The University of Nantes recently presented Pascal Van Hentenryck with the title of Doctor Honoris Causa at the 2011 ceremony of the doctors at the Cité des Congrès de Nantes. In the University’s 50th year, Pascal was the sole recipient of this prize and the first computer scientist to ever receive it. This is Pascal’s second doctor honoris causa, the first from the Université catholique de Louvain in 2008. The ceremony and Pacal’s talk are available (in French) on the University’s website and on YouTube.

Undergraduate student Nathan Malkin was recently selected for honorable mention in the Computing Research Association's Outstanding Undergraduate Award competition for 2012.

Nathan began research with David Laidlaw his freshman year. As part of the Visualization Research Lab's collaboration with brain scientists, he worked to develop tools for selection, processing, and analysis of streamlines -- tracks, derived from MRI data, that visualize the diffusion of water molecules through the brain. More recently, he has pursued his interest in human decision-making by designing a platform for web-based multi-user decision experiments. He hopes to continue his research by using the tools he ...