Other news from Thursday’s Board of Regents meeting:
IMSB project receives final approval
The regents authorized issuing bids and awarding construction contracts for the $21.4 million renovation of the Intramural Sports Building. The project will update infrastructure and provide new and updated spaces to meet contemporary needs. The project is being funded from university investment proceeds and the Student Life Student Fee for Facility Renewal. Construction is scheduled to be completed in the fall of 2016.
Renovations planned for Livonia Center for Specialty Care
A leasehold improvement project at the U-M Hospitals and Health Centers’ Livonia Center for Specialty Care is planned that will renovate approximately 7,000 gross square feet of space to expand services for otolaryngology and urology. The project is being funded from Hospital and Health Centers’ resources and is scheduled for completion this fall.
Utility tunnels to be reinforced
Approximately 600 feet of campus utility tunnel near the Michigan League will be reinforced in order to create fire truck access. The project also will add fire hydrants, pedestrian lighting, improved stormwater management, and on-site power for events. The $2.9 million project is being funded from Utility and General Fund resources, and is scheduled to be completed this fall.
2015 fall semester calendar will not change
The academic calendar for the 2015 fall semester will not change, Provost Martha Pollack said Thursday. Students had advocated over the past month for a change to the calendar so the fall semester would not end so close to Christmas – Dec. 23. That quirk of the calendar happens every seven years when Labor Day falls on its latest date. U-M classes are scheduled to begin after Labor Day.
Pollack said she and her staff worked with Central Student Government to explore options for ending the semester earlier. The only feasible option was to eliminate a two-day fall study break that occurs in October in advance of mid-term exams. CSG President Bobby Dishell said it was not in the best interest of students to eliminate the break.
Ann Arbor campus
Faculty appointments and promotions with tenure
Howard C. Crawford, professor of molecular and integrative physiology, Medical School, effective March 16.
Issam El Naqa, associate professor of radiation oncology, Medical School, effective March 1.
Michael A. Holinstat, associate professor of pharmacology, Medical School, effective April 1.
Paula M. Lantz, professor of public policy, effective Sept. 1, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
Dr. Asma Nusrat, professor of pathology, Medical School, effective March 15.
Dr. Sagar V. Parikh, professor of psychiatry, effective March 1.
Named professorships
Dr. Sagar V. Parikh, John F. Greden Professor of Depression and Clinical Neuroscience, Medical School, effective March 1, 2015-Aug. 31, 2019.
Administrative appointments
Amy K. Dittmar, senior associate dean for graduate programs, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, effective July 1, 2015-June 30, 2018.
* J. Kevin Graffagnino, director, William L. Clements Library, effective Sept. 1, 2016-Aug. 31, 2018.
Michael L. Hilliard, assistant vice president of development, Office of University Development, effective April 1.
Wallace J. Hopp, associate dean for learning design, Ross School of Business, effective July 1, 2016-June 30.
Karen T. Isble, assistant vice president of development, Office of University Development, effective April 1.
Paula M. Lantz, associate dean for research and policy engagement, Ford School of Public Policy, effective Sept. 1, 2015-May 31, 2018.
Karen E. Peterson, chair, Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, effective July 1, 2015-June 30, 2018.
Dearborn campus
Jing Zhao, interim chair, Department of Mathematics and Statistics, College of Arts, Sciences and Letters, effective Jan. 1, 2015-June 30, 2016.
* Reappointments
Retirements
Joel L. Cressman, professor of art in the Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design and professor of Residential College in LSA, effective Dec. 31. He joined the faculty in 1977. Cressman served as director of the Residential College Art Gallery. His work has been extensively exhibited. Cressman developed an installation on the grounds of el Corral del Carbon that activated the spaces between major structural columns of this 14th century building to create a screen of suspended linear elements. He fostered creative, engaged and experimental learning environments that challenged his students. Cressman received LSA’s Excellence in Education teaching award in 1996.
Dr. Theodore J. Sanford Jr., clinical professor of anesthesiology in the Medical School, effective March 31. Sanford joined the faculty in 1991. He held key leadership roles in the Department of Anesthesiology, implemented programmatic changes, increased the number of residents and fellows, and established the program as among the nation’s best with a 98 percent board certification rate. Sanford oversaw a transition that enabled anesthesiology residents to have mobile access to reference materials and patient information. He was involved in professional associations, appointed the Georgine M. Steude Professor of Anesthesiology Education in 2007 and inducted into the Medical School’s League of Educational Excellence in 2013.
Thommey P. Thomas, associate research scientist, internal medicine, and associate research scientist, Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and Biological Sciences, Medical School, effective Dec. 15. He joined U-M in 1987. Thomas’ research focused on the biological studies on nanoparticle-based therapies for diseases such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. His work resulted in five patents, and he presented more than 70 abstracts at symposiums. Thomas was a reviewer for publications including the Journal of Bioanalysis & Biomedicine, the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, and Molecular Pharmaceutics. He served as associate director of the Clinical Implementation Core at the Michigan Diabetes Research and Training Center.
Michael J. Welsh, professor of cell and developmental biology in the Medical School, effective April 10. He joined the faculty in 1979. Welsh’s early research explored male reproductive cell biology and the structure and function of the cell cytoskeleton. His later research focused on the functions of small heat-shock proteins (sHSP), discovery of a new member of that protein family, and the effect on protein-protein interactions of disease causing mutations in the sHSPs. Welsh co-authored “Gene Biotechnology,” served as director of the Cancer Center Morphology Core Facility and as editor-in-chief of the international journal Cell Biology and Toxicology. He developed and mentored graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and junior faculty.
