Professor Daniel Goldston, along with research colleague Cem Yalcin Yildirim, receives the Frank Nelson Cole Prize in number theory (Sandy Huffaker/American Mathematical Society photo).
Associate Professor Marjorie Freedman, Department of Nutrition, Food Science and Packaging, received a 2013 Guardians of Health Award from the California Center for Public Health Advocacy. The award recognizes individuals who have had an impact on the “health of children and adults who live in communities without easy access to healthy food or safe places to be physically active.” Freedman spearheaded the Healthy San Jose State initiative and helped bring the Spartan Smart Cart to campus. Recently she has worked with East San Jose’s multi-ethnic, low-income population at Most Holy Trinity Church to increase CalFresh enrollment and implement healthful food and beverage policies.
Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve, Olympia, Wash. (Flickr Creative Commons photo)
Associate Professor Emmanuel (Manny) Gabet, Department of Geology, developed a computer model that solved the mystery of the formation of Mima mounds. The largest structures built by mammals (other than humans), found on every continent except Antarctica, Mima mounds were built by gophers, Gabet’s research has proved. In December, he presented his findings at a meeting of the American Geophysical Union, held in San Francisco. He has been interviewed by BBC Radio about his research, and news of his discovery was reported in The Economist, The Huffington Post and elsewhere.
Professor Daniel Goldston, Department of Mathematics, along with research colleagues János Pintz and Cem Y. Yildirim, received the 2014 American Mathematical Society’s Frank Nelson Cole Prize in number theory. Presented every three years, the prize recognizes an outstanding research paper in number theory that has appeared in the preceding six years. Goldston, Pintz and Yildirim were honored for their work on “small gaps” between prime numbers, presented in their paper “Primes in tuples 1,” published in the Annals of Mathematics. The awards ceremony took place at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Baltimore on Jan. 16.
Francisco González Gragera, “El Capricho de Cotrina” (Jo Farb Hernandez photo)
Professor Jo Farb Hernandez, Department of Art and Art History, and director/curator of the Thompson Gallery, curated the fall exhibition “Singular Spaces—From the Eccentric to the Extraordinary in Spanish Art Environments” and authored the exhibition book of the same title. The result of 14 years of research and documentation, the exhibit and book chronicle art environments created by 45 self-taught Spanish artists, including Josep Pujiula and Joan Sala.
Alan Leventhal, Department of Anthropology, faculty advisor for the Native American Student Organization (NASO) and the SJSU chapter of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), helped promote King Library’s November/December 2013 exhibit honoring Native American veterans and celebrating Native American Heritage month. Leventhal has served as Muwekma Ohlone tribal archaeologist and ethnohistorian for 34 years.
M60-UCD1 (Chandra X-Ray Observatory photo)
Assistant Professor Aaron Romanowsky, Department of Physics and Astronomy, who studies the dynamics and evolution of galaxies, was part of a research team that discovered the dwarf galaxy M60-UCD1, an “ultra-compact” dwarf galaxy. Romanowsky was involved with the spectroscopic follow-up observations, using the Keck telescope, that determined the distance to the galaxy.
Associate Professor Cynthia Rostankowski, Department of Humanities, and coordinator of the Humanities Honors Program, reported that humanities honors student Jacky Mai won the third annual Norton Poetry Recitation contest with a recitation of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 130 and received a $200 Barnes & Noble gift certificate. SJSU was the only institution to have two students advance to the final round of the competition.