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The University of Colorado at Boulder and Sun Microsystems have signed an agreement for a pilot program that initially will allow applied mathematics and computer science students at CU to become Sun Microsystems Certified Instructors.

Although Ronald McNair died tragically in the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, his legacy continues through the CU-Boulder Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program named in honor of the African-American astronaut. The McNair program prepares selected CU-Boulder undergraduates for graduate study at the doctoral level. Fourteen accomplished McNair Scholars will graduate this year and several have been offered and accepted fellowships to major universities.

Justin Anthony Colonna, Tuan Linh Vu Nguyen, Eric Mitchell Smith and Jeong Uk Noh will receive posthumous degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder during commencement ceremonies May 11 and May 12. Colonna, a fifth-year senior at CU-Boulder, was killed in an avalanche on Dec. 18, 1999, in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. He will receive bachelor's degrees in communications and humanities. Ann Colonna, Justin Colonna's sister, will accept the degree on May 12 at the recognition ceremony for communications majors at 3:30 p.m. in the Mary Rippon Theater.

A panel discussion on the future of space involving five CU-Boulder astronaut-alums and four Colorado space industry heavyweights will be held on Thursday, May 11, on campus. Free and open to the public, the panel discussion will be held in room 100 of the Mathematics Building from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will include CU astronaut-alums Loren Acton, Vance Brand, Sam Durrance, Richard Hieb and Ron Sega.

After five years spent building an entrepreneurship program that was recently ranked 16th in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, CU-Boulder Entrepreneurship Director Denis Nock is retiring effective this month. "It has been my privilege to work with the faculty, advisory board and the entrepreneur community to serve and benefit students," said Nock. "This has been, without question, the most enjoyable and satisfying assignment I have had in my entire career. I am truly grateful to have had this opportunity."

Ulrich "Ulo" Goldsmith, professor emeritus of Germanic and Slavic languages and literatures and the department of comparative literature at the University of Colorado at Boulder, died in Boulder on Tuesday at age 90. A memorial service will be held Wednesday, May 10, at 2 p.m. in Old Main Chapel on the Boulder campus. According to Adrian Del Caro, GSLL chair, Goldsmith leaves a humbling legacy as one of CU's greatest humanists.

Two University of Colorado at Boulder professors are recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on researchers at the start of their careers. Gregory Asner, assistant professor in the geological sciences department and the Environmental Studies Program, and Linnea Avallone, assistant professor in the Program in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Sciences, were among 60 people receiving the award last month in a White House ceremony.

The Alumni Association of the University of Colorado at Boulder will host the golden anniversary reunion of 1950 graduates May 11-13, during the university's May commencement weekend. On Friday, May 12, about 125 members of the class of 1950, dressed in academic regalia, will lead the procession that initiates the university's 2000 commencement ceremony, upholding a longtime CU-Boulder tradition. Like the class before them, the 1950 graduates were a mix of young kids fresh out of high school and returning World War II vets on the G.I. Bill.

The University of Colorado at Boulder School of Education received accreditation this month from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, the national organization responsible for professional accreditation of teacher education. The approximately 500 institutions accredited by NCATE produce two-thirds of the nationÂ’s new teacher graduates. The U.S. Department of Education recognizes NCATE as the professional accrediting body for schools, departments and colleges of education.

Note to Editors: CU-Boulder space scientist Daniel Baker, Space Science Institute Director Paul Dusenbery and NOAA scientist Ernie Hildner will make brief remarks on space weather and education on Thursday, May 4 at 7 p.m. at the Denver Museum of Natural HistoryÂ’s Bailey Lounge. Media are invited to attend the private event, sponsored by SSI, Raytheon ITSS, Condit Exhibits and Suter Communications. A space weather research and education exhibit developed by Boulder scientists and educators with NASA is now on display at the Denver Museum of Natural History.