Lombardi Inauguration

The new UMass Amherst Chancellor, John Lombardi, will be inaugurated on February 7 with some inaugural events taking place on Thursday, February 6 also. Inaugural events include academic symposia presented by faculty and students from each of the University’s ten schools and colleges. There will also be a gala dinner that evening. The inauguration ceremony will take place in the William D. Mullins Memorial Center on Friday, February 7 at 10am. Charlena M. Seymour, senior vice chancellor and provost at UMA, will officiate the ceremony and University President William M. Bulger will deliver a welcome. Lombardi became chancellor July 1, 2002. He served as president of the University of Florida from 1990-1999, and before that was provost at Johns Hopkins University. Prior to arriving at UMass Amherst, Lombardi was director of the Center for Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences, based at the University of Florida. A Latin American scholar, Lombardi has also written extensively about the history of Venezuela.

New Truck for Nantucket Field Station(courtesy of University Reporter)

UMass Boston Nantucket Field Station recently welcomed a third donation from the island’s Don Allen Ford Dealership, through the continued generosity of general manager William A. Toronovish, Jr. The latest addition to the station’s fleet is a 1995 Ford F150 pick-up truck. “We’ll be using it as a work truck,” says Tony Molis, facilities manager of the field station. “Whether we’ll use it to launch boats or take deliveries from the lumber yard, we’ll put it to good use.” Don Allen Ford has also previously donated a 1995 Ford Windstar and a 2002 Ford Think, an electric car, to the station.

Frank Lends Support to Senior Job Training

Congressman Barney Frank announced on January 27 that all twelve Members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation – including all ten Congressmen and both Senators- sent a letter last week to United States Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao expressing their opposition to a Department proposal that could disrupt a successful program that helps low income adults obtain job training under the Older Americans Act.The Labor Department may open up the grant process (which institutions currently utilize in employment and training programs) to new and possibly less-experienced and less-efficient organizations instead of guaranteeing funding to organizations which have experience and existing programs which utilize the same grant money.