Five University of Michigan faculty members have been named Arthur F. Thurnau Professors in recognition of their extraordinary contributions to undergraduate education.
Brian K. Arbic, Ann L. Miller, Farina Mir, Aaron J. Ridley and Ginger V. Shultz will hold the Thurnau title for the duration of their careers at U-M and will receive $20,000 to support activities that further enhance their teaching.
The Board of Regents approved the professorships Feb. 20. The Thurnau appointments are effective July 1.
To become a Thurnau professor, faculty members must demonstrate a strong commitment to teaching and learning, excellence and innovation in teaching, and dedication to working effectively with a diverse student body.
They also must have made an impact on students’ intellectual or artistic development and on their lives, and contributed to undergraduate education in ways that extend beyond the classroom, studio or lab.
The Arthur F. Thurnau Professorships were established in 1988. They are named after Thurnau, a U-M student from 1902-04. The Thurnau Charitable Trust, which was established through Thurnau’s will, provides support for the award.
Provost Laurie McCauley presented recommendations for the professorships and descriptions of each professor’s work and achievements to the Board of Regents. These summaries are taken from the provost’s recommendations.
Brian K. Arbic
Professor of earth and environmental sciences, LSA; professor of climate and space sciences and engineering, College of Engineering
Arbic has been recognized for innovative teaching and effective mentorship, with students commending his ability to connect theory with practice.
One student wrote that collecting data during a field study aboard a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research vessel “brought much more depth to the coursework than if we had simply been given data in a spreadsheet.”
Arbic also equips students with industry-relevant skills by using tools like MATLAB in coursework, and his impactful mentoring is illustrated by the fact that six first-authored papers were published by undergraduates and high school students from his research lab.
Outside his department, Arbic designed a course to improve scientific literacy among future elementary school teachers — and beyond U-M, Arbic founded and directs the Coastal Ocean Environment Summer School in Nigeria and Ghana. This program serves approximately 150 African university undergraduates annually and affords research opportunities to U-M students.
Ann L. Miller
Professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, LSA
Miller’s empathy and generosity at both the gateway and senior capstone levels is well-known. She has helped make her department more inclusive through curricular redesign and by opening more research opportunities to students.
Miller sought grant funding to develop Biology 272, a course that has enabled more students interested in introductory molecular biology to persist in the major. Colleagues have also emulated her innovative activities, such as “Being Human in STEM” which highlights the contributions of diverse scientists.
In addition to mentoring students in her own lab, Miller also helps them connect with other campus labs that match their interests. And she has directed the Horizons Summer Internship Program, which provides paid research opportunities for underrepresented students.
One student wrote, “She made every student feel like the complex field of cellular biology was accessible to every learner, no matter their background or skill set.”
Farina Mir
Richard Hudson Research Professor of History, associate professor of history and in the Honors Program, LSA
The recipient of multiple teaching awards, Mir has garnered a reputation for developing and teaching impactful courses.
In her class History 101: What is History? students are introduced to the importance of historical analysis, and in History 325: History of South Asia, Mir helps students see how history matters in their own lives, while learning to apply historical thinking.
One student, whose parents are from Bangladesh, said History 325 helped her gain “a broader vocabulary and historical network of ideas, policies, and processes for situating and understanding” her own family history.
Her colleagues commend her work, saying it has created “rich and deep engagement with the region,” including increased opportunities for language study at U-M and funding for study and work abroad.
Finally, as the history department’s director of graduate studies, Mir has revised processes for the training, assignment and assessment of graduate student instructors, improving the delivery of undergraduate education.
Aaron J. Ridley
Professor of climate and space sciences and engineering, College of Engineering
Ridley is known as both a top space physicist and a top student mentor.
His approach to research and education is hands-on and experiential, and he has developed courses where undergraduates can dive into data, models and instrumentation.
Ridley’s ENG 100 section, which was named “Section of the Year” by the Office of the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, enabled students to design, build and launch a rocket, as well as develop their own computer simulation of rocket flight dynamics. In another section, students designed, built, tested and launched small sensors on high-altitude weather balloons.
One first-year student wrote, “The idea of building our own payload to launch to such high altitudes where we could observe the curve of the Earth and its atmosphere was just the most exciting thing I had ever come across.”
Outside the classroom, Ridley posts videos to his Hands On Engineering YouTube channel and Rocket Science 101 on Coursera.
Ginger V. Shultz
Associate professor and associate chair of chemistry; associate professor in the Honors Program, LSA
Shultz has been nationally recognized as a leader in chemistry education and writing-to-learn pedagogies.
She has earned glowing student evaluations for courses that range from introductory organic chemistry lectures and labs to an LSA Honors course where students learn about scientists from groups historically marginalized in science.
Shultz redirected her own lab course from traditional recipe-based experiments to problem-based learning, and she integrates cooperative activities into her teaching to help students master difficult concepts and build transferable skills.
Since 2016, she has directly mentored more than 50 undergraduate researchers, four of whom have published first-author papers, while 16 others have been co-authors.
Her efforts have also improved the teaching of other instructors. Her course, CHEM 550/EDUC 554: Chemistry Education Research and Practice, helps prepare graduate students to engage in high-quality teaching.
Finally, as a co-leader of the M-Write initiative, Shultz helps faculty implement writing-to-learn strategies into their large-enrollment courses.
