News from other Michigan public universities and U-M peer institutions across the nation.
STATE UNIVERSITIES
Oakland University trustees appoint new president
George W. Hynd was appointed earlier this month as Oakland University’s sixth president, at a special board of trustees meeting. Hynd becomes the sixth president in the university’s history, succeeding Betty J. Youngblood. She served as interim president since July 2013. Hynd, who formerly served as provost and executive vice president of academic affairs for the College of Charleston (South Carolina), was selected after a national search. Board Chair Michael Kramer said Hynd’s credentials and experience as a college provost, dean and professor helped him stand out.
WSU School of Medicine receives $8.5M Ilitch gift
Wayne State University has received an $8.5 million gift from Michael and Marian Ilitch for the Department of Surgery at the School of Medicine. The gift will create the Ilitch Chair for Surgical Innovation and establish an unrestricted fund to support research and development in surgical technologies. In recognition of the Ilitches generosity, WSU will name the department the Michael and Marian Ilitch Department of Surgery.
Study shows little sleep can lead to memory errors
Lack of sleep, already considered a public health epidemic, can lead to errors in memory, finds a new study by researchers at Michigan State University and the University of California, Irvine. The study found participants deprived of a night’s sleep were more likely to flub the details of a simulated burglary shown in images. Distorted memory can impact areas such as criminal justice, where witness misidentifications are thought to be the leading cause of wrongful convictions in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls insufficient sleep an epidemic and said it’s also linked to vehicle crashes, industrial disasters and chronic diseases.
PEER INSTITUTIONS
Donation creates UPenn energy policy center
The University of Pennsylvania has received a $10 million donation to create a center that aspires to develop new energy policy by reframing the relationship between research and practice. The Kleinman Center for Energy Policy will be named for donor Scott Kleinman and his wife, Wendy. He is a Wall Street private-equity manager and 1994 Penn alum. Planners envision the center as a forum where leading industry, environment, and government leaders can resolve some of the nation’s most vexing energy-policy stalemates through compromise and consensus.
