A professor in the College of Education's Communication Disorders and Sciences program was the only American presenter at a recent conference on stuttering in Croatia. Marilyn Nippold spoke at "Basic Science and Stuttering: Research for Clinicians," a conference held in Cavtat, Croatia, May 26-29. She joined a lineup of nine who also hailed from Australia, Canada, Germany and Sweden. Attendees represented some 20 countries.

Sean Thorne is off to a flying start. It was just last summer that the University of Oregon junior came up with the idea for Hallspot – a social media service geared exclusively to college students. Less than a year later, Thorne's brainstorm has become a reality. Hallspot raised $150,000 from a private angel investor and picked up another $6,300 in cash and prizes when Thorne's presentation won the top spot for early-stage companies at the Willamette Angel Conference in May.

Stephen Wooten, professor of international studies and anthropology, will serve as interim director of Study Abroad, effective immediately, said Dennis Galvan, vice provost for International Affairs. Cari Vanderkar Moore, outgoing director of Study Abroad, has taken a position as senior international officer at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo after 15 years of service to the UO.

UO alum elected to Fidelity Charitable board of trusteesUniversity of Oregon alumnus Thomas C. Stewart has been elected to the board of trustees of Fidelity Charitable, an independent public charity that has helped donors support more than 160,000 nonprofit organizations with over $14 billion in grants.Stewart, of Eugene, is a managing principal at Andrew, Thomas & Company, a corporate advisory and institutional investment firm with expertise in investment management, and corporate and board governance.

Talk about time travel: UO president and interim provost, along with the Eugene mayor and other UO alumni and staff, walked last week in the footsteps of the world’s oldest shoes – 10,000-year-old sagebrush sandals – in south-central Oregon. Dennis Jenkins and Tom Connolly, archaeologists from the UO Museum of Natural and Cultural History (MNCH), led the July 18-20 “Oregon Outback Tour 2013” to explore where some of the continent’s earliest residents lived nearly 14,500 years ago (Paisley Caves), and where the world’s oldest shoes were found (Fort Rock Cave).