Twenty faculty members and administrators with outstanding academic and professional accomplishments have been inducted into the U-M chapter of Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society.
The inductees, who include Vice Provost and Provost-Elect Martha Pollack, come from Rackham Graduate School, LSA, Medical School, School of Education, Stephen M. Ross School of Business and the College of Engineering.
Faculty and staff inductees
Sarah M. Aciego, Earth & Environmental Sciences
Dr. Carol R. Bradford, Medical School
Shelly M. Connor, Rackham Graduate School
Stephen M. DeBacker, LSA
Susan A. Gelman, LSA
John B. Godfrey, Rackham Graduate School
Dr. Carmen R. Green, U-M Health System
Kendra L. Hearn, School of Education
Aileen Y. Huang-Saad, College of Engineering
Mark A. Kamimura-Jimenez, Rackham Graduate School
James T. Liu, LSA
Anuradha Nagarajan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business
Douglas C. Noll, Biomedical Engineering
Dr. Bishr Omary, Medical School
Bryce C. Pilz, Law School
Martha E. Pollack, Provost-Elect
Dr. Thomas P. Shanley, Medical School
Dr. David A. Spahlinger, Medical School
Jan P. Stegemann, Biomedical Engineering
Kathryn M. Young, School of Education
The induction ceremony April 7 also saw the initiation of more than 320 qualifying junior, senior and graduate/professional student members.
Anita Welch, assistant professor of education and the North Central regional vice president for the society, addressed the attendees.
“The ultimate responsibility one has after an honor has been conferred is (over time) to give it to others through thought and deed,” Welch said.
“Your role is one of leadership with excellence. In fulfilling this role, you will join other Phi Kappa Phi members — author John Grisham, public servant Hillary Clinton, Nobel laureate Linus Pauling, and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg — in their greatness and services to mankind.”
Phi Kappa Phi is the country’s oldest, largest and most highly selective all-discipline honor society.
To be invited to membership, students must rank in the top 10 percent of all university seniors and graduate students, and the top 7.5 percent of all juniors on campus.
The ceremony’s keynote speaker was Aileen Huang-Saad, an inductee this year and assistant director of academic programs in the College of Engineering’s Center for Entrepreneurship and a lecturer in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
In her address, Huang-Saad presented a number of definitions for entrepreneurship.
“One of the most scholarly and respected comes from Peter Drucker, who said that entrepreneurs search for change, respond to it and exploit opportunities. Whereas Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, has a more graphic description: ‘An entrepreneur jumps off a cliff and assembles the airplane on the way down,’” she said. “Universities are the core of where innovations occur and are responsible for training our human capital.”
“Whether you are going to start your own company, lead corporate innovation at large companies, or create your own opportunities in any of your pursuits — the entrepreneurial mindset will help you navigate the challenges put in front of you and be as successful as possible,” she told students.
The Michigan Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi offers competitive scholarships to outstanding Michigan chapter members, and from 2008 to 2012 has awarded $38,500. This year an additional $13,000 was awarded to three graduate students, three seniors and two juniors.
Further information about Phi Kappa Phi and the Michigan chapter can be found at www.umphikappaphi.umich.edu.
