Notables

Claire M. Germain, the Edward Cornell Law Librarian, has been elected vice president/president-elect of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL). The association includes over 5,000 academic, corporation, firm, state, court and county libraries. AALL fosters law librarianship and provides leadership and advocacy in the fields of legal information and information policy. Germain is also a law professor and director of Cornell Law School's Joint Degree Programs in Paris and Berlin. She recently published a substantial supplement to her book, Germain's Transnational Law Research: A Guide for Attorneys.

Four Cornell students in first year Russian competed in the New York State Russian Olympiada 2004 on April 3 at Syracuse University, with one gaining a first prize and another a third prize. Twenty-eight students from seven schools participated in the contest (Syracuse University, Binghamton University, Hobart and William Smith College, Hamilton College, Union College and the U.S. Military Academy). College level Russian Olympiada is a growing movement in its third year now, and this was the first time that Cornell students joined the contest. There were four venues in the competition: poetry recital from memory, speaking/conversation, reading and a grammar exam. The winner was decided by the overall best score. Susan Moskwa '04 won the first prize and Alec Rivers '07 took the third prize. The second prize went to Brett Greenspan from Hamilton College.

Michael Veilleux, a graduate student in engineering, was recently awarded the Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship, funded by the Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Defense Programs and Office of Science. "Mike has earned the most prestigious national fellowship in computational mechanics," said Anthony Ingraffea, the Dwight C. Baum Professor of Engineering in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering. "Only about 15 are awarded each year. He is also entering a fellowship of other awardees and soon-to-be colleagues at the DOE national labs who are expecting great accomplishments from him." Veilleux will be working with Ingraffea on the Structural Integrity Prognosis System project (reported in the March 25, 2004, issue of the Cornell Chronicle), and will use the Cornell Theory Center's high-performance computing clusters to develop computer models of fracturing in metals and composites that will be used to predict the expected life of aircraft and vehicles. After the fellowship, Veilleux hopes to continue research for a private firm, an educational institution or a national laboratory.