The University Record, March 25, 1998
Editor’s Note: The following actions were taken by the Regents at their March meeting.Administrative appointments OK’d
Administrative appointments included:
Eugene Pijanowski, professor of art, was reappointed associate dean for undergraduate education of the School of Art and Design for a one-year term, effective July 1.
Alexander D. Knysh, professor of Islamic studies, will serve as chair of the Department of Near Eastern Studies, for three years, effective July 1.
Two named to professorships
Two faculty members were appointed to professorships.
Max S. Wicha, professor of internal medicine, was named to an endowed chair, the Distinguished Professorship of Oncology. Charles F. Yocum, professor of biology and of chemistry, was appointed to a named collegiate professorship, the Alfred S. Sussman Professorship of Biology.
Wicha, whose research interest is in the field of breast cancer, is director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center. “His research involves the study of how breast cancer cells grow and metastasize, and his bibliography reflects numerous book chapters and peer-reviewed scientific articles in this area of investigation,” said A. Lorris Betz, interim dean of the Medical School. “His expertise is further recognized through his activities as a reviewer for a number of prominent scholarly publications, and he has served on the boards of many national cancer-related organizations.”
Yocum has “an impeccable scientific reputation and is an internationally recognized authority in the field of photosynthesis,” said LS&A Dean Edie N. Goldenberg. “His research has been to understand how the enzyme system called photosystem II releases oxygen from water. This project gained impetus from his discovery of the method by which the enzyme could be isolated in a pure, highly active form. Building on this discovery, his group has uncovered a number of new properties of photosynthetic oxygen production.”
$5.5 million in gifts accepted
The Regents accepted $5,571,627 in gifts received during February. The total included $3,314,632 from individuals, $1,078,043 from corporations, $415,181 from foundations, and $763,771 from associations and others.
Tenure appointments approved
Tenured faculty appointments included:
Gilbert S. Omenn, executive vice president for medical affairs, will be professor of internal medicine with tenure, professor of human genetics without tenure and professor of public health without tenure, effective Sept. 4, 1997.
James H. Vincent, from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, will be professor with tenure, and chair of the Department of Environmental and Industrial Health, effective June 1, 1998.
Four faculty members retire
Four faculty members were given the emeritus title.
Those retiring are Walker E. Fesmire, U-M-Flint professor of accounting; Martin Mayman, professor of psychology; Ingo E. Seidler, professor of German; and Farris W. Womack, professor of education and former executive vice president and chief financial officer.
Fesmire joined the Flint faculty in 1982. “In 1983, he became the faculty adviser of the Student Accounting Club,” the Regents noted. “Through his guidance, the club petitioned and received a charter as Eta Xi Chapter of Beta Alpha Psi in 1988. Through the years, he has continued to lead this group and has been recognized nationally as an outstanding faculty adviser. The chapter has also twice been named a Superior Chapter by the national Beta Alpha Psi organization in 1989 and 1990. He has twice been the recipient of the Faculty Achievement Award for Distinguished Service at the U-M-Flint (1987 and 1994) and has also been awarded the Michigan Accountancy Foundation Doctoral Grant.”
Mayman, who joined the U-M in 1966, served as associate director of the Psychological Clinic in 1967-73 and as co-director in 1974-81. “His early research focused on personality assessment, psychological testing, and projective techniques,” the Regents said. “He continued to research psychological testing, authoring or co-authoring 28 papers on the topic, many of which have become classics in the field. He later became interested in shame and its role in development and in psychopathology. Prof. Mayman was a caring clinical supervisor who influenced generations of clinical psychology students with his clinical acumen and his extraordinary sensitivity.”
Seidler joined the U-M in 1957. “His teaching and research cover broad areas of modern German, Austrian, and comparative literature (English, American and French), especially poetry and drama in the 19th and 20th centuries; criticism; literary theory; aesthetics; philosophy; and literature,” the Regents said. “He has published extensively on Nietzsche, Rilke, Heidegger, Kafka, Benn, Brecht, Canetti, literary translation and many other important topics. His translations of modern German poetry have appeared in numerous American literary magazines and journals.”
Womack joined the U-M in 1988 as the University’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. “Within the School of Education, he contributed to the graduate program in higher education by teaching courses in business and finance, by mentoring graduate students, and by serving on dissertation committees,” the Regents said. “During his tenure as executive vice president and chief financial officer, the University’s endowment grew five-fold, to more than $1.7 billion, and the institution became the only public university to earn an Aa1 credit rating.”
