Joe Cates

Prayers, Please: Peng “Mona” Wang

May 3, 2019

A note to the UP community from interim physical plant director Joe Cates:

“I am very sorry to inform everyone that Peng (Mona) Wang recently passed away while she was on leave. Mona was respected and appreciated by all who knew her. She held herself to the highest standard, and had a way of winning over even the most challenging of people.

“I reflect back to just over a year ago when Mona was walking across the stage at the Christmas luncheon to accept the Deiss/Dodson award. Her excitement and enthusiasm lit up the room as her friends in Physical Plant all cheered her on. I am grateful for this memory, and for the opportunity to know Mona, and share in her light.

“Mona was a wonderful member of our community, a beloved wife and mother, and we are fortunate to have had her in our lives. Please keep Mona and her loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.”

See A Problem? Submit a Request to iService Desk

February 9, 2018

The physical plant would like to remind faculty and staff that if they encounter maintenance issues in campus buildings, they should please submit a request via iService desk on the physical plant website. According to assistant director Joe Cates, only emergencies like active leaks or security issues merit a call to the main physical plant line.

For more information contact the physical plant at physicalplant@up.edu.

Ami Ahern-Rindell, Biology, participated in onsite campus visits during October 29 – November 1 to review several PUIs (Predominantly Undergraduate Institutions) in Oklahoma who together are recipients of an NIH-INBRE Consortium Award. This multi-million dollar grant provides funding for 5 years to improve biomedical research across the state of Oklahoma collaboratively between research intensive universities, PUIs, and Community Colleges.

Rachel Wheeler, theology, served as facilitator for Day of Reflection, Ascension Catholic Church, Portland, OR, National Pastoral Musicians Portland Chapter, November 2019.

Simon Aihiokhai, theology, serves as a reviewer for Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory, November2019-Present.

Nicole Ralston, education, had her piece, titled “Investigating the impacts of a collaborative language teacher professional development”(with Jacqueline Waggoner, Rebecca Smith) published in Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language (TESL-EJ), 24 (2), 1-14, August 2019.

Hannah Highlander, mathematics, presented “My career in biomathematics and mathematical modeling, driven and sustained by my undergraduate research collaborators,” at a special session on Research and Successful Collaborations of Mothers in Mathematical Biology, Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in the Sciences (SACNAS) , Honolulu, Hawaii.

Kevin Jones, social work, had five poems published in the Autumn 2019 issue of The Bamboo Hut, an online and print journal of English language tanshi (short poems). Jones is currently working on a research project exploring the therapeutic effects of poetry writing for youth who have experienced trauma.

Laura Dyer, biology, and her research students Pia Fornell and Cole Malibiran, attended the Murdock College Science Research Conference (November 8-9) where Malibiran gave an oral presentation titled “Coronary artery maturation in response to shear stress.” Fornell received the best poster award for developmental biology/physiology for her poster, “Identifying how sonic hedgehog signaling affects cardiac neural crest migration following fetal alcohol exposure.”

Patricia McDonald and Frances Pimentel, marketing and communications, received awards at the annual UCDA (University and College Designers Association) Design Awards for “Excellence in the Integrated Campaign” category: University of Portland Wonder Admissions Campaign, and honorable mention in the “Campaign Strategy” category for University of Portland Pilots Give Campaign.

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