The University Record, June 24, 1998
Regents’ Roundup
From News and Information Services
Editor’s Note: The following actions were taken by the Regents at their June meeting.
3 faculty appointed to named professorships
Three faculty members were appointed to titled professorships.
Susan J. Douglas, professor of communication, will hold the Catherine Neafie Kellogg Professorship of Communication, effective July 1.
Douglas is “a media historian whose work has focused on the interplay between communications technology and cultural change, and on how the media have shaped and reinforced gender roles in the United States,” said LS&A Dean Edie N. Goldenberg. “She is very dedicated to advancing media literacy, especially among parents and children, and speaks to teachers’ organizations, children’s advocacy groups, and students around the country to raise awareness about the impact of the mass media on the self-esteem of girls and young women.”
Sherril A. Smith, professor of art and interim associate dean for graduate studies, will hold the Catherine B. Heller Collegiate Professorship of Art, effective Sept. 1.
Smith, whose teaching area is fibers and fabric design, “is highly esteemed both nationally and internationally and is included in many private and public collections,” said Allen Samuels, dean of the School of Art and Design. “She has exhibited her work in the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Cleveland Museum of Art; the Denver Art Museum; the Chicago Art Institute; and many other well-known venues. Prof. Smith is highly regarded and respected by students, faculty, and alumni of the School of Art and Design.”
Paul Damien, assistant professor of statistics and management science, will hold the First Chicago NBD Corporation Assistant Professorship in Business Administration, effective Sept. 1.
Damien is “a very promising scholar, working in the areas of Bayesian statistical modeling and analysis,” said B. Joseph White, dean of the School of Business Administration. “He has a very strong list of publications, both in number and in quality of journals. He serves as a reviewer for several of the most prestigious journals in his field, including Biometrics, Statistics and Computing, and the Canadian Journal of Statistics. He has a very good teaching record in the School, and was nominated by the undergraduate students as one of the best instructors in the School.”
12 administrative appointments OKd
Patricia Y. Gurin, professor of psychology and of women’s studies and chair of the Department of Psychology, will serve as LS&A interim dean, effective Sept. 1, 1998-Aug. 31, 1999.
Karen K. Wixson, professor of education and associate dean of the School of Education, will serve as interim dean of the School of Education, effective July 1.
Frank J. Ascione, associate professor of pharmacy administration, was reappointed associate dean for academic affairs of the College of Pharmacy, effective July 1-Dec. 1.
Lynne A. Aspnes, professor of music (harp), was reappointed associate dean of the School of Music, effective July 1, 1998-June 30, 2001.
Ronald F. Fleming, professor of nuclear engineering, was reappointed director of the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project, for two years beginning July 1.
Suellyn Scarnecchia, clinical professor of law, was reappointed associate dean for clinical affairs of the Law School, effective Sept. 1, 1998-Aug. 31, 2000.
Sherril A. Smith, professor of art, was reappointed interim associate dean for graduate studies of the School of Art and Design for a one-year term, effective July 1.
Bogdana Carpenter, professor of Slavic languages and literatures, will serve as chair of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures for a one-year term, effective July 1.
Charles M. Watts, associate chief of clinical affairs and clinical associate professor of internal medicine, will be chief of clinical affairs, effective July 1, 1998-June 30, 2001.
James O. Woolliscroft, professor of internal medicine, the Josiah Macy Jr. Professor of Medical Education, and assistant dean for clinical affairs, will be associate dean for graduate medical education, effective July 1.
H. David Humes, professor of internal medicine and the John G. Searle Professor of Internal Medicine, was reappointed chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, effective July 1-Dec. 31.
Jeanne M. Wilt, director of alumni relations and placement at the School of Business Administration, will become assistant dean for student affairs, effective June 1.
Tenured appointments approved
Tenured faculty appointments included:
Gerald F. Davis, a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, will be professor in organizational behavior and human resource management, effective Sept. 1.
Gary L. Freed, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, will be professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases and the Percy J. Murphy, M.D., and Mary C. Murphy, R.N., Professor in Pediatrics for Child Health Delivery, effective July 1.
James C. Hathaway, from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, Canada, will be professor of law, effective Sept. 1.
Andrea G. Hunter, assistant professor of psychology and of women’s studies, will become associate professor of social work, effective Sept. 1.
Jane S. Schacter, from the University of Wisconsin Law School, will be professor of law, Sept. 1.
Anton Shammas, a visiting literary translator at the International Institute and the Department of English, will be professor of Near Eastern studies and of comparative literature, effective Sept. 1.
Trevor D. Wooley, associate professor of mathematics, will become professor of mathematics, effective Sept. 1.
$16 million in gifts accepted
The Regents formally accepted $16,684,791 in gifts received during May. The total included $11,569,214 from individuals, $1,608,889 from corporations, $2,942,167 from foundations, and $564,521 from associations and others.
Renovation projects OKd
• Continued repair of the 20-year-old coal tar pitch roof of the Food Stores and Chemistry Stores Building is not feasible. The project will replace approximately 125,000 square feet of flat roof with new fully-adhered Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer (EPDM) membranes at an estimated cost of $760,000.
• With the installation of the new, larger boiler #6, and based on a review of the existing boiler feed pump capacity and piping layout, it has been determined that the boiler feed water system of the Central Heating Plant requires extensive renovations. This will include replacing the existing boiler feed pump 6 with a new larger pump, replacing the main boiler feed water headers, replacing the oldest branch piping and installing new parallel branch piping at an estimated cost of $66,5000.
Eight faculty members retire
Eight faculty members were granted emeritus status. They are:
Trygve O. Gabrielsen, professor of radiology; Donald G. Higman, professor of mathematics; Fedor Medzihradsky, professor of biological chemistry and of pharmacology; Gerhard Olving, professor of architecture;
Leon A. Pastalan, professor of architecture; Beverley J. Pooley, professor of law; Theodore J. St. Antoine, the James E. and Sarah A. Degan Professor of Law and professor of law; and Wendell W. Weber, professor of pharmacology.
Gabrielsen, who joined the U-M in 1962, “has been a staunch defender of scientific integrity and clinical service of the highest quality,” the Regents said. “Throughout his many years of teaching medical students, radiology residents, radiology fellows, and clinical colleagues, Dr. Gabrielsen has espoused the highest standards of scholarship, patient care, and personal integrity. He has served as a role model for more than one generation of radiology trainees.”
Higman, who joined the U-M in 1956, “made basic contributions to the theory of finite groups, group-inspired geometries and abstract combinatorics. In early work on homological aspects of group representation theory, he established the important concept of a relatively projective module and explained its role in the theory of module decompositions. Prof. Higman’s simple and elegant theory of rank 3 permutation groups assisted in the discovery of several of the sporadic simple groups, the most elusive and provocative of the finite simple groups which were sough so intensely in the 1960s and 1970s.”
Medzihradsky, who joined the U-M in 1969, “has studied drugs that act in the central nervous system. Most notable has been his characterization of drug transport in neuronal and blood cells and his contribution to the understanding of the biochemical mechanisms of opioid action. His studies have been reported in over 90 peer-reviewed publications, and he has served on the editorial board of the journal Drug Metabolism and Disposition. During the course of his tenure, he served as thesis chair for 10 Ph.D. students and he also served on several committees to evaluate and improve the Medical School curriculum.”
Olving, who joined the U-M in 1963, “has taught both graduate and undergraduate courses in design, graphic communications, and furniture design and construction,” the Regents said. “He chaired or served as a member of many college and program committees, including admission committees, lecture/exhibit committees, and honors and awards committees. For a number of years, he served as secretary for the architecture program faculty. In addition to his teaching, research, and professional service, Prof. Olving has been passionate in his work with the Ann Arbor community.”
Pastalan, who joined the U-M in 1966, is “a widely-known expert on retirement community planning and development and has extensive experience in structuring and implementing planned communities. He taught master’s and doctoral level students. He also served as chair or co-chair of many dissertation committees and was an active member of many program, college and University committees. He is a member of ACSA, American Sociological Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Gerontological Society of America.”
Pooley, who joined the U-M in 1962, “was appointed director of the Law Library, a position he held for 20 years. He served as associate dean of the Law Library for another 10 years, in 1985-95. Prof. Pooley guided the Law Library through a dramatic expansion, culminating in 1981 in the opening of the new addition that is now known as the Allan F. and Alene Smith Law Library. He has written in the areas of land use, contracts and African law. For decades, he has been one of the most popular teachers in the Law School, developing courses in African law, sports law and entertainment law, in addition to introducing large numbers of students to the basics of contracts.”
St. Antoine, who joined the U-M in 1965, is “one of the preeminent scholars in the field of labor and industrial relations,” the Regents said. “He is the author of approximately 120 journal articles and is co-author of one of the most successful and respected labor law casebooks, Labor Relations Law: Cases and Materials. Within the Law School, he has been an enormously influential and popular teacher to decades of law students. His administrative service includes having chaired two dean search committees. He served as dean of the Law School in 197178. He was named the James E. and Sarah A. Degan Professor of Law in 1981.”
Weber, who joined the U-M in 1974, “has focused on the enzymatic systems in various species and man which catalyze the N-acetylation of drugs and environmental chemicals. This is one of the major metabolic pathways used to inactivate potentially toxic amines. He also has studied many other biochemical systems that interact with and eliminate drugs and environmental chemicals. His special sub-field of pharmacogenetics examines how genetic traits improve or reduce the capacity of individuals or certain ethnic groups to metabolize particular drugs and chemicals in the environment. In addition to over 150 peer-reviewed publications, Dr. Weber has written landmark books on both the N-acetylation reaction and on pharmacogenetics.”
