Stake Your Claim

The publication QNotes recently named Josh Burford, assistant director for sexual and gender diversity in the Multicultural Resource Center, Charlotte’s Best LGBT Leader.
Burford’s selection resulted from ballots cast by QNotes readers earlier this year. UNC Charlotte senior Lee Ziglar was voted Best Young Adult Leader, too. According to its website, QNotes is an “LGBT arts, entertainment and news publication” based in Charlotte.
“I’m honored to be selected for this award, and I hope to continue to work hard on behalf of the local LGBTQ community,” said Burford.

Logan Creech, Klint Mullis and Elrica Metayer, graduates of the Master of Urban Design (MUD) program, recently won two national student design awards in China. Their project “Ribbons: Redevelopment of Xiangmen Historic Area in Suzhou,” received an honor certificate in the third International Landscape Planning and Design Competition, co-organized by the Journal of China Construction and the International Landscape Design Industry Association.

UNC Charlotte’s UrbanEden, built for the 2013 U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon, placed third in the people’s choice voting for the annual Matsumoto Prize for Modernist residential design in North Carolina.
The Matsumoto Prize is named in honor of George Matsumoto, a founding faculty member at the N.C. State University School of Design (now College of Design) who is well known for many exemplary mid-century Modernist houses he designed across North Carolina.

Amber Carpenter, music alumna and harpist, won first prize in the Rosen-Schaffel Competition for Young and Emerging Artists presented by the Appalachian Summer Festival and Appalachian State University. 
Carpenter graduated from the UNC Charlotte Department of Music in 2013 with a Bachelor of Music in Music Performance (harp) and a minor in voice. She completed a graduate certificate in vocal pedagogy in May 2014.

A weekend fire at an off-campus apartment complex resulted in no injuries, although some UNC Charlotte students are being displaced for repairs to their apartments. Departments within the Division for Student Affairs responded immediately, offering the displaced students optional housing on campus, counseling services and contacts with the American Red Cross. One office is coordinating collection of temporary supplies.

When she was a young exchange student from Scotland in the early 1980s, Fiona Ritchie volunteered at WFAE-FM during her time away from her duties as a teaching assistant in the Psychology Department at UNC Charlotte.  At the time, the University held the license for the station.

Melissa Farling and Alan McGuinn, alumni of the UNC Charlotte School of Architecture, will be named Fellows of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) at the organization’s national convention being held June 26-28 in Chicago. This AIA honor is bestowed upon architects who have made a significant contribution to architecture and society on a national level and who have achieved an exemplary standard of excellence in the profession.

Brenda Shue, a member of the Chancellor’s Office, is passionate about learning and the University.
At December commencement, where she graduated with a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies and a graduate certificate in technical and professional writing, Shue was chosen to ring the bell during the afternoon ceremony for her exemplary 49er spirit.

Betty Doster and Amy Wartham recently were named to the list of 50 Most Influential Women by the Mecklenburg Times. The publication solicited nominees from the community, and an independent panel of judges selected the final honorees.
Doster is special assistant to the chancellor for constituent relations, and Wartham is director of corporate training in the Office of Continuing Education. This is the second time that Wartham was chosen for inclusion to the list.

English major Lauren Klein has been chosen from among 1,500 students from 128 countries as an honoree in the United Nations “Many Languages One World” contest.
Klein, who is in her fourth semester of Russian classes, was selected in the category “Russian Language.” She is one of 60 finalists who will represent each of the six official languages of the United Nations – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.