Zoology Prof. Robert Blake is the new associate dean of Faculty Development and Research in the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Since coming to UBC from Cambridge University in 1979, Blake has been active in university affairs.

He served a two-year term as president of the UBC Faculty Association from 1996 until last April.

Blake has been a professor of Zoology since 1991.

Roberta Hewat, assistant professor of Nursing, has received a grant of more than $250,000 from the Population Health Fund of Health Canada to implement and evaluate the World Health Organization/UNICEF Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative in Canada. The project aims to successfully implement breastfeeding as the cultural norm in Canada.

Hewat joined UBC's School of Nursing in 1980.

Law Prof. Pitman Potter has been appointed director of the Institute for Asian Research. Potter, who speaks Mandarin and is an expert on the Chinese legal system, is currently the director of Chinese Legal Studies. He will continue teaching law.

The outgoing director, Geography Prof. Terry McGee is taking a year's leave next July to devote to research.

Prof. David Robitaille of the Faculty of Education has been honoured by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) for his contributions to the field of international comparisons in education.

Robitaille, who heads the faculty's Dept. of Curriculum Studies, was made an honorary member of IEA in recognition of his leadership role in the Second International Math Study and for serving as the international co-ordinator for the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).