With support from a U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant, the Asian Studies program has funded two summer grants for course development in East Asian Studies. The awards go to Sharmistha Bagchi-Sen, assistant professor of geography and Hiroaki Hata, associate professor of architecture in urban design.

Bagchi-Sen will incorporate material on East and South Asia in Geography 425: Industrial Geography. Hata will develop three short courses on traditional and contemporary Japanese architecture. This course development will impact curricular fields where there has been little coverage of Asia in the past. The new and enriched courses will serve as a new options for advanced courses in the minor in East Asian Studies.

A subcommittee of the Asian Studies Advisory Council under the direction of Law Professor David M. Engel assisted in the selection of awardees.

DURAND TO RECEIVE OUTSTANDING ALUMNUS AWARD FROM DENISON

Henry J. Durand Jr., executive director of the UB Center for Academic Development and Educational Opportunity Program (EOP), will be honored as an outstanding alumnus by Denison University in ceremonies to be held on May 17, at the university in Granville, Ohio.

Durand, who received a bachelor's degree from Denison in 1971, joined UB in 1990. He is a senior research associate with the Center for Urban Studies and an adjunct faculty member in the Graduate School of Education. He also is chair of the statewide Council of EOP Directors.

A training program he developed, which combines psychology, education and self-defense techniques in crisis management and conflict intervention, has been taught to hundreds of staff at Kentucky and Ohio youth facilities and facilities for the mentally ill. Durand rode with police officers and posed as a mentally ill patient in an institution to gather data for his program.

Before coming to UB, he was on the faculty at Northern Kentucky University. Listed in "Who's Who in Black America" and "Who's Who in American Education," Durand received a master's degree from Xavier University and a doctorate from the University of Cincinnati.

'FATHER OF RE-ENGINEERING' TO GIVE LECTURE

Michael Hammer, the "Father of Re-engineering," will present a program, "Re-engineering the Corporation," from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 14, in Hearthstone Manor, Depew. The program is part of the "Lessons in Leadership" distinguished speaker series presented by the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership in the UB School of Management.

Re-engineering is the systematic approach to business processes that, when properly executed, leads to quantum leaps in performance, quality, speed, competitiveness, cost savings and customer satisfaction.

Hammer, author of "The Re-engineering Revolution: A Handbook," has almost single-handedly driven the re-engineering movement worldwide, according to management consultant and author Tom Peters. In the program, Hammer will explain the basic requirements of re-engineering and some specific techniques, as well as provide case studies for businesses and individuals to adapt to the changing business environment and take their organizations to new levels of excellence. Fee for the program ranges from $349 to $399 per person, and includes lunch, coffee breaks, handouts and Hammer's book. Group discounts are available. For more information, call 645-3200.

MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR SPARKLE FURNAS is MAY 4

A memorial service for Sparkle Moore Furnas, widow of Clifford Cook Furnas, former chancellor and president of the University of Buffalo, will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, in Forest Lawn Chapel.

Following the service, a reception will be held at 3:30 p.m. in the Furnas Memorial Room, 531 Capen Hall on the UB North Campus.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Clifford C. Furnas Eminent Professors Fund in care of the University at Buffalo Foundation, Inc.

Mrs. Furnas, 94, died on Feb. 21 in Durango, Colo., where she had lived with family members.

The Furnases, who met while they were students at Purdue University, came to Buffalo in 1943 when Clifford took a job as director of research for the Curtiss-Wright Corp. He was inaugurated in 1955 as chancellor of the University of Buffalo, and later as president of the State University of New York at Buffalo.

GREATBATCH RECEIVES ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Wilson Greatbatch, whose research led to the development of the first implantable human-heart pacemaker, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lemelson-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Prize Program during ceremonies held earlier this month in Washington, D.C.

The inventor was presented with a distinctive hologram award, designed by MIT's Media Laboratory, for his scientific contributions over four decades. An adjunct professor in the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Greatbatch holds 150 patents. A lifelong innovator, he has helped to launch nine companies, cloned African violets, developed a solar-powered canoe and run engines on alcohol. He is also active in community projects.

Recently, his research has focused on the HIV virus associated with AIDS. Work with John Sanford of Cornell University has resulted in a patent on a process that stops reproduction of a virus in cats similar to HIV.

The Lemelson-MIT program is administered by MIT-the nation's leader in patents awarded to a university-on behalf of the Lemelson national program.

Raymond Federman author of new book

Raymond Federman, UB Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literatures, is the author of a new book, The Supreme Indecision of the Writer, published as a cooperative international venture between the UB Poetry/Rare Books Collection and the American Studies Department of Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey. The book is a collection of lectures presented by Federman on a tour of Turkish universities, sponsored by the U.S.I.A./U.S. Information Agency.

Japan Foundation grant funds post in Japanese literature

The Japan Foundation has awarded a grant of $110,000 to UB, to provide support for the initial three years for the tenure track appointment of a specialist in Japanese literature in the Department of Comparative Literature. The appointment strengthens UB's Asian expertise in the humanities. The Japan Foundation, with headquarters in Tokyo, is a semi-government agency which supports the study of Japan in universities around the world.

The grant was co-authored by the Asian Studies Program and the Department of Comparative Literature, chaired by Carol F. Jacobs. An international search will be conducted during the 1996-97 academic year for a scholar in modern Japanese literature. The appointee will teach undergraduate and graduate courses. Long-term support for the position will be provided by the Faculty of Arts and Letters.

WORK OF UB SOCIOLOGIST CITED BY CONGRESSMAN

The work of UB sociologist Brenda Moore has been recognized in a special congressional proclamation issued by U.S. Rep. Jack Quinn.

Moore, assistant professor of sociology and an expert on women in the U.S. military, was honored for a special Women's History Month lecture she delivered March 14 at the VA Medical Center, and for her recently published book, "To Serve My Country, To Serve My Race."

The book tells the story of African-American women in the Women's Army Corps (WAC), drawing on experiences of members of the 6888th battalion, first U.S. WAC unit of African-American women to serve overseas. Moore's research found that the unit, which served in England and France during World War II, played a role in bringing about changes in segregationist U.S. military policy.

"Dr. Moore has established herself as one of our nation's most prominent speakers on contributions women have made in our armed services, evidenced by her representation in President Clinton's ceremonial visit to Normandy on the 50th anniversary of the Allied invasion, and further represented our country as a delegate at last year's United Nations International Women's Conference in Beijing, China," the proclamation says.

A U.S. Army veteran and UB faculty member since 1988, Moore has published articles on African-American women in the military in such journals as Armed Forces and Society and The National Journal of Sociology. She was appointed to the American Battle Monuments Commission by Clinton in 1994, and it was in that role that she accompanied him to Normandy, Rome and Paris for D-Day commemorations.

Award-winning student poets to read from works

The UB community is invited to attend a Student Poetry Reading on Thursday, April 25, at noon in the Special Collections Reading Room, 420 Capen Hall, North Campus.

Featured will be winners of the following contests: Academy of American Poets annual Poetry Contest; Friends of the University Libraries Undergraduate Poetry Prize; the Arthur Axlerod Memorial Award and the Scribbler's Prize.

Reading from their works will be: Jeffrey Chiu, Samantha J. Chugh, Jill Colella, David Goldfarb, Photios Giovanis and Karen A. Kuehmeier.

Rokitka elected CouncilloR of Physiological Society

Mary Anne Rokitka, clinical associate professor of physiology, has been elected to a three-year term as councillor of the Teaching Section of the American Physiological Society. Rokitka will serve as liaison to the APS Educational Committee.

Last year, she was appointed to the editorial board of the American Journal of Physiology: Advances in Physiology Education. She recently completed a three-year term as a member of the APS Career Opportunities in Physiology Committee.

Next month she will be a presenter at UB's Science Exploration Day session for high school science teachers. In June, she will represent the APS at the annual meeting of the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society in Portland, Ore.

Springfest to feature Gin Blossoms ON May 4

The Undergraduate Student Association and University Union Activities Board will present Gin Blossoms May 4 as featured headline performers for Springfest, 1996. Along with other performers, Gin Blossoms will finish the day-long, end-of-the-academic year celebration.

Beginning at 2 p.m., the lineup includes Son Volt (alternative rock), Goodie Mob (hip-hop), Luciano (reggae), Tommy Keene (new music) and Dishwalla (alternative rock) with a fifth Latino-Salsa act to be added.

Scene of the annual event is Baird Point on the North Campus. The program will be moved indoors to Alumni Arena in case of inclement weather. It's free to everyone if it's held outdoors; if the event goes inside the Arena, UB students will be admitted free and the general public will be charged an admission fee of $10 for the entire day. Artfest, an opportunity for local artisans to show their wares, is also included in the day's activities. For more information, call 645-2957.