Professor Kenneth Button was elected president of the Transportation Research Forum.

Adjunct Professor Delio Gianturco was honored by the SPP Alumni Chapter with a Distinguished Faculty Award for his outstanding service to SPP and its alumni and for his ability to motivate students to excel as scholars and global citizens.

PhD student Emilia Catalina Istrate was honored by the SPP Alumni Chapter as one of two recipients of the 2008 Distinguished Student Award, which is given for outstanding scholarship, service, and leadership. Her concentration is in entrepreneurship and regional development. She is a graduate research associate, a volunteer teaching assistant, and chief editor of the SPP doctoral working paper series.

MPP student Tricia Johnson and ICP student Jamie Kuhne are finalists in the Office of Personnel Management’s Presidential Management Fellows Program (PMF). The program seeks skilled and diverse people for public service. More information can be found at the PMF web site.

John P. Leonard (International Commerce and Policy '06) on March 11, 2008, was named area port director of San Francisco for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Leonard is responsible for coordinating air and sea operations at the fourth-largest seaport in the country, as well as at international airports in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento, Fresno, Reno, and Salt Lake City, and smaller seaports in northern California.

PhD student Phillip W. Magness’s paper “Entrepreneurship and the Warehousing Act of 1846” was accepted for the Policy History Conference. Mangess will present the paper at the conference in June 2008.

PhD student Jill Rough was selected to participate in the 19th annual Women in International Security summer symposium, “New Challenges for Global Security.” The symposium will take place from June 8 to 13, 2008, in Washington, D.C. In addition, Rough was the other recipient of the 2008 Distinguished Student Award named by the SPP Alumni Chapter. Her concentration is in national security policy. As a lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy, she manages the administrative readiness of more than 80 personnel. In addition, she has been the student director of the SPP doctoral research workshops and SPP doctoral working paper series.