The following actions were taken by the Board of Regents at its Dec. 15 meeting.
Pharmacology consolidation continues
Two Medical School laboratories will be relocated to continue the consolidation of the research facilities for the Department of Pharmacology into Medical Science Unit I. A microbiology and immunology lab from the Kresge complex and a cellular and molecular biology lab from Medical Science Research Building III will be relocated into approximately 12,800 gross square feet of renovated space on the third level of Med Sci I. The Medical School will fund the $4 million project, scheduled to be completed next winter.
CT simulator to be replaced
The computed tomography (CT) simulator at the University Hospital Department of Radiation Oncology will be replaced this summer with a newer model that can produce four-dimensional images. The new machine, which will cost $1.4 million, will provide better scanning speed, scan coverage and heat capacity, as well as detailed, three-dimensional images that move in real time. The architectural firm of Integrated Design Solutions will design the 600-gross-square-feet renovation to accommodate the new equipment.
Heating, cooling system upgrades at Fair Lane
The heating and cooling system at the Fair Lane residence on the Dearborn campus will be replaced with a new hot water system. The current system in the house is beyond its useful life. Fair Lane, a 31,000-square-foot house built in 1916, originally was the residence for Henry and Clara Ford. The home and Henry Ford Estate were donated to the University in 1957 by the Ford Motor Co. for the creation of the Dearborn campus. U-M-D will fund the $1.5 million project. Gunn Levine Architects will design the project, which is scheduled to be completed next winter.
Energy conservation project for Hatcher
New equipment will be installed in the Hatcher Graduate Library’s air-handling system that is estimated to generate energy savings of approximately $180,000 per year, as well as improve occupant comfort in the building. The upgrades will occur in the eight-story south tower. An energy study of the tower determined that the new variable air-handling equipment would be beneficial, as some floors are in almost constant use, while others are used intermittently. Utility resources will fund the $900,000 project, which is scheduled to be completed this summer.
Capital outlay request submitted to the state
In November the University submitted its annual request and five-year plan to the state of Michigan for capital funding for three projects in Ann Arbor and one each at Flint and Dearborn. Capital outlay funding from the state usually provides two-thirds of the costs of a construction project. The Ann Arbor request includes a new biology building estimated to cost $165 million, a renovation and addition to the G.G. Brown Laboratory Building for $125 million and a new health sciences education building for $115 million. The Dearborn request is to create a new facility to house the Teacher Preparation and Child Development Center for $8 million. The Flint request is to renovate the labs and classrooms in the Murchie Science Laboratory Building for $20 million.
Faculty and staff helping to make The Michigan Difference
Nearly 30 percent of faculty and staff members from all three U-M campuses have made gifts, pledges or planned gifts of approximately $88 million to The Michigan Difference campaign. New federal pension laws provide greater opportunity for retired faculty to donate by direct individual retirement account transfers, said Stefanie Pinder-Amaker, associate dean of students and co-chair of the faculty-staff campaign. “Our faculty and staff truly appreciate working at a high-quality institution,” she said. “They truly are the Heart of The Michigan Difference.”
Faculty promotions with tenure
Xiuli Chao, professor of industrial and operations engineering, College of Engineering, effective Sept. 1.
Named professorships
Dr. James Baker, reappointed Ruth Dow Doan Professor of Biologic Nanotechnology, Medical School, effective May 18, 2006, through Aug. 31, 2011.
Robert Kennedy, Tom Lantos Professor of Business Administration, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, effective Jan. 1, 2007, through Dec. 31, 2011.
Dr. James Montie, reappointed Valassis Professor of Urologic Oncology, Medical School, effective July 19, 2006, through Aug. 31, 2011.
Dr. Cosmas van de Ven, J. Robert Willson Collegiate Professor of Obstetrics, Medical School, effective Jan. 1, 2007, through Aug. 31, 2012.
Administrative appointments
Dr. Daniel Clauw, director, Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research, effective Dec. 1, 2006.
Miriam Meisler, interim associate dean for research, Medical School, effective Nov. 1, 2006, through Oct. 30, 2008.
Dr. James Peggs, assistant dean for student programs, Medical School, effective
Jan. 1.
Flint campus
Darryl Baird, reappointed chair, Department of Communication and Visual Arts, College of Arts and Sciences, effective Jan. 1 through May 31, 2007.
Rose Casement, associate dean for education, School of Education and Human Services, effective Jan. 1, 2007, through Dec. 31, 2009.
Randall Repic, chair, Department of Earth and Resource Science, College of Arts and Sciences, effective Jan. 1, 2007, through Dec. 31, 2009.
Retirements
R. Ward Bissell, professor of history of art in LSA, effective Dec. 31. He joined the University in 1971. Bissell’s research focused on Renaissance and baroque art, with particular expertise in Italian and Spanish baroque painting. He is particularly noted for his work on Artemisia Gentileschi, one of the most important European women artists of the early modern period.
George Bornstein, the C.A. Patrides Collegiate Professor of English and professor of English language and literature in LSA, effective Dec. 31. He joined
U-M in 1970. He is known to be one of the most distinguished and admired scholars of modernism in his generation. He devoted decades to the study of the literature and culture of the later 19th and the first half of the 20th centuries.
Don Chaffin, the Richard G. Snyder Distinguished University Professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering, the G. Lawton and Louise G. Johnson Professor of Engineering, professor of industrial and operations engineering, and professor of biomedical engineering in CoE, and professor of occupational health in the School of Public Health, effective Dec. 31. He joined the University in 1968. His research has emphasized the use of biomechanics to understand and prevent occupational musculoskeletal injuries.
Peter Hook, professor of Indo-Aryan languages, Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, and professor of linguistics, Department of Linguistics, LSA, effective Dec. 31. He joined the University in 1970. His research focused mainly on the linguistics of Hindi and other Indo-Aryan languages. He has also produced teaching materials for various levels of Hindi that are used nationally.
Dorothy Riemenschneider, senior associate librarian in the University Library, effective Dec. 31. She joined U-M in 1971. In 1981, she joined the University Library’s Public Services Division as a librarian in the Natural Sciences Library. She subsequently assumed responsibility for the Museums Library and Biological Station within the Shapiro Science Library. She made many contributions in technical and public services.
Bruce Wilkinson, professor of geology and mineralogy and research scientist in the Museum of Paleontology, LSA, effective Dec. 31. He joined the University in 1973. His research spanned the broad field of sedimentary geology, seeking to decipher the processes and history of the modification of the earth’s surface and the temporal records of its environments and climate.
Christopher Winkler, research scientist in the U-M Transportation Research Institute, effective Dec. 31. Winkler joined U-M in 1970. His research has focused on the measurement, analysis and prediction of the behavior of motor vehicles and their components. He has lectured broadly on the subject of heavy-vehicle dynamics and has taught short courses in the college’s continuing education program.
SeonAe Yeo, associate professor of nursing in the School of Nursing and associate professor of family medicine in the Medical School, effective Dec. 31. She joined U-M in 1986. Her study of regular exercise among women at risk for pre-eclampsia has been a source of many presentations. She has also worked with many undergraduate and graduate students on their research projects.
