By Mary Jo Frank, Office of the Vice President for Communications,
and Diane Brown, Facilities and Operations
Gifts
The Regents accepted $13,278,809 in gifts, with $6,783,436 from individuals and $6,495,373 from corporations, foundations, associations and others.
Tenure appointments
The following tenure appointments were approved:
Lillian G. Dawes, chief of general surgery at the Veterans Affairs Lakeside Medical Center in Chicago, was appointed associate professor of surgery with tenure, effective April 12.
J. Brian Fowlkes of the U-M was appointed associate professor of radiology with tenure, effective April 12.
Linda Lim of the U-M was appointed professor of corporate strategy and international business with tenure, effective May 1.
John D. Piette of the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Stanford University was appointed associate professor of internal medicine with tenure, effective April 12.
Academic administrative
Frederick R. Amrine was appointed interim chair of the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, effective July 1, 2001–June 30, 2002.
Howard G. Rush was appointed director of the Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine, effective April 1.
Administrative
Cheryl Soper of PricewaterhouseCoopers has been appointed controller and director of Financial Operations, effective April 30.
Endowed named professorships
Gary M. Olson was appointed the Paul M. Fitts Collegiate Professor of Human Computer Interaction, effective Jan. 1, 2001.
Retirements
Richard M. Dahlke, professor of mathematics and statistics at the U-M-Dearborn, was appointed professor emeritus, effective April 30. He holds a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, an M.A. from San Diego State University, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the U-M.
Dahlke, who joined the Dearborn faculty as a lecturer in 1967, was promoted to assistant professor in 1971, associate professor in 1973 and professor in 1978.
His articles and study modules on geometric probability popularized the subject for talented high school and lower-division college mathematics students across the country, noted the Regents, who added, “He was a pioneer in calling to the attention of university mathematics educators that research in mathematics education should address issues of mathematics pedagogy as well as issues of the proper sequencing of mathematics concepts and principles.”
Russell A. Moll, associate research scientist in the College of Engineering, LS&A and School of Natural Resources and Environment, was appointed associate research scientist emeritus, effective Jan. 5. After earning a B.A. from the University of Vermont, an M.S. from Long Island University and a Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Stonybrook, he joined the U-M as a research investigator in the Great Lakes Research Division in 1974. He was promoted to assistant research scientist in 1976 and to associate research scientist in 1981. He earned an M.S. in biostatistics from the U-M in 1983.
Moll devoted much of his career to research involving the Great Lakes and served as director of the Michigan Sea Grant College Program and as associate director of the U-M Biological Station. He also led a major two-year research program involving 16 American, European and African scientists in West Africa. Moll was founding director of the Cooperative Institute of Limnology and Ecosystems Research, a cooperative program among the U-M, Michigan State University, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The institute coordinates large lakes and coastal cooperative research programs between Great Lakes Basin researchers and the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor.
Jane A. Romatowski, associate dean of the School of Education and professor of education at the U-M-Dearborn, was appointed professor emeritus, effective April 30.
Holding a B.A. from Marygrove College and an M.Ed. and an Ed.D. from Wayne State University, Romatowski taught elementary school in the Detroit public schools before joining the Dearborn faculty as a lecturer in 1972. She was promoted to assistant professor in 1973, associate professor in 1977 and professor in 1983.
“Prof. Romatowski’s scholarly research and publications have focused on creative writing, early literacy, and gender and pro-social development in young children,” the Regents noted. She organized creative writing workshops that attracted more than 5,000 area children to campus. She also initiated a Saturday reading club project in partnership with Woodward Elementary School in Detroit, which developed into the Early Literacy program.
Romatowski has received numerous honors, including the U-M-Dearborn Distinguished Service Award, Faculty Member of the Year Award, Susan B. Anthony Award and Michigan Reading Association Adult Educator of the Year Award.
John G. Weg, professor of internal medicine, was appointed professor emeritus, effective March 31. He received an A.B. from the College of the Holy Cross and an M.D. from New York Medical College, and served his internship at Walter Reed General Hospital and at Wilford Hall U.S. Air Force Hospital. Weg joined the U-M faculty in 1971 as associate professor of internal medicine and was promoted to professor in 1974. He served as chief and physician in charge of the pulmonary division in the Department of Internal Medicine and in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
“Dr. Weg played a crucial role in the development of critical care medicine as a discipline, both at the University of Michigan and nationally. His research helped define the value of ventilation-profusion scans in acute pulmonary embolus and the usefulness of other noninvasive diagnostic tools for diagnosis of this condition; validated and defined the complications of pulmonary angiography and acute pulmonary embolism; and defined the clinical course of pulmonary embolism,” the Regents wrote. “He also made valuable contributions to our present approach to ventilatory management of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome.”
Weg served as president of the American College of Chest Physicians. His honors include the Bruce H. Douglas Award for outstanding contributions to the field of pulmonary medicine and a Medal of Honor from the Alumni Association of New York Medical College in 1990.
Facilities projects
The following facilities projects were approved.
Kraus Laboratories renovations
Almost 20,000 gross square feet of laboratory space on three floors of the Edward H. Kraus Building will be renovated to meet contemporary wet lab standards and connect fume hoods to a new central exhaust system. The project, scheduled for completion in April 2002 and estimated to cost $3 million, will be financed from central administration funds.
When the project is completed, the first-floor areas will accommodate the relocated fish facility, plant lab, offices of existing programs and two biomedical research labs with support spaces. Some of the renovated second floor will be utilized initially by the co-director of the Life Sciences Institute, Scott Emr, for research and lab space. Once the Life Sciences Institute building is constructed, the renovated Kraus Building space will accommodate researchers from LS&A. Renovations also will include installation of de-ionized water, gas, compressed air, fire protection and telecommunications systems.
Palmer Drive Commons Building
Authorization was granted to issue the Palmer Drive Commons Building project for bids and award a construction contract. One year ago, the Regents had approved appointing the architect for the six-story building at the corner of Washtenaw Avenue and Huron Street. The Commons Building will house dining facilities; retail, conference and academic space; offices for the Central Power Plant and a Department of Public Safety satellite; and the central chiller plant for the buildings in the Palmer Drive development. The Regents also recently approved a $1 million increase in the original $32 million project budget to accommodate an additional 6,500 square feet, for a total building size of 99,500 gross square feet.
Rackham renovations
The Regents authorized issuing the Rackham Building renovation project for bids and awarding the contract. All major building infrastructure will be upgraded, and some programmatic improvements will be made during the $24.2 million renovation that will begin in May and be completed in spring 2003.
The renovation also will provide technology improvements, including Internet connections and audio-visual enhancements in the fourth-floor amphitheater. During construction, the Rackham Building occupants will be relocated to off-site leased space and south campus. The first-floor auditorium will be closed for 18 months. Funding for the project will be provided by the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies and central administration.
Fiber optic infrastructure
The University’s fiber optic data network will be extended to some additional areas on the south and north campuses as part of a $3 million project. The construction will involve trenching in lawn areas adjacent to roadways and under sidewalks. While most roads and railroad tracks will not require excavation, sidewalks that will be affected by the construction include those along State and Hoover streets on south campus and Beal, Bonisteel and Hayward on north campus. At several locations, the Utility Department will take advantage of the excavation to lay new power cable.
Scheduled to begin this month and be completed in fall 2002, the project will be funded by the Information Technology Communications and the utilities departments.
Ordinance amendment
Article X of An Ordinance to Regulate Parking and Traffic, and to Regulate the Use and Protection of the Buildings and Property of the Regents of the University of Michigan was amended. The amended ordinance clarifies that weapons are restricted on all University-owned or -controlled property and that anyone on U-M property is subject to the same weapons restrictions that apply to students and employees.
