News

The University of Texas at Austin mourns the loss of renowned physicist and professor emerita Cécile DeWitt-Morette, who was a faculty member in the Department of Astronomy and the Department of Physics. DeWitt-Morette received international acclaim for her work in theoretical physics and for the educational institution she established in Europe, L'École de Physique des Houches, which helped launch many of the world's leading physicists and mathematicians.

Oscar Madrid Padilla will become the first person to receive a PhD by the University of Texas at Austin's Department of Statistics and Data Sciences (SDS) this May. The department was formed in August 2014 and replaced the Division of Statistics and Scientific Computation.

A research team led by physics professor Keji Lai at the University of Texas at Austin has discovered that a material he studies has an unusual property that could one day lead to cell phones and other electronic devices that are smaller, lighter and more energy efficient.

While studying for her degree in Human Development and Family Science (HDFS), Marilu Sanchez—one of the world-changing CNS students graduating this month—dedicated herself to helping others.

A new model for assessing real-time risk of a Zika virus epidemic in the United States is described in research published in the open access journal BMC Infectious Diseases. The computer simulation, based on data from Texas including population dynamics, historical infection rates, socioeconomics, and mosquito density, is designed to help policymakers gauge the underlying epidemic threat as cases first appear in US cities.

Only three years after joining the faculty at The University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Kate Biberdorf has been chosen as one of this year's Texas 10. Nominated by alumni and celebrated in the Texas Exes' publication The Alcalde, the Texas 10 are dedicated educators who have had a profound impact on the lives of their students. Biberdorf and the other winners this year were selected from among 75 nominated campus educators.

Gulf Corvina look pretty ordinary—they're a couple of feet long and silvery. Yet the sounds they make—when millions get together to spawn—are a kind of wonder of the natural world. It's also why they are in danger.

Gerhard Fonken, former executive vice president and provost at The University of Texas at Austin, died this month at the age of 88. Fonken served the university for more than 35 years in various research, teaching and administrative roles, including professor in the Department of Chemistry and vice president of academic affairs and research.

With less than a month to go before spring commencement, we're launching "CNS Alumni Change the World," a series about some of the outstanding people who got their start in UT Austin's College of Natural Sciences and went on to transform the world. Follow the series online with the hashtag #CNSworldchangers. First up is a speaker at two CNS commencement ceremonies on May 20.

Steven Finkelstein and Kristin Harvey of the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin have been awarded endowed Dads' Association Centennial Teaching Fellowships for 2017-2018. The fellowships recognize faculty members who have demonstrated excellence in teaching and made significant contributions to undergraduate education at UT Austin.