By Randy Frank
U-M-Dearborn
Seven U-M-Dearborn faculty members received awards at the 11th Annual Honors Convocation March 30.
Distinguished Teaching Award recipients are M.K. Mostafapour, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, in the tenured category and Raymond Kettel, assistant professor of education, in the non-tenured category.
Mostafapour was honored for his strong commitment to undergraduate education, particularly in his specialty area of biochemistry, according to Prof. Donald Bord, chair of the Department of Natural Sciences, who nominated Mostafapour on behalf of the full professors in the department.
According to nominators, Mostafapour has developed a finely-tuned biochemistry curriculum, creating new courses and improving existing ones to meet the needs of students who concentrate in the field. Mostafapour also provides students with meaningful research opportunities as well as career and academic counseling.
Kettel was honored for his enthusiasm and dedication to his classes and students. He also has consistently earned high ratings from students evaluating his classes, according to the Executive Committee of the School of Education.
According to students who supported his nomination, Kettel is an “extremely positive role model” and his lectures on children’s literature and reading “motivate and entice students to be the best reading and language arts teachers in the field.”
The Distinguished Faculty Research Awards recipients are anthropology Prof. Barry Bogin and electrical and computer engineering Prof. Malayappan Shridhar, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
For nearly 20 years, Bogin has conducted and published longitudinal research on the growth and development of Mayan Indian children of Guatemala and in the United States. Few studies rival Bogin’s comprehensive research about human development outside the industrial world, according to Kathryn M. Anderson-Levitt, associate professor of anthropology.
Since 1986, Shridhar has developed a research program for machine vision and machine intelligence that encourages faculty involvement in basic and applied research.
In 1991–92, he directed a research project for the U.S. Postal Service that developed a technique by which computer scanners can read and decipher hand-written addresses. The U-M-Dearborn project performed extremely well in every category, including accuracy and speed, according to the Postal Service.
This year the Outstanding Service Awards were presented to three faculty members including political science Prof. Helen Graves, director of the political science internship program; education Prof. Richard Morshead; and industrial and manufacturing engineering Prof. Adnan Aswad.
Graves was honored for her 20 years of placing more than 1,000 students in internship positions in which students contribute to society and gain invaluable work experience in local, state, national and Canadian governments and businesses.
“I am continually reminded and can see the concrete benefits of the relationships which have grown out of this program,” said Edward J. Bagale, associate vice chancellor for government relations. “The U-M-Dearborn has inspired many students to pursue careers in government; some of whom are now in positions of power and influence. They remember their undergraduate experiences fondly and continue to work on the University’s behalf.”
“Helen Graves is the driving force of this tremendous program. I hold her in the highest esteem,” said Canadian Consul General Anne Charles, who supported Graves’ nomination.
Morshead received an Outstanding Service Award for service as a teacher, scholar and administrator at the University since 1964. Currently, Morshead serves as a mentor for new faculty members in the School of Education.
“Professor Morshead also serves as my mentor, and no dean ever had a better one,” said John Poster, dean of the School of Education. “Morshead is as complete a faculty member as higher education can produce. He remains a beloved teacher, a tough-minded administrator and a demanding scholar.”
Morshead became the first dean of the School of Education in 1983, serving until 1989. Previously he was associate dean of the Division of Education in 1973–1983 and chairman of the Department of Education in 1969–1973.
Morshead also has served as executive director of the Michigan Colleges’ Consortium For Faculty Development, chair of the Business Education Advisory Council, chair of the Administrative Data Processing Advisory Council, chair of Education Executive Committee, chair of Curriculum Laboratory Advisory Committee, and member of the School of Education Executive Committee.
Aswad served the University as a member of the Physical Sciences and Engineering Division Board of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies in 1985–88, as a member of the UM-Dearborn Faculty Advisory Committee and Budget Priorities Committee; and as chair of the Interdisciplinary Ad Hoc Committee that designed the Computer and Information Science curriculum.
While serving as associate dean for the School of Engineering in 1983–88, Aswad made improvements in the undergraduate advising system and coordinated efforts for accreditation, according to S.K. Kachhal, chair of the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering. Aswad also served on the Chancellor’s Policy Council in 1988–90.
