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Published: January 20, 2005

The Ministry of State for Culture and the National Council for the Arts of the Republic Bolivariana de Venezuela have presented Maria S. Horne, associate professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance, College of Arts and Sciences, with an award in recognition of her research and contributions to her field. Horne received the award over the Thanksgiving holiday when she traveled to Venezuela at the invitation of the Universidad Nacional Politecnica (UNEXPO) Antonio Jose de Sucre to teach a seminar on method acting to professionals, faculty and students. She also conducted research on international performing arts and attended the 13th International Theatre Festival and the 7th International Performing Arts Meeting in Barquisimeto.

The Critical Arts Ensemble (CAE) has received a special 2004 New Horizons Award from the journal Leonardo and the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (ISAST). Leonardo, published by MIT Press, is the journal of ISAST. Members of the CAE and their collaborators are affiliated with various universities. They include founding member Stephen Kurtz, UB associate professor of art, and Paul Vanouse, UB professor of art. Marc Böhlen, UB assistant professor of media study, also has worked with members of the ensemble on projects involving robotics, opto-electronics and digital logic. In presenting the award last month, the Leonardo/ISAST Governing Board said: "CAE is internationally acclaimed for its artistic work in fields such as biotechnology, robotics and tactical media. Its performances and installations have reached viewers around the world and have broken new ground in the often-controversial area of new technologies. (We) voted to give CAE this special award," board members said, "to affirm the principle that artists should engage emerging technologies and be willing to take critical stances that may be at odds with those of the mainstream. Freedom of artistic expression and research form a part of the foundation of an open society."

Harry Metcalf, clinical associate professor of family medicine in the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, has been named chair of the board of trustees of the Foundation for Healthy Living, a nonprofit foundation created by HealthNow New York to support health-care research and efforts to improve health-care quality and access in upstate New York. HealthNow New York is the Buffalo-based parent of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Western New York.