The University Record, February 21, 2000 Editor’s Note: The following actions were taken by the Regents at their February meeting.
By Wono Lee
News and Information Services
Administrative appointments
Administrative appointments included:
Carol T. Mowbray, associate professor of social work and associate professor of psychology, was reappointed associate dean for research of the School of Social Work, effective July 1.
John E. Billi, associate professor of internal medicine, associate professor of medical education and associate dean for clinical affairs at the Medical School, will also serve as associate vice president for medical affairs, effective Feb. 1.
John R. Chamberlin, professor of public policy, professor of political science and associate dean of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, will serve as acting dean of the School, effective March 1–Aug. 31, while Dean Rebecca Blank will be on leave.
Timothy L. Colenback, interim assistant dean for student services of the School of Social Work, will be assistant dean for student services, effective April 1.
David A. Spahlinger, clinical associate professor II of internal medicine and assistant dean for clinical affairs at the Medical School, will be associate dean for clinical affairs, effective March 1.
Charles M. Watts, clinical associate professor II at the Medical School, will serve as assistant dean for clinical affairs, effective March 1.
Gifts
The Regents accepted $21,669,466 in gifts received during January. The total included $17,904,150 from individuals, $1,384,210 from corporations, $1,357,524 from foundations, and $1,023,582 from associations and others.
Professorships
Faculty appointments to endowed and titled professorships included:
Paula Allen-Meares, dean and professor of social work, will hold the Norma Radin Collegiate Professorship of Social Work, effective March 20.
Richard D. Friedman, professor of law, will be the Ralph W. Aigler Professor of Law, effective March 1.
John W. Halloran, professor of materials science and engineering, will hold the Alfred Holmes White Collegiate Professorship of Materials Science and Engineering, effective Jan. 1, 2000.
“Dean Allen-Meares has provided campus leadership on many important issues during her tenure as dean of the School of Social Work,” said Diane Kaplan Vinokur, acting associate dean of the School. “The research of Dean Allen-Meares focuses on the tasks and functions of social workers employed in educational settings; psychopathology in children, adolescents, and families; adolescent sexuality; premature parenthood; and various aspects of social work practice. She is widely published in highly respected scholarly journals. She has held numerous editorial positions, presented at national and international conferences, and is widely sought for consultation and quotes.”
“Prof. Friedman is an exceptional scholar and teacher,” said Jeffrey S. Lehman, dean of the Law School. “At Michigan he has taught courses in administrative law, antitrust law, civil procedure, conflict of laws, constitutional law, criminal procedure, and evidence. A prolific researcher, he has published over 50 articles and essays, together with one book, The Elements of Evidence. He is the general editor of the New Wigmore. He has been appointed by the Permanent Committee on the Oliver Wendell Holmes Devise to write the volume on the Hughes Court as part of the Devise’s History of the Supreme Court of the United States.”
“Prof. Halloran is an outstanding teacher, excellent researcher, and has a strong record of publications,” said Stephen W. Director, dean of the College of Engineering. “His 121 research papers and several patents reveal a broad-based understanding of ceramic processing. His ability to apply his knowledge in the areas of high temperature and engineering ceramics synthesis and processing to complex problems has earned him an international reputation as a talented scientist. Most recently his research has focused on expanding the use of stereolithography in different materials systems including those with biomedical applications, such as the fabrication of craniofacial implants.”
Faculty retirements
Three faculty members were given the emeritus title: Richard G. Lawton, professor of chemistry; Sujit K. Pandit, professor of anesthesiology; and Chung-Tuo Shih, associate professor of mathematics.
Lawton joined the U-M in 1962. “His research interests are highly varied,” the Regents said. “Early in his career at Michigan, he developed strategies for the synthesis of strained aromatic compounds. He synthesized the first bowl-shaped compound called corannulene that has the same carbon skeleton as a portion of the framework as buckminsterfullerene or Buckyball. A continuing interest of his research is the design, synthesis, and chemistry of reagents and structures which serve as tools for the identification of interactions between reactive functional groups on peptide and protein chains. This theme has had universal applications for organic, bioorganic, and molecular biochemistry.”
Pandit, who joined the U-M in 1976, “has published more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals. As a result of his contributions to the field of ambulatory anesthesia, the Department of Anesthesiology is well-known at the national and international levels. The National Society of Ambulatory Anesthesia honored him by electing him president for 1997–98. He has been an esteemed colleague who has encouraged and helped many young faculty members to develop their careers as academic anesthesiologists. He has been a role model in many ways, but the role in which he will be missed most is that of a dedicated and compassionate physician who always taught and practiced quality patient care.”
Shih joined the U-M in 1966. “During most of his career, he has worked in the area of probabilistic potential theory, otherwise known as the general theory of Markov Processes. This is an outgrowth of the surprising discovery that two quite distinct branches of physics, Brownian motion and Newtonian potential, have an intimate mathematical connection. Some of Prof. Shih’s early publications have been described as among the deepest in the field and as marking a turning point in its development. For much of his time at Michigan, he has been the mainstay of the program in probability. In his teaching, he concentrated his efforts on the courses in probability at both the undergraduate and graduate levels and was responsible for several changes and developments in these courses.”
