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Five finalists have been selected to participate in campus interviews during April for the position of dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder. The finalists, and the dates of their campus interviews, follow: * Reza Abbaschian, Vladimir A. Grodsky Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Florida, Gainesville, will visit the campus April 8-9. Abbaschian has served as chairman of the department of materials science and engineering since 1986.

At their March 21 meeting, the University of Colorado Board of Regents approved a new name for the east wing of the Engineering and Applied Science Building at CU-Colorado Springs in memory of David E. Teets, who died tragically in an accident in December 2001. Teets was a microelectronics engineer with an undergraduate degree from CU-Boulder and a master's degree in electrical engineering from the Colorado Springs campus.

The CU Parents Association will present eight faculty and staff members at the University of Colorado at Boulder with the Marinus G. Smith Recognition Award at a ceremony on April 6 at 11 a.m. at the University Club Lounge. The purpose of the award is to identify and recognize CU-Boulder faculty, instructors and staff who have made a significant impact on the lives of one or more CU-Boulder undergraduates.

The CU-Boulder Leeds School of Business will host the third annual MBA Net Impact Case Competition on April 6. The event brings together MBA students from across the nation to address business sustainability and social responsibility issues. Participating schools include CU-Boulder, Northwestern, University of North Carolina, UCLA, Vanderbilt, University of Denver, University of Minnesota, Yale, Washington University and Case Western Reserve. Team presentations will be held at 3:30 p.m. The competition is free and open to the public.

Ongoing excavations in Russia indicate anatomically modern humans were developing new technologies for survival in the cold, harsh region some 30,000 to 40,000 years ago, according to a University of Colorado at Boulder researcher. John Hoffecker of CU-Boulder's Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research said that excavations at Kostenki -- a series of more than 20 sites about 250 miles south of present-day Moscow -- have yielded bone and ivory needles with eyelets that are 30,000 years old.

Jane Menken, professor of sociology and director of the Institute of Behavioral Science at the University of Colorado at Boulder, today received the prestigious title of distinguished professor from the CU Board of Regents. She joins only 18 other CU-Boulder faculty members who currently hold the title of distinguished professor.

Journalists and photographers from The Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News will share their views on the challenges and rewards of reporting on military operations in Afghanistan at the University of Colorado at Boulder at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 11, in the Hale Science Building, room 270. The panel discussion, "The Assignment of a Lifetime: Covering War in Afghanistan," will include two alumni from the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

The University of Colorado at Boulder Natural Resources Law Center will host a conference on coal-bed methane April 4-5, providing a forum for diverse points of view to address the role of CBM in meeting America's energy challenges. The conference will be at the Comfort Inn conference complex at 401 17th St. in Denver, across the street from the Brown Palace Hotel.

The University of Colorado at Boulder's Colorado Executive Development in Residence program, or CEDIR, is now accepting enrollment for this summer. The program offers experienced managers a critical overview of business fundamentals such as accounting, marketing and finance.

A University of Colorado at Boulder sociology professor has won a Fulbright Senior Specialists grant to develop coursework at a Taiwan criminology institute. Robert Regoli will spend two weeks working with the faculty at National Taipei University's National Criminology Institute to develop curriculum and research areas for graduate students. He will travel to Taiwan on March 23.