Hazel Rose Markus, Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award
A recent citation index study reported that, over a ten-year period, Hazel Markus’ publications have had more impact than those of any other social psychologist. As one reviewer observed, there is “no need to write a long letter about Hazel Markus. She is so outstanding that it can be done on a postage stamp.” Her work is on the frontier and enters the minds of current-day psychologists in deep and important ways.
Before Professor Markus arrived on the scene, research on social schemas consisted of little more than plausible arguments. Social schemas are stable, organized ways that people think about themselves and predict what they will do or think in the future. She single-handedly infused the field with a new theoretical approach, a hard-nosed methodology, and a hopeful spirit. She showed that schemas play a central role in organizing the ways we perceive others.
Her second major line of work has been the study of “possible selves.” These are views of oneself in the future, more dynamic than schemas, representing what one may become, what one desires to become, and what one fears becoming. She was able to show that people’s thoughts about themselves are heavily influenced by these conceptions of themselves. The concept of “possible selves” has substantially advanced the field and has provided a model for linking process and structure-based models of the self.
She has done more than any other contemporary social psychologist to create a renewed interest among psychologists about cultural issues. Professor Markus’ work with Shinobu Kitayama on American and Japanese culture skillfully blends history, anthropology, survey work and experimental data, and shows that “attitudes” and “values” are not just inside an individual’s mind, but are ways of actively participating in culture.
A superb teacher at both the graduate and undergraduate level, she regularly receives top ratings in both small and large classes. She is also highly sought-after as research mentor in social psychology. One student remembers that she “was available at times as diverse as 6:30 in the morning or 12:30 at night if her feedback was urgently needed.” Students note her clarity, humanity and enthusiasm for the material — she helps them apply principles and concepts to their daily lives. Her many contributions have been instrumental in making Michigan’s Social Psychology Program among the very best programs in the field.
The University of Michigan honors Hazel Markus for her many achievements by bestowing upon her the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award.
Miriam H. Meisler, Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award
Miriam Meisler has developed an international reputation for her genetics research. Through her seminal studies of amylase, a digestive enzyme in the pancreas and salivary glands of both mice and humans, we now have a more complete understanding of how these glands function. Her research has also helped us understand how insulin moderates the metabolic process.
Before most others, she recognized that genetic maps would be essential tools for understanding human genetic disorders. In recent exciting studies, she has begun to identify and to map genes that are responsible for metabolic and physical disorders, using the mouse as a model. These studies are extremely important for discovering the causes of human abnormalities.
In the classroom, she has the unusual ability to get the best out of every student. Students in her laboratory learn more than just molecular biology; they learn a process of critical thought. She is a devoted teacher who feels that scientists should use their intelligence and awareness to affect the world outside the laboratory, as well as within it. Students consistently rate her as the best teacher in the program. As chair of the Department of Human Genetics’ Education Committee, Professor Meisler also thoroughly and successfully reorganized the graduate teaching program.
She has been an important role model for junior faculty women who are striving to achieve her level of prominence and success. As one former student remarked, “I learned it is not necessary to apologize for being a woman in a male-dominated field.”
Her service to the academic community is extensive. She has invested considerable energy in women’s affairs, serving on the Advisory Committee for the Women in Science Program, and the President’s Advisory Commission on Women’s Issues. Nationally, she is currently a member of the National Institutes of Health National Center for Genome Research Review Committee.
Professor Meisler’s philosophy is straightforward: rather than complain, work; rather than worry, plan. Students and faculty alike seek her out for critical evaluations of their work, and are invariably enriched by her powerful insights.
For her outstanding accomplishments, the University of Michigan is proud to honor Miriam Meisler with its Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award.
Josef M. Miller, Regents’ Award for Distinguished Public Service
A researcher with internationally recognized expertise in hearing disorders, Josef Miller has distinguished himself through his service to people who are hearing-impaired.
Professor Miller played a central role in the creation of the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders, the thirteenth separate institute within the National Institutes of Health (NIH). For ten years, from 1978–1987, Dr. Miller served on national review committees for the NIH and many other national organizations; he became increasingly concerned about the lack of adequate federal support for research on hearing disabilities. Dr. Miller created a data base of information on these disabilities and showed that people who were hearing-impaired were extremely underserved.
Together with other concerned individuals, Dr. Miller set out to educate Congress and the country on the needs and problems of the deaf. He authored the initial draft of the legislation introduced in 1988 to create the Institute, and for two years he worked to ensure its passage, preparing and providing testimony, and supporting direct mail and telephone campaigns. As a result of his efforts, national attention and resources are now directed at research on the causes and treatment of deafness—a major yet often invisible disability affecting one in every six Americans.
As a part of other committee service work with NIH, Dr. Miller also initiated an outreach program with Gallaudet University. Based at Michigan’s Kresge Hearing Research Institute, which he directs, this program provides undergraduates who are deaf with the opportunity to study and perform biomedical research. These students, closely mentored by individual faculty, work on problems of deafness and communication disorders thus preparing themselves for admission to graduate and medical schools. This successful program model will soon be extended to other universities and corporations in the United States.
For his outstanding efforts on behalf of the hearing impaired, the University of Michigan is proud to present Josef Miller with the Regents’ Award for Distinguished Public Service.
Anita Norich, Faculty Recognition Award
Hailed as “the best critic of her generation now writing on Yiddish literature and culture,” Anita Norich has greatly enriched our awareness and understanding of Yiddish studies.
Professor Norich’s writing is fluid and lucid, unburdened by jargon, always energized by the deep-seated conviction that what she has to say about literature really matters. Her book on the Yiddish author I.J. Singer and his two siblings has been hailed as a landmark of biography and criticism. It single-handedly brought I.J. Singer into the ranks of the most highly regarded American 20th century writers.
Her most recent work on Jewish feminist theories of literature is no less groundbreaking. She is one of the founders of the Association of Jewish Studies’ Women’s Caucus and has been instrumental in the rise of this group to well-deserved national prominence.
She has opened Yiddish literature up to much broader literary investigation, revealing its many singular contributions to modern literature. With a firm grasp of the realities of East European and American Jewish life, she places her literary analyses firmly within their context. She pays attention to currently fashionable issues, such as gender, but does so without flag-waving, taking her texts seriously, and making persuasive arguments. The range of her work is impressive, as is her ability to integrate literary with social and historical issues.
As a teacher, Professor Norich has done more than capture the imagination of her students. For many of her students, her teaching has been life-transforming. One student notes that “she was able to manage a class of forty or more students as though it were a discussion section of ten.”
In the Judaic Studies Program she has created a whole range of new courses, including three years of language instruction, and has firmly established Michigan as one of the premier centers for the study of Yiddish. As the director of Undergraduate Studies in English, she has revolutionized the standard English program, initiating a program to advise students who are concentrating in English, and has also improved the assigning of teaching assistants—all while coordinating a complex and comprehensive curriculum.
To honor her achievements in the areas of scholarship, teaching, and service, the University of Michigan proudly honors Anita Norich with the Faculty Recognition Award.
Vincent L. Pecoraro, Faculty Recognition Award
A highly accomplished bioinorganic synthetic chemist, Vincent Pecoraro’s work on the chemistry of manganese is ground-breaking. Although this metal is of critical importance to several key biological processes, there was a dearth of basic research on its chemistry prior to Professor Pecoraro’s entry into the field. In the first phase of his research, his publications provoked a re-examination of models of the ways manganese binds other molecules in biological systems. In the second phase of his research, he successfully synthesized active multinuclear complexes, which can be used as models for how the metal acts in natural systems. This is a signal advance in understanding the chemistry of manganese.
His interests range beyond pure synthetic problems, however. His published papers show a remarkable diversity, from sophisticated inorganic chemistry through biochemistry to molecular biology. In his research, he has shown a combination of productivity, innovation, and fearlessness. He is willing to strike out in new areas, learn what he needs to in order to tackle the scientific problem that he wants to address, and has the intellectual and technological ability to master the technique in a short period of time.
From the beginnings of Professor Pecoraro’s career he has been interested in the broader problems of liberal education. He was instrumental in the design and teaching of a new, critically important course, Chem 302, for the Chemistry Department’s new innovative undergraduate curriculum. His commitment to undergraduate education is further illustrated by his energetic participation in the Curriculum Committee, the Undergraduate Awards Committee and the Biochemistry Curriculum Development Committee.
His work is widely recognized, and he has received a number of prestigious awards, including the coveted Searle and Sloan fellowships. He is one of the few researchers in any age group who is supported by two major grants from the National Institutes for Health. His contributions to teaching, service, and research are so exemplary that no one is exactly sure how he finds the time to accomplish all that he does.
The University of Michigan is proud to honor all of Vincent Pecoraro’s achievements by bestowing upon him the Faculty Recognition Award.
Noel C. Perkins, Faculty Recognition Award
Recognized internationally as a mechanical engineer of the highest caliber, Noel Perkins has made extraordinary advances in the area of cable dynamics.
Despite the relative simplicity of cable structure, and their single spatial dimension, cables have a rich and complex dynamic behavior. Their study requires original thinking and modeling of many different mechanisms. Professor Perkins has developed original three- dimensional models of how cables move, work which was originally motivated by regularly occurring and at times spectacularly catastrophic instabilities in transport systems. His research has opened the field of transport cable dynamics and his papers are destined to become classics. More recently, he has branched out to the related, but substantially different area of serpentine belts. His accomplishments in research have been recognized by an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award.
As a teacher, Professor Perkins’ student course evaluations place him in the top three percent of all instructors in the College of Engineering, a remarkable achievement for an assistant professor who often teaches large sections of a required undergraduate course. Many students consider him the best instructor they have ever had. He is not only knowledgeable and articulate, but caring and compassionate. At the same time, he maintains very high standards in his course content and grading. He has made important contributions to upgrading the curriculum, helping to spearhead an effort to restructure the teaching of the Introduction to Dynamics course. He was awarded the College of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award in 1990.
Highly sought after nationally as a speaker because of his excellent work and the clarity of his presentation, Professor Perkins is an active member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), where he has served as session chair, symposium organizer, and elected technical committee member in the Design Engineering Division. At Michigan, he is Director of Laboratories for the entire Mechanical Engineering Department, and is past chair of the Applied Mechanics Graduate Program. All of this bespeaks an unusual level of accomplishment and activity for a junior faculty member.
For his outstanding performance and commitment, the University of Michigan is proud to honor Noel Perkins with the Faculty Recognition Award.
Michael D. Uhler, Faculty Recognition Award
Professor Uhler’s work is at the cutting edge of modern neurobiology and is vital to our improved general understanding of brain function and regulatory processes in the body.
The major question under study in Professor Uhler’s lab is how nerve cells communicate with each other. His research has examined the molecular mechanisms that underlie the structure, function, and regulation of protein kinase A, an enzyme of vital importance for normal body function. Prior to his work, it was well established that many different neurotransmitters could activate kinases. What remained very unclear was how to demonstrate that a specific kinase was the cause of a particular effect. This is an extremely difficult problem to approach because of the complex interactions between different kinases. Professor Uhler devised a novel and very powerful system for testing specific kinases, an approach that has been widely recognized by his colleagues. This work has provided important new information about how the electrical and biochemical signaling systems of neurons interact.
He has recently broadened his research program to include several other signal systems, including calcium channels necessary for protein secretion and inositol phosphate receptors, which play an important role in normal cellular function.
His student evaluations are consistently excellent, proof that he genuinely cares about the welfare of his students. One reviewer remembered his willingness to devote “as much time to the undergraduate or high school student who was obtaining an introduction to research … as to the graduate student working on the most important project in his laboratory.” He is unflagging in his energy and enthusiasm for science, and has advised not only his own students but many other graduate students during the completion of their degrees.
Many faculty mention him as the ideal collaborator. He is a critical intellectual resource for a large number of research scientists across campus; they call on his skill, expertise in molecular biology, good scientific judgment and true generosity. He provides support cheerfully and collegially, focused solely upon the intellectual rewards of solving problems.
Acknowledging his indispensable contributions in the areas of scholarship, teaching and service, the University of Michigan honors Michael Uhler with its Faculty Recognition Award.
Patricia Smith Yaeger, Amoco Foundation Faculty Teaching Award
One of the most widely celebrated literary critics of her generation, Patricia Smith Yaeger is well known as a feminist critic, a scholar of 20th- century American literature, an expert on Southern American writers, and a literary theorist. She is so refreshingly original that her work tends to disarm even those who usually foreswear gender criticism, by challenging ideas of gender that have been too easily or simplistically accepted. She is also an inspiring teacher and mentor.
A master at encouraging dialogue, she creates a classroom atmosphere in which different points of view are sources of productive discussion rather than tension and competition. Her classroom is tied together not so much by a common goal as by an appreciation and encouragement of a diversity of opinions. At the same time, she makes it clear to her students that her own opinion is open to debate. She challenges students to explore on their own and is confident enough to let the class challenge her in return. As one student says, “she would almost glow with excitement when a student would suggest an interpretation of a particular work” that she hadn’t considered.
Her ability to combine texts and everyday life experiences encourages her students to connect the course work with their lives. The experiences of her students are recognized as a central part of their encounter with literature. Many classes begin with a personal anecdote or one from the outside world relevant to the issue at hand, emphasizing how her personal life, and by extension that of her students, informs the larger question at issue.
Her critical eye is tempered by a belief in the abilities of her students. They strive in her courses because they sense her faith in the meaning and importance of their works. One student remembers that, “Professor Yaeger wanted to know about me: my background, my opinions, my attitudes.” Another notes that “She has taught me a new way of thinking about literature, about women, and even about myself.”
One final anecdote serves as testament to her tremendous dedication to teaching and the reciprocal feelings of her students. On the night after the police tear-gassed South University, dozens of students braved West Engineering’s four flights of stairs, through tear gas, to attend her lecture. Undaunted, Professor Yaeger taught the class until a gas-masked officer told them to evacuate the building.
In recognition of her commitment to teaching, the University of Michigan is proud to present to Patricia Smith Yaeger the Amoco Foundation Faculty Teaching Award.
