Obama names Susan Rice (Maryland and DC & New College 1986) the new US National Security Adviser

"President Barack Obama reshuffled his national security team on Wednesday, as he moved United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice to the White House and nominated Samantha Power to take her place in New York.

'This team of people has been extraordinarily dedicated to America. They have made America safer. They have made America’s values live in corners of the world that are crying out for our support and our leadership,' Obama said in a Rose Garden ceremony. 'I could not be prouder of these three individuals.' " Read more at Politico. 

Research led by Jane Harding (New Zealand & Brasenose 1978) about oral gel treatment for babies with low blood sugar gets $1.2 million in funding

"An oral dextrose gel treatment given to newborn babies at risk of potentially fatal low blood sugar levels will now be tested in a randomised trial after its lead researcher received nearly $1.2 million in funding from the Health Research Council of New Zealand (HRC).

Hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) affects up to 15 per cent of babies, and its incidence is increasing as risk factors such as maternal diabetes and premature births become more common. With her HRC funding, Professor Jane Harding from The University of Auckland will lead a project to test, for the first time, whether oral dextrose gel applied shortly after birth - a simple, cheap and painless intervention - can prevent low blood sugar." Read more at Voxy. 

Sanya Reid Smith (Victoria & Balliol 1999) to participate in discussion on trade and investment rules at UNCTAD Public Symposium

"Along with the other panel members and participants, Ms. Reid Smith will discuss Trade and Investment Rules for Inclusive and Sustainable Development, which is the topic of the plenary session to be held on the second day of the Symposium (25 June).

Ms. Reid Smith is a legal advisor and senior researcher at Third World Network - an active international network specializing in development issues and North-South affairs. Ms. Reid Smith is a law graduate and has a biochemistry degree, and has also studied economics." Read more at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. 

Plutocrats, by Chrystia Freeland (Prairies & St Antony's 1991), wins National Business Book Award

"Since the phrase “the 1 per cent” came to signify more than a just a number, income inequality has become a subject of hot debate in policy circles. Chrystia Freeland was awarded the 28th annual National Business Book Award on Tuesday for her work examining “the .01 per cent” – the superrich – and their impact on the economy and on politics." Read more at the Globe and Mail. 

Los Angeles Times runs feature about Amy Wakeland (Michigan & Wadham 1993), the mayor-elect's partner in life

"Midway through his election-night victory speech, Eric Garcetti turned toward the cluster of family on the stage behind him and invited his wife to step forward. He thanked her for "making our life work" under the stress of his run for mayor of Los Angeles, saying, "None of this would be possible without Amy Wakeland."

It was a rare moment in the spotlight for Wakeland, a powerful player in Garcetti's political life but one who fiercely guards their family's privacy.

With Garcetti's inauguration five weeks away, Wakeland, 43, will soon need to reconcile her fondness for a low profile with the platform that her husband's position will offer to advance causes that she has worked on for years." Read more at the Los Angeles Times. 

Professor Sarah Cleveland (Alabama & Lincoln 1987) to coordinate ALI restatement

"New York, May 28, 2013—Columbia Law School Professor Sarah H. Cleveland presented a proposal for the "The Restatement (Fourth) of the Foreign Relations Law of the United States" to the annual meeting of the American Law Institute in Washington, D.C. on May 22. 

Cleveland, the Louis Henkin Professor in Human and Constitutional Rights and a noted expert in international law and the constitutional law of U.S. foreign relations, has been appointed coordinating reporter for the Restatement project, a task she will share with Paul B. Stephan, a law professor at the University of Virginia. The pair will oversee the work of teams of scholars, judges, and practitioners in drafting the restatement. The topics they will tackle first are the status of treaties in U.S. law, jurisdiction and judgments, and state immunities.  Cleveland will also serve as one of the three reporters on the treaty prong of the project. 

The American Law Institute (ALI) was founded in 1923 and serves as the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work “to clarify, modernize, and otherwise improve the law.” It is made up of eminent judges, lawyers from government and the private sector, and law professors from across the United States and from many foreign countries." Read more at Columbia Law School. 

Beth Shapiro (Georgia & Balliol 1999) presents at TEDxDeExtinction

"Complete mammoth genetic sequences are deteriorating over time, complicating any efforts at cloning the species. But Beth Shapiro and her team may have found a solution. She reveals the novel approaches that she and her colleagues are taking to revive ancient mammoths." Watch the talk at TEDx. 
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Mandisa Mbali (KwaZulu-Natal & St Antony's 2005) examines the history of the Treatment Action Campaign in her new book

​"South Africa has the world’s largest number of people living with HIV. South African AIDS Activism and Global Health Politics offers a history of AIDS activism in South Africa from its origins in gay and anti-apartheid activism to the formation and consolidation of the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC), including its central role in the global HIV treatment access movement.

What did South African AIDS activists contribute, politically, to early international advocacy for free HIV medicines for the world’s poor? Mandisa Mbali demonstrates that South Africa’s Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) gave moral legitimacy to the international movement which enabled it to effectively push for new models of global health diplomacy and governance. The TAC rapidly acquired moral credibility, she argues, because of its leaders’ anti-apartheid political backgrounds, its successful human rights-based litigation and its effective popularization of AIDS-related science." Read more at Pan Macmillan. 

Jennifer Robinson (Australia-at-Large & Balliol 2006) speaks at TedxSydney

"Benny Wenda is the face of self-determination and human rights in West Papua. This is the story of him and his people as told by his lawyer and friend, Jennifer Robinson." Watch the video on Youtube. 
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Bethany Ehlmann (Missouri & Hertford 2004) is selected as a 2013 National Geographic Emerging Explorer

"Bethany Ehlmann is a participating scientist on the NASA Mars Rover Curiosity mission, a research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and assistant professor of planetary science at Caltech. She explores our solar system, seeking to understand its history over billions of years of geologic time and searching for habitable environments for life.

At 9:45 each Mars morning, a car-size rover loaded with scientific instruments wakes up, looks toward Earth, and asks, “What do I do today?” Bethany Ehlmann is one of the scientists who answers that question. As a geologist on the NASA Mars Rover Curiosity mission, she helps direct the rover and analyzes the minerals and geochemistry of Martian rocks for clues about the planet’s environment over billions of years." Read more at National Geographic. 

Hotel Hyperion, by Lisa Gorton (Australia-at-Large & Merton 1994), receives a rave review from the Sydney Morning Herald

"Lisa Gorton's second collection, Hotel Hyperion, is very much a book of interiors, both literal and metaphoric. It reinforces an impression of a very distinctive sensibility, foreshadowed in her debut collection, Press Release, but more clearly seen here. The book is also frequently ekphrastic - which perhaps partly explains its thoughtful and relatively low-key tone. Gorton, earlier on, wrote a PhD on John Donne and a contemporary version of that poet's formal sense shows through here, too." Read more at the Sydney Morning Herald. 

Illinois governor nominates Erica Borggren (Illinois & Oriel 2002) for Director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs

"SPRINGFIELD — Erica Borggren is only 30, but she's already been valedictorian at West Point, a Rhodes Scholar, a company commander in Korea and a high-level aide to Gen. David Petraeus in the Middle East. If Gov. Pat Quinn gets his way, she'll also be director of the Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Quinn announced today that he was nominating Borggren, a former Army captain who grew up in McHenry, to lead the department. The appointment doesn't become official unless the state Senate approves it." Read more at the Rockford Register Star. 

Justine Munro (New Zealand & Balliol 1993) is appointed to board of directors of Z Energy

"Z Energy has named two new independent directors to its board, with the appointment of Abby Foote and Justine Munro edging the fuel retailer closer to a listing on the NZX.

The announcement comes just weeks after the firm hired First NZ Capital and Goldman Sachs as arrangers on the initial public offering, with Craigs Investment Partners-Deutsche Bank and Forsyth Barr serving as joint lead managers on the deal if it gets the go-ahead.

Under NZX listing rules, every listed company needs a board of at least six directors, two of whom must be independent." Read more at Stuff, a New Zealand news and information website. 

Nancy Davis (Rhodes Visiting Fellow & Somerville 1979) receives Independent Publisher Book Award

"Claiming Society for God: Religious Movements and Social Welfare, co-authored by Nancy J. Davis, professor emerita of sociology at DePauw University, has received a "gold" award in the religion category of the 2013 Independent Publisher Book Awards. A collaboration with Robert V. Robinson, Class of 1964 Chancellor's Professor of Sociology at Indiana University - Bloomington, the book was published last summer by Indiana University Press.

The work by Professors Davis and Robinson shares the first place award with From the Shahs to Los Angeles: Three Generations of Iranian Jewish Women Between Religion and Culture, by Saba Soomekh." Read more at DePauw University. 

Rachel Mazyck (North Carolina & Linacre 2005) co-authors opinion piece for the Washington Post about low-income students applying to selective schools

"Each April, the tables are turned in admissions offices of selective U.S. colleges as their role shifts from the pursued to the pursuer. Prestigious colleges nationwide compete for high-achieving high school seniors with multiple college offers who must confirm a choice by May 1.

Unfortunately, few low-income students are in that lucky group. A National Bureau of Economic Research working paper estimates that there are 25,000 to 35,000 exceptionally promising low-income students — a far greater number than previously believed — with an A-minus or better high school GPA and scoring at the 90th percentile or above on the SAT or ACT." Read more at the Washington Post. 

UQ Life, founded by Maureen Dunne (Illinois & New 1999), presents at TechCrunch Disrupt NY’s Startup Battlefield

"UQ Life was founded to create a smart platform for self-discovery and personal development, and it’s designed to help kids learn through collaborative games. Today, as part of TechCrunch Disrupt NY’s Startup Battlefield, the company launched with a couple of apps for child learning and development by personalizing games to match individual skill sets.

According to founder and CEO Maureen Dunne, these games are created to improve and reinforce skill development, especially in areas such as math and science. But the platform can also be used for games that help kids develop social skills." Read more at TechCrunch. 

Heather Wilson (New Hampshire & Jesus 1982) will become the first female president of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology

"Heather Wilson, a former member of Congress, Rhodes Scholar, and small business owner who has worked with large defense and scientific companies, will become the 19th president of the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology.

The South Dakota Board of Regents unanimously voted on Thursday to name Wilson to succeed the late Robert Wharton, who passed away in September. She will begin her duties on the Rapid City campus on or about June 17, and will become the first female president in the school’s 128-year history." Read more at the Digital Journal. 

Rachel Kleinfeld (Alaska & St Antony's 2000) publishes book on supporting the Rule of Law abroad

"Rachel Kleinfeld, an MPhil (2002) and DPhil (2009) alumna of the Department, has written a new volume, Advancing the Rule of Law Abroad: Next Generation Reform (Carnegie Endowment, 2012).

While the rule of law is increasingly viewed as crucial for democracy, economic growth, and security, international efforts to support the rule of law abroad have generally had at best modest success. In this book, Kleinfeld provides an overview of past and present reform efforts, focusing on the second generation rule of law reformers, who believe the rule of law must be rooted in the relationship between the state and society, and cannot be built by outsiders." Read more at the University of Oxford Department of Politics and International Relations. 

President Obama confirms Sylvia Mathews Burwell (West Virginia & Worcester 1987) as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget

"I am pleased that the Senate took bipartisan action today to confirm Sylvia Mathews Burwell as the Director of the Office of Management and Budget.  Sylvia shares my commitment to growing our economy, shrinking our deficits in a balanced way, and reigniting a rising, thriving middle class.  Sylvia has spent a career fighting for working families, and she was part of an OMB team that presided over three budget surpluses in a row.  Her experience will be especially important as we continue our efforts to replace the indiscriminate budget cuts that are already starting to cost jobs, hurt families, and inconvenience Americans.  Sylvia will be a key member of my economic team, and I look forward to working with her in the years ahead." Read more at The White House website. 

Chrystia Freeland (Prairies & St Antony's 1991) is a finalist for the National Business Book Award

"The four finalists for this year’s $20,000 National Business Book Award were announced today: Double Double, by Douglas Hunter; Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else, by Chrystia Freeland; The Power of Why, by Amanda Lang; and True North: A Life in the Music Business, by Bernie Finkelstein. PricewaterhouseCoopers and BMO Financial Group are co-sponsors of the award; The Globe and Mail is the media sponsor. The winner will be announced May 28." Read more at the Globe and Mail.