Newsmakers

Kargère awarded advising award

The Student Affairs Committee of the Undergraduate Council recently awarded Lecturer on History and Literature Stephen Kargère the 2007 John R. Marquand Award for exceptional advising and counseling for a faculty member. Now in its sixth year, the prize — honoring legendary Dudley House senior tutor John H. Marquand — is annually awarded to one faculty member and one nonfaculty adviser.

Kargère, who is also the Allston Burr Resident Dean in Cabot House, received the award based on nominations by students.

APA applauds HMS’s Bird for excellence in teaching

Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) has announced that Harvard Medical School Assistant Professor of Psychiatry Suzanne A. Bird, the medical director of CHA’s Psychiatric Emergency Service, has received the annual Irma Bland Award for Excellence in Teaching Residents. Presented by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the award is named for Irma Bland, a nationally recognized educator, clinician, and administrator in the mental health arena.

Bird received the award for her teaching, mentoring, and role modeling for psychiatric residents at CHA, where she is integrally involved in their training and after-hours on-call work.

HMS’s Brenner elected to AAM

Michael B. Brenner, the Theodore Bevier Bayles Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, has been elected to fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM).

Fellows of the academy are elected annually based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology. There are now more than 2,500 fellows representing all subspecialties of microbiology, including basic and applied research, teaching, public health, industry, and government service.

Brenner’s research is on peptide and lipid antigen recognition in the immune system and the immunology of inflammatory arthritis. Brenner is also division chief of Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Levenson receives honorary doctorate in divinity

St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore awarded Jon D. Levenson, the Albert A. List Professor of Jewish Studies at Harvard Divinity School and a member of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, an honorary doctorate in divinity on May 10. The citation mentioned “his many contributions to biblical theology, to the intersection of faith and critical study, and to Jewish-Christian relations.”

St. Mary’s Seminary and University has prepared candidates for the Roman Catholic priesthood since 1791 and has, for nearly 40 years, also offered graduate programs in theology for clergy of all religious backgrounds and the general public.

Grad student Senderovich awarded Slavic Languages prize

The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures recently awarded Sasha Senderovich, a fourth-year graduate student in the department’s doctoral program, the V.M. Setchkarev Memorial Prize of $500 for his essay on Russian literature titled “The Hershele Maze: Isaac Babel and His Ghost Reader.”