Welcome to Allen Levine, new head of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition (FScN). Levine has served as the director of the Minnesota Obesity Center since 1995 and has been the deputy associate chief of staff for research at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center for more than 15 years. In addition, Levine has been a professor in the University’s departments of psychiatry, medicine, and surgery, and a member of the graduate faculty in FScN and neuroscience. Levine received a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in nutrition with a minor in food science.

Mason Riddle has been named interim director of The Goldstein Museum of Design while director Lindsay Shen is on leave to pursue an M.B.A. degree. Riddle was most recently director of the Minnesota Percent for Art in Public Places program of the Minnesota State Arts Board, and she frequently publishes articles and reviews on visual arts, architecture, and design.

Welcome to Tasoulla Hadjiyanni,  who has joined the Department of Design, Housing, and Apparel (DHA) as an assistant professor. She has been a lecturer and research assistant in the Department of Architecture at the University since fall 2001, integrating cultural issues into that department’s design education, research, and outreach activities. Hadjiyanni, a native of Cyprus, earned her Ph.D. from DHA in the area of housing in 1999. She will teach in the interior design program and in the DHA graduate program.

Faculty promotions effective fall 2004 were granted to:

• Sauman Chu, design, housing, and apparel (DHA), associate professor with tenure
• Stephanie Watson, DHA, associate professor with tenure
• Elizabeth Wieling, family social science, associate professor with tenure

Recent major grants

• Marilyn Bruin, DHA—“Enhanced Comprehensive Tenant Education,” $120,000 (in addition to previous grant of $407,000), Minnesota Housing Finance Agency
• Jean Bauer, FSoS—“Rural Prosperity: A Longitudinal Study of Rural Communities and Rural Low-Income Families,” $490,000, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Helen Kivnick, SSW—“CitySongs, an after-school program for urban youth offering structured music and performance activities,” $175,000, multiple funding sources including many local agencies and foundations
• Mindy Kurzer, FScN—“Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives” (strategic planning for November conference), $19,000, University of Minnesota