By Diane Swanbrow
News and Information Services
The appointment of Constance E. Cook as director of the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) will be recommended to the Board of Regents at its September meeting.
If approved, she will serve as director-designate of CRLT during September and October and as director beginning Nov. 1. Cook, associate professor of education and adjunct associate professor of political science, has been executive assistant to President James J. Duderstadt since 1990.
“This is a wonderful appointment for the University,” Duderstadt said. “During Connie’s tenure as my executive assistant, I benefited greatly from her expertise in higher education, especially in teaching, graduate and undergraduate matters.
“She brought the rare combination of having been chair of the political science department at Albion College and director of a major funding program for the federal government to this position, and she will bring the same sort of understanding of complex educational issues to this new assignment. We will all miss her greatly here, but we’ll all benefit from her eagerness to take on this important new assignment.
“It is my hope,” he added “that the Center will serve as the linchpin for improving teaching and the undergraduate academic experience at Michigan. Connie is the perfect person for leading the Center into that new role.”
Provost Gilbert R. Whitaker Jr. noted that “teaching is a prime responsibility of the faculty, and CRLT helps faculty improve their skills in communicating their knowledge to our students, especially our undergraduate students. With the increased importance given to high quality teaching in appointment, tenure, and promotion decisions, CRLT’s services have become more important than ever. Dr. Cook brings ideas and passion to this new role. We look forward to her leadership.
Whitaker commended psychology Prof. Donald Brown “for his years of dedicated effort and especially for the important
