University
USC Rossier Alum Sought for Education Post
- Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana
By Andrea Bennett on May 27, 2009 1:24 PM
The White House has announced that President Barack Obama intends to nominate USC Rossier alumna Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana (Ph.D. ’95) for assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education in the Department of Education.
Melendez de Santa Ana is currently serving as the superintendent of schools in the Pomona Unified School District. Her efforts to improve teaching and accelerate student performance includes work with the Stupski Educational Foundation and the Annenberg Foundation.
She has written numerous articles for national education publications and is an accomplished speaker on the role of school administrators, the achievement gap, women in education, and the issues of race and class.
In 2006, she was selected by the Eli Broad Center for the Management of School Systems to participate in a 10-month executive management program to train CEOs to lead urban public school systems.
She also was selected by the Association of California School Administrators to be the state’s nominee for the 2009 American Association of School Administrators’ National Superintendent of the Year.
TAGS: education
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The Wall Street Journal highlighted the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
KPCC-FM reported that this fall USC will offer Persian language courses for the first time. A $250,000 grant from the Farhang Foundation helped to establish the program. Bruce Zuckerman of the USC Dornsife College said he has many students interested in the Persian language, culture and region. “The Iranian region is one that has great impact on our lives today and has had great impact going back into ancient times,” he said. The story noted that USC and the Farhang Foundation hope to raise more money to create an Iranian studies minor. Payvand also featured the new courses.
American Songwriter ran a Q&A with Christopher Sampson of the USC Thornton School about the school’s Popular Music program, which Sampson founded. He noted that the program has been available as a major in Songwriting since 2009, and has incorporated a diverse range of musical genres. “We have now established a consistent track record of students having professional success to know that the program gets results,” Sampson said. He also highlighted the achievements of Songwriting faculty members Lamont Dozier, Andrea Stolpe and David Poe of the Thornton School.
The Economist featured research by Valter Longo of the USC Davis School finding that short periods of fasting could help cancer patients better tolerate chemotherapy, and may even make treatment more effective. The Globe and Mail (Canada) reported that cancerous tumors are essentially energy hogs. “They need to burn lots of energy just to stay alive,” Longo said. The study was also covered by Irish Independent (Ireland), Magyar Tavirati Iroda (Hungary), Anadolu Ajansi (Turkey), Son Haber (Netherlands), Vietnam+ (Vietnam), Turkish Radio and Television (Turkey) and Romania Libera (Romania).
L.A. Weekly featured research by USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies, which has developed video games based around physical movement for people recovering from strokes or other injuries. The games develop strength in specific body parts. Traditional video games weren’t right for these patients, said the institute’s Belinda Lange. “Often, the fun parts of the game would only be unlocked after a series of other levels, which our patients often couldn’t achieve,” she said. The games are now being tested with physical therapists in three major clinics.
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