News and Notes

Nina Fedoroff ’66 has been named the new science and technology advisor to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The Penn State life sciences professor received the 2006 National Medal of Science from President Bush at a special ceremony at the White House.

English professor George Saunders G’88 contributed a 12,000-word cover story about Bill Clinton and his global fight against AIDS to the December (2007) issue of GQ magazine. Saunders traveled with Clinton to the Dominican Republic and four African countries last July, as the former president visited projects made possible by the William J. Clinton Foundation.

The religion department recently honored professor emeritus Gabriel Vahanian, best known for his pioneering writing on the “death of God” movement. Vahanian delivered a keynote address and was celebrated by numerous colleagues, including former student Michael S. Kogan ’63, G’77, who established an endowed graduate support fund in his mentor’s name.

English professor and creative writing director Christopher Kennedy won the prestigious Isabella Gardner Poetry Award for his collection, Encouragement for a Man Falling to His Death. The award is given biennially to a mid-career poet of exceptional merit for a collection under contract with BOA Editions, a Pulitzer Prize-winning, non-profit publishing house.

Friends, family members, and alumni are establishing an endowed scholarship in memory of James Lyons ’03, the first SU alumnus to die in the war in Iraq. For more information about the scholarship, which benefits children of fallen and disabled U.S. veterans who fought in any war, call 315-443-2135.