Veritas, Vol. 37, No. 08, May 1995

              VERITAS
For the Faculty and Staff of the University of M
May 1995 Volume 37 Number 8
Commencement 1995: Carrie Meek sets the pace for 2,200 graduates
Congressw-oman Carrie L. Meek
will address the University- of
Miami's 1995 graduating class at
the annual commencement exercises
on Friday. May 12. on the University-
Green of the Coral Gables campus.
The ceremonies begin at 8:30 a.m.
More than 2,200 students are
expected to receiv-e degrees, including
1,200 undergraduate. 572 graduate,
309 law-, and
138 medical
degrees.
Meek will be
among six prominent citizens who
will be awarded
honorary degrees
for their diverse
contributions to
society.
She will receive an Honorary Doctor of Laws for distinguishing herself as
a public servant, college administrator,
and educator. The first aAfrican American elected to Congress from Florida
since Reconstruction, Meek is the
granddaughter of a slave and the
daughter of a sharecropper. Her
resolve enabled her to push through
the forces of bigotry intended to keep
African Americans on the opposite side
of good schools, jobs, and a future.
Carrie L. Meek
Inspired to public service, Meek
was elected to the
House of Representatives in 1992
after a distinguished 14-year
career in the Florida legislature. Her
special brand of
guts, savvy, and
determination won
her a place as the
only- freshman on
the all-powerful
House Appropriations Committee.
.Also receiving
honorary degrees
Economist Gary-
Stanley Becker,
known for his groundbreaking
research linking economic theory and
everyday human behavior, will be
awarded an honorary Doctor of Business Administration. Employing the
economic method to study a w-ide
range of issues, the insights of this
Nobel Laureate in economic science
have broadened the scope of the
field's content and analysis.
Nobel Laureate Gerald M. Edelman
will receive an
honorary- Doctor
of Science for a
lifetime of contribution in the field.
In recent years, he
has immersed himself in the study of
the brain. Taking
up where Darwin
left off. Edelman
applies concepts
akin to the theory
of natural selection
to our understanding of how- the
brain develops.
Cesar Gaviria
Trujillo, Secretary-
General of the
Organization of
American States,
will be awarded an honorary Doctor of
Humane Letters in recognition of his
work as a human rights advocate and
economic reformer. During his term as
president of Colombia from 1990 to
1994, Gaviria's leadership transformed
the political, economic, and social
landscape of the country.
Florence Knoll Bassett will be
awarded an Honorary Doctor of a\rchi-
recognition of her profound
influence on design in this century-.
Her innovative approach—that interior
design should represent clarity- and
intelligence—celebrated modernity at
a time when traditional esthetics were
thought to best command respect.
She helped lead the way for a new-
era, where design, not "decoration,"
should articulate space.
Novelist Chaim Potok, the author
of such best-
selling novels as
The Chosen. The
Promise, and My
Name is Asher Lev,
w-ill be awarded
an Honorary-
Doctor of Letters
in recognition of
his outstanding
contributions to
literature. While Potok portrays aspects
of Jewish culture, their themes are
transcendent, exploring the tension
between religious and secular
confrontation.
The School of Medicine will hold
Chaim Potok
Saturday, May 13, at 2 p.m. at the
James L. Knight Center. The School of
Law w-ill hold its commencement ceremonies on Sunday, May 14, at the
James L. Knight Center at 2 p.m.
Renowned faculty members assume Architecture, Rosenstiel deanships
President Edward T. Foote II has
named a pair of faculty members as the new deans of two
of the University's leading schools.
Otis B. Brown, professor of meteorology- and physical oceanography-, has
been named dean of the Rosenstiel
School of Marine and Atmospheric
Science
Internationally known architect
Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk will become
the new- dean of the School of architecture, effective June 1.
Brown, a pioneering specialist in
the use of satellite remote sensing for
ocean observations, is one of the
nation's leading phy-sical oceanogra-
phers. He has been the interim dean
since November 1994 and has served
as associate dean for research since
August 1989- He was chair of the Division of Meteorology and Physical
Oceanography.
"Brown is an internationally respected scientist and an experienced academic leader." says Foote. "With his leadership, one of the worlds best schools
of its kind will be well served."
Says the new dean, "Our plan for
the next few years is to solidify our
strengths in our best research areas
and to create stronger multidisciplinary
linkages between our research
strengths." He
notes the Rosenstiel School has
about ten research
areas that rank
first or second in
the nation, including numeric ocean
modeling, ecosys-
tems analysis,
ocean and atmospheric tracer chemistry-, and satellite
remote sensing.
Brown has published scores of scientific papers and has served on
numerous national and international
scientific committees. His most recent
awards include NASA's Public Service
Group Achievement Award and the
American Geophysical Unions Editors'
Citation for Excellence in Refereeing.
He holds a Ph.D. in physics, with a
specialty in underwater optics, from
Otis B. Brown
the University of Miami; an M.S.
degree in theoretical physics from UM;
and a B.S. in physics from North Carolina State University.
Plater-Zyberk has been a member
of the faculty sir
1979. Currently-
v-ing as the
Mm
director of the
school's Center for
Urban and Community Design,
she founded the
University's Master
of architecture in Elizabeth
Suburb and Town        Plater-Zyberk
Design. In addition
to her work in the academic world.
Plater-Zyberk is a partner with her
husband. Andres Duany-. in the architecture and planning firm Duany and
Plater-Zyberk.
"As an internationally- respected
architect and planner, she brings a special intellectual and professional dimension to her new job, and I expect great
things from our School of ^Architecture."
observes President Foote.
"I believe the school is important to
our region as well as nationally for its
emphasis on architecture as an element of community-making," comments Plater-Zyberk. "I think we have
a truly great faculty-. They-re not only-
good designers who see buildings as
part of society-, but they're also really-
wonderful with the students."
In her academic work and private
practice, Plater-Zy-berk has strived for
increased public awareness of urban
design. She is among a multiprofes-
sional group that subscribes to the
principles of ""The New- Urbanism."
aimed at organizing cities into efficient
and beautiful neighborhoods as an
alternative to suburban sprawl.
Prominent among her firm's work
was the award-winning design of
Seaside. Florida, in 1980. Duany and
Plater-Zyberk have collaborated with
their colleagues at the School of Architecture on numerous projects.
Zyberk received her Master of
architecture in 1974 from Yale and a
B.A. in architecture and urban
planning from Princeton University.