Dr. Maynard Olson, professor of genetics and medicine, became acting chair of the Department of Molecular Biotechnology on July 1. Dr. Barbara Trask, professor of molecular biotechnology, had been acting chair for the past seven months.

Dr. Carlos Pellegrini, Henry Harkins professor and chair of the Department of Surgery, was recently elected chair of the board of trustees of the Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract. Pellegrini has also been elected president of the Residency Review Committee for Surgery, part of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

Dr. David Tapper, professor of surgery and chief surgeon at Children’s Hospital, has been installed as president of the American Pediatric Surgical Association.

Dr. Kathryn Barnard, professor of family and child nursing and a nationally recognized expert on early child development has been named a charter board member of the Washington Early Learning Foundation, which has been established with initial funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The American Dental Hygienists Association, in cooperation with the Warner Lambert Co., has presented two of its four annual awards for Excellence in Dental Hygiene to UW-affiliated hygienists. Doreen Naughton, a clinical educator in the UW dental hygiene program, is the proprietor and sole clinician for Dental Hygiene Health Services, which serves elderly and disabled patients. She is also a UW graduate. Norma Wells, a dental hygienist for 41 years, is associate professor and director of the Dental Hygiene Degree Completion program at the UW, which is based in the School of Dentistry.