Lee Participates In American Indian Ambassadors Program

Andrew J. Lee, executive director for programs at the Harvard Project on American Indian Economic Development, recently attended a gathering of the American Indian Ambassadors Program. The program is designed to be a dynamic national leadership program based on traditional tribal values that escorts promising young Indian professionals through a one-year program aimed at reinforcing the use of their tribal values in a modern context.

The first of four one-week gatherings was held on the Santa Ana Pueblo Reservation in New Mexico. Later in the year the ambassadors will travel to Washington, D.C., Guatemala City, and Minneapolis.

Brezinski, Albert Receive Presidential Early Career Awards

Mark E. Brezinski, assistant professor of medicine at the Medical School and an affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital, and Mitchell S. Albert, assistant professor of radiology at the Medical School and director of the Hyperpolarized Noble Gas Laboratory in the Division of MRI, Department of Radiology, at Brigham and Women's Hospital, have been named recipients of Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers. The award is the highest honor given by the U.S. government to scientists and engineers beginning their independent research careers.

Brezinski was nominated by the National Institutes of Health for his work in the creation of a new imaging technology called optical coherence tomography, or OCT.

Albert was commended for his work with "hyperpolarized noble gas MRI, an imaging technique for diagnosing pathologies of the lungs, blood, and brain, which will improve life on earth and in space."

Each recipient receives a five-year research grant to further their work.

Ashton Receives Medal of Honor in Horticulture

Peter Ashton, Charles Bullard Professor of Forestry, was awarded the Thomas Roland Medal of Honor during the Massachusetts Horticultural Society's (MHS) Annual Awards Ceremony.

First bestowed in 1927, the Thomas Roland Medal is awarded in recognition of "exceptional skill in horticulture." Ashton served as director of the Arnold Arboretum from 1978 to 1987.