November 2, 2006

Honors

LoAnn C. Peterson has been named the Paul E. Steiner Research Professor of Pathology.  

Peterson, whose research interests focus on the genetics and immunophenotype of chronic lymphocytic leukemia, joined Northwestern’s faculty in 1992.

She is the medical director of hematopathology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital and past president of the American Society for Clinical Pathology.

The author of more than 100 articles, book chapters and letters in medical journals, Peterson is co-author of “Practical Diagnosis of Hematologic Disorders” and co-editor of “Hematopathology in Oncology.” She is a member the U.S.-Canadian Society of Pathology (currently serving as ambassador), the American Society of Hematology (currently serving as liaison to the Practice Committee) and the Society for Hematology, among other professional organizations.

Peterson, who was on the faculty of the University of Minnesota prior to coming to Northwestern, serves on the editorial board of the “American Journal of Clinical Pathology.”

Yi Rao has been named the first Elsa A. Swanson Research

Professor.

Rao was a member of the faculty of Washington University prior to joining the faculty of the Feinberg School of Medicine in 2000.

A recipient of the Charles B. Wilson Brain Tumor Research Excellence Award in Neuroscience, Rao studies molecular and cellular mechanisms of neural development. His laboratory uses multidisciplinary approaches that include molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology and imaging.

Rao’s investigation of neuronal guidance will provide insights into basic cell biological and developmental mechanisms as well as a basis to help design strategies to alleviate neural injuries and control tumor metastasis.

Music senior Ethan Bensdorf has won First Prize in the 2006 Armando Ghitalla Trumpet Competition, a national competition sponsored by the Armando Ghitalla Foundation. Bensdorf was selected out of a field of more than 100 competitors.

The prize included a cash award of $7,500 — one of the largest available to trumpeters — and a guest artist appearance with the Berkshire Symphony Orchestra in Massachusetts on Oct. 27. During that program he will be featured in Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto and in Vivaldi’s Double Trumpet Concerto in collaboration with Empire Brass trumpeter Rolf Smedvig. 

Bensdorf studies with Barbara Butler, Charles Geyer and Christopher Martin. Bensdorf has been a fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, performing as principal trumpeter under James Levine and was for two years a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the training orchestra for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Bensdorf graduated from Evanston Township High School in 2003.

Allen V. Lentino, senior associate director of admission and financial aid, has received the Government Relations Award from the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC).

The award is presented to a NACAC member who has made outstanding efforts in support of policy initiatives that promote equal access to higher education, encourage student achievement and promote counselor excellence, and further the government relations priorities of NACAC members. In addition, Allen was elected to a two-year term on its board of directors.

Allen has attended 10 NACAC Legislative Conferences in Washington since 1993. He meets with members of the Illinois congressional delegation in the U.S. House and Senate, as well as training new attendees on how to make an effective visit to Capitol Hill. Allen has also served as a member of NACAC’s national Government Relations Committee from 1997-99 and helped to plan the Legislative Conference during those years, setting legislative priorities.