Maria Klawe, vice-president, Student and Academic Services and professor of Computer Science, was named one of five regional Chairs for Women in Science and Engineering last month by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Klawe's chair, sponsored by the IBM Pacific Development Centre, will focus on encouraging the participation of women in areas of science and engineering related to information technology.

Klawe was also the winner in the Science and Technology category at the 14th annual Vancouver YWCA-sponsored Women of Distinction awards held in May. She has been influential in helping create programs to attract and support women in computer careers. On campus she has been instrumental in creating the UBC Computer Science Laboratory known as E-GEMS - Electronic Games for Education in Mathematics and Science.

Geography Prof. Walter Hardwick will receive the Order of British Columbia later this month.

Hardwick -- who has also served as a Vancouver city councillor, deputy minister of education and president of the Knowledge Network -- is among 11 people who will receive the honour this year. The selection committee, headed by B.C.'s chief justice, received more than 120 nominations. Anyone who has achieved distinction in his or her field is eligible, from athletes and artists to scientists and community volunteers. The awards will be presented June 19 in Victoria.

UBC faculty members Prof. Indira Samarasekera and Prof. Keith Brimacombe, PhD candidate Cornelius Muojekwu and research associate Daqing Jin of the Centre for Metallurgical Process Engineering have received the John Chipman Medal, presented by the Iron and Steel Society, for their research on hot-rolling of steel from continuously cast thin slabs.

Prof. Samarasekera has also recently been honoured with fellowship in the Canadian Academy of Engineering. The Academy recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to the engineering community. The fellowship will be bestowed in Ottawa this month.

Samarasekera's research focuses on the processing and metallurgical design of advanced steel grades and deals with continuous casting, in which liquid is converted to solid steel.

Ruth Phillips, a distinguished art historian and teacher from Carleton University, has been named the new director of the Museum of Anthropology.

Phillips has published widely on the aboriginal arts of North America, women's art in Africa and the role of museums.

She received the Canadian Museums Association Award for Outstanding Exhibition Research for her contribution to the 1988 exhibit The Spirit Sings.

"Ruth Phillips is an outstanding scholar, teacher and individual," said Michael Ames, who is stepping down as director after 23 years. "Everyone is very excited about her coming to MOA."

UBC Engineering graduate Habib Zargarpour nar rowly missed winning an Oscar recently after
receiving a nomination for an Academy Award for his stunning special effects in the movie Twister.

Consolation soon arrived, however, in the form of a British Academy Award which Zargarpour received last month.

Zargarpour graduated from UBC with an engineering degree in 1988 and now works for George Lucas's Industrial Light and Magic in San Francisco.

Zargarpour has also worked on special effects for the films Jumanji and Mask. His next project is called Spawn, followed by the next Star Wars movie.