical knowledge, experience and dedication to her patients and colleagues.

• Karen Knierim, associate director of University Career Services, received the A. Isabel Gordon Award for Distinguished Service, the highest award given by the Virginia Association of Colleges and Employers and given only every few years to a member who has provided excellent service to the organization over a number of years.

• Gigi Davis-White, director of Education Career Services, received the association’s Special Achievement Award for Excellent Leadership and Contributions to the VACE Technology Committee. Davis-White chaired that committee and co-chaired the site selection committee.

• Robert M. Blizzard, chair emeritus of the Department of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine, is one of 15 scientists and clinicians elected to the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars. Blizzard has made multiple contributions in the field of endocrinology.

• Suzanne M. Burns, a nurse in the Medical Intensive Care Unit at the Health System, has been elected to the board of directors of the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. Burns will serve a three-year term beginning in July.