Editor’s Note: The following actions were taken by the Regents at their April meeting.
By Wono Lee
News and Information Services
Appointments to professorships
Faculty appointments to endowed and named professorships that were approved by the Regents include:
Robert Jon Feigal, professor of dentistry, will hold the Samuel D. Harris Collegiate Professorship of Dentistry, effective April 1.
Michael J. Solomon, assistant professor of chemical engineering, will hold the Dow Corning Assistant Professorship of Chemical Engineering, effective Sept. 1.
Victor Chi-Min Yang, professor of pharmaceutics, will hold the Albert B. Prescott Professorship of Pharmaceutics, effective Sept. 1.
Feigal, since coming to the U-M in 1993, “has done an exemplary job serving the School of Dentistry as head of the pediatric dentistry program,” said Dean William E. Kotowicz. “He was instrumental in facilitating a rotational training program agreement for master’s students in pediatric dentistry with Mott Children’s Hospital and Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Mich., that has been ongoing since 1994. He has been involved in the administration of the School as interim associate dean for academic affairs since 1998.”
Solomon joined the U-M in 1997 and “his research interests are in processes involving colloids and macromolecules at the nanoscopic level,” said Stephen W. Director, dean of the College of Engineering. “Prof. Solomon’s undergraduate courses are highly rated and he gets favorable reviews from his students, both graduate and undergraduate, for his classroom instruction and research guidance.”
Yang, who joined the faculty in 1986, is “a member of several professional organizations and has received many honors and awards,” said George L. Kenyon, dean of the College of Pharmacy. “He currently sits on the editorial boards of four highly regarded journals and serves as a member of two different study sections at the National Institutes of Health for reviewing grant proposals. He has a distinguished record of research and scholarly activity, with numerous publications and patents to his credit.”
Administrative appointments
Administrative appointments approved by the Regents included:
Erica A. Munzel was reappointed assistant dean and admissions officer at the Law School, effective May 1, 2000–April 30, 2001.
David A. Bloom, professor of surgery, will be associate dean for faculty affairs at the Medical School, effective July 1.
Steven A. Goldstein, interim associate dean for research and graduate studies at the Medical School, will be associate dean for research and graduate studies, effective April 1. He is professor of surgery, the Henry Ruppenthal Family Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Bioengineering, professor of mechanical engineering and applied mechanics, and professor of biomedical engineering.
James E. Penner-Hahn, professor of chemistry, will serve as associate vice president for research, effective May 1, 2000–April 30, 2003.
Tenure appointment
James D. Morrow, of Stanford University, will be professor of political science, with tenure, effective Sept. 1.
Gifts
The Regents accepted $9,175,457 in gifts received during March—$4,595,321 from individuals, $2,134,127 from corporations, $1,216,589 from foundations, and $1,229,420 from associations and others.
Faculty retirements
Two faculty members were given the emeritus title: Kenneth J. DeWoskin, professor of Chinese language and literature, and Tsung Yen Na, professor of mechanical engineering at U-M-Dearborn.
DeWoskin joined the U-M in 1973. “A specialist in the literature and culture of ancient and medieval China, Prof. DeWoskin’s research interests and expertise include such diverse areas as Chinese prose literature, philosophy, aesthetics, music, and science and technology,” the Regents said. “His scholarship provides close readings of Chinese texts, with illuminating examples drawn from art, philosophy, literature, and cultural artifacts informed also by Western literary and cultural theory.”
Na, who joined the Dearborn faculty in 1964, is “recognized for his dedication to teaching and for the clarity of his lectures. A very versatile teacher, he offered a wide range of courses, including undergraduate courses in turbomachinery, fluid mechanics, and design of thermal systems and graduate courses in engineering analysis, conducting heat transfer, convection heat transfer, viscous flow theory, and dynamics and thermodynamics of compressible flow. Prof. Na has achieved a reputation as a world-class scholar.”
Renovation projects
Building renovation projects approved by the Regents included:
