1950s
Lyle Ralph Jackson BS’50, a 90-year-old World War II veteran, has received France’s highest honor—induction into the French Legion of Honor. He accepted the award at a ceremony in February. An order of distinction established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, induction is reserved for individuals who exhibit extreme valor in civil or military service. It is technically for French nationals but is occasionally given to foreign nationals for serving France or its ideals. Jackson served with the 376th Infantry Regiment of the 94th Combat Infantry, which marched through difficult conditions in France, warding off Germans in hedgerows and house-to-house combat and liberating various towns as they went along. Jackson says he still counts it a blessing to have survived the war when so many others didn’t. He holds a bachelor’s degree in art from the U’s College of Fine Arts.
1960s
John Schulian BA’67 received the 2016 PEN ESPN Lifetime Achievement Award for Literary Sports Writing. PEN (originally poets, essayists, and novelists) is an international literary association of writers founded in London in 1921. The award is given to one living American or U.S.-based writer each year to celebrate his or her body of work. Award judges commented that “for more than 35 years, Schulian’s sports writing has stamped sentences on his readers’ minds with the same verve and force of typewriter keys denting pages. In columns for the Chicago Sun Times and Philadelphia Daily News, as well as longer, more elegiac collectibles for Sports Illustrated and GQ, he has married craftsmanship to a dead-on emotional honesty for his subjects, and an eye for the telling, meaningful detail.” Schulian received a bachelor’s degree in communication from the U’s College of Humanities and lives in Southern California. Read a Continuum feature about Schulian and his experience teaching at the U here.
1970s
Milton L. Lee BS’71 is one of two winners of the 9th Annual LCGC Lifetime Achievement and Emerging Leader in Chromatography Award. The award recognizes the achievements and aspirations of a talented young scientist who has made strides early in his or her career toward the advancement of chromatographic techniques and applications. He was honored at a symposium in March at Pittcon 2016, the world’s largest annual conference and exposition on laboratory science. Lee received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the U and a doctorate in analytical chemistry from Indiana University. He spent one year as a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before accepting a faculty position in the Chemistry Department at Brigham Young University, where he is the H. Tracy Hall Professor of Chemistry.
1980s
Michael Anderson BA’87 has been named director of the Office of Investigations at the United States International Trade Commission, an agency of the U.S. government that provides trade expertise to both the legislative and executive branches, other federal agencies, and the public. Anderson now directs the planning and conduct of the commission’s import injury investigations. Most recently acting director of the commission’s Office of Industries since March 2015, Anderson previously served 10 years as chief of the Advanced Technology and Machinery Division in the Office of Industries. He has held a variety of positions with the commission since 1991. Anderson has a bachelor’s degree in economics from the U and a master’s degree in international business from George Washington University.
1990s
Todd Gordon Mather BS’94 MArch’96 has been recognized with a Best of Houzz 2016 award for client satisfaction/ customer service. Houzz is a website designed to showcase home remodeling and design. The annual service award recognizes the top 3 percent of professionals with the most five-star Houzz reviews for projects completed in the past year. Mather has 14 five-star reviews on houzz.com. As the principal at TGM Architect, located in Tahoe City, Calif., Mather is known for his collaborations to create projects that fit seamlessly and logically with their surroundings. His work ranges from projects that blend with the natural surroundings to designs described as interpretively daring. Mather’s projects have been featured in Utah Homes & Garden, Park City Magazine, and Utah Style & Design.
2000s
Ehab Abdel-Rahman PhD’00 has been appointed vice provost at the American University in Cairo, the region’s leading English-language university. Abdel-Rahman joined the university in 2006 as an assistant professor of physics. Since then, he has served as a department chair, associate dean, research center director, and associate provost for research. Abdel-Rahman’s area of specialty is thermoacoustics and concentrated solar power. He has published more than 70 technical papers and reports, holds five U.S. patents, and is the founder of technology transfer offices in four Egyptian universities. Prior to joining the AUC, Abdel-Rahman was an assistant professor of physics at Helwan University, Egypt. Earlier he served as a research assistant professor and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Utah, where he was a student of Orest Symko and received his doctorate in physics.
Annie Burbidge Ream BA’08, assistant curator of education and public school programs at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, has won two major awards. In February, Burbidge Ream was named 2016 Utah Museum Educator of the Year by the Utah Art Education Association. In March, she was awarded the 2016 Pacific Region Museum Education Art Educator Award from the National Art Education Association, the leading professional membership organization exclusively for visual arts educators. Burbidge Ream joined the museum in 2008. In her current role, she oversees outreach programs that bring arts education annually to nearly 150 schools and more than 21,000 students in every corner of the state. She received her bachelor’s degree in art history from the U.
2010s
Judy Zhu HBS’15 has the distinction of having her undergraduate honors thesis in chemistry featured as the January 15, 2016, cover article of the Journal of Organic Chemistry. Zhu graduated last May and is an alumna of the U’s College of Science ACCESS program for women in science and math. She entered the ACCESS program in 2011 while a student at Olympus High School in Salt Lake City. She and a cohort of 42 women came to the U during the summer after high school graduation to experience the offerings of the departments within the College of Science. She began working in a chemistry research lab during her freshman year and graduated with honors, while working every weekend in her parents’ Chinese restaurant. The featured article, of which Zhu is the first author, describes how chemical conditions can impact the consequences of DNA damage. Zhu is currently spending a gap year working in the lab of Distinguished Professor Cynthia Burrows before going on to graduate studies.
To submit alumni news for consideration, email ann.floor@utah.edu.