News releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
12/6/2000
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON NEWS BRIEFS

-- Event marks 20 years of weather satellite research
-- Business dean heads blue-ribbon committee
-- Gallery in Overture to be named after Watrous

EVENT MARKS 20 YEARS OF WEATHER SATELLITE RESEARCH
CONTACT: Terri Gregory, (608) 263-3373; terri.gregory@ssec.wisc.edu

MADISON -- Up on the rooftop, forecasters pause -- to mark 20 years of advances in satellite meteorology that has changed the nature of weather research.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Space Science and Engineering Center will celebrate major technological and organizational achievements in satellite meteorology Thursday, Dec. 14, on top of the Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences building, 1225 W. Dayton St.

The event marks the 20th anniversary of the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS), a UW-Madison and federal partnership based in weather satellite technology. In the latest advance, SSEC has installed a new rooftop antenna that routes data from NASA's Earth science research satellite, Terra, to an SSEC archive and to the scientific community.

The rooftop remarks at 2:15 p.m. by NASA's Jim Dodge and SSEC researcher Liam Gumley will be followed by talks in the State Historical Society's Auditorium, 816 State St. Starting at 2:45 p.m., scientists William L. Smith and W. Paul Menzel will give perspectives on 20 years of CIMSS research and development and a glimpse at future technology.

Smith directed CIMSS from 1984 through 1997, when he left to direct atmospheric science at NASA's Langley Research Center in Virginia. Menzel, chief scientist in National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, has worked closely with CIMSS since it began in 1980.

Following the presentations, a 4 p.m. reception in the Pyle Center's Lakeside Alumni Lounge, 702 Langdon St., features a plaque presentation to CIMSS Director Steven Ackerman.

BUSINESS DEAN HEADS BLUE-RIBBON COMMITTEE
CONTACT: Andrew J. Policano, (608) 262-1758;
Helen Capellaro, (608) 262-9213

MADISON -- University of Wisconsin-Madison Business School Dean Andrew J. Policano has been chosen to lead a blue-ribbon committee on accreditation quality for the International Association for Management Education.

The 11-member committee, consisting of deans of major business schools, is proposing a fundamental change in the accreditation process to reflect the new realities faced by business schools.

Policano says business schools need to acknowledge dramatic changes in their industry, including new methods of delivering the curriculum, smaller tenure track faculty, and an increasing cadre of executive and non-tenure track faculty.

"The standards have to adjust to these different modes of delivery, whether it be distance education, utilizing the Internet, or non traditional faculty members delivering the curriculum," he says. "In addition, the accreditation process and standards must be flexible enough to apply to business schools globally."

The committee plans to present a conceptual framework in April at the AACSB annual meeting in New York.

GALLERY IN OVERTURE TO BE NAMED AFTER WATROUS
CONTACT: Robert G. Lange, (608) 263-1692, ext. 12; rglange@facstaff.wisc.edu

MADISON -- The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters' new gallery in the Overture Center in Madison, to open in 2004, will be named after the late, distinguished art historian and artist, James S. Watrous.

The designated exhibition space for works by state and local artists will be called The James S. Watrous Gallery of the Wisconsin Academy," honoring Watrous (1908-1999), whose career as a teacher, art historian, painter, author, muralist, and mosaicist was devoted to serving the University of Wisconsin.

The tribute is made possible by a gift from the family of James and Margaret Watrous.

Robert G. Lange, executive director of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, says Watrous was an influential artist whose "most lasting gift was that of serving as a cornerstone of, and advocate for, culture and civilization in Wisconsin and beyond in the broadest sense."

The Wisconsin Academy Fellows program honors Wisconsin residents whose dedication to knowledge and culture have led to extraordinary contributions to our state.

The James S. Watrous Gallery of the Wisconsin Academy will be located on the top level of a multistory rotunda that will serve as the main entry area to the Overture Center, the $100 million arts complex slated to open on Madison's State Street in 2004.

The Wisconsin Academy Gallery, in operation since 1974, is a juried, noncommercial showcase for Wisconsin visual artists working in various media. The academy's current space is at 1922 University Ave.
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