Staff Spotlight

  1. April 2, 2012

    Disability rights influence architecture professor

    Photo by Austin Thomason, U-M Photo Services. When Robert Adams’ and Dawn Gilpin’s daughter Celeste was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and began using a powered wheelchair, Adams had an idea. He wanted to invent a special ramp that would foster inclusion for disabled and non-disabled people. Adams is assistant professor of architecture at Taubman College…
  2. March 26, 2012

    Lab technician is a pilot, amateur radio operator

    Whether it’s building radios in his free time or flying a small airplane around the state of Michigan, Dave Boprie’s personal interests have enhanced his career. An amateur pilot and self-described “radio enthusiast,” Boprie, a senior electronics technician at the Space Physics Research Laboratory on North Campus, uses his skills to build components for space…
  3. March 19, 2012

    Accomplished poet, publisher uses experience to develop student work

    Ken Mikolowski and his wife Ann in 1969 set out to print the “best of the best” in art and poetry. They bought a 1,500-pound letterpress and set it up in the basement of their home. Together, they started The Alternative Press, and for 30 years printed some of the finest artists in both the…
  4. March 12, 2012

    Assistant director in Rec Sports officiates to help guide students

    Nicole Green-Valentine knows the key to being a good official. “You need field presence. You need to be confident in yourself, confident that you know the rules and know how to apply them, and that you communicate well with the players, coaches, parents your partner officials,” says Green-Valentine, assistant director in the Department of Recreational…
  5. March 5, 2012

    Environmental concerns help guide a career path

    When Mike Shriberg was offered his current position of education director at the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute in 2010, he says the timing was just right, given the leverage and potential the university has to impact environmental and sustainability issues. “This university is at a critical moment in terms of sustainability. The commitment that (President)…
  6. February 20, 2012

    Wheelchair supplier coaches Rollin’ Pistons team

    Matt Traynor knows a great deal about wheelchairs and the people who rely on them. As a certified rehab technology supplier for the Wheelchair Seating Service of the U-M Health System Home Care Services Division, Traynor spends his days working with patients who need mobility assistance. And while Traynor does not take his work home…
  7. February 13, 2012

    Law professor helps students reunite a family

    Photo by Scott Soderberg, U-M Photo Services. Vivek Sankaran says having children of his own has made him realize the extra care that must go into making tough decisions about whether a child in foster care should be reunited with parents. “I’ve realized how serious it is to take a kid away from a parent…
  8. February 6, 2012

    After transplant, DAAS associate’s stories live on

    A third-generation storyteller, Elizabeth James usually tells stories that have been passed down to her by her mother and grandmother — stories of different times and of other cultures. Photo by Eric Bronson, U-M Photo Services. James, a program associate in the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies (DAAS), now has some stories of her…
  9. January 30, 2012

    Music lecturer inspires creativity in his students

    Photo by Scott Soderberg, U-M Photo Services. As a young boy, Mark Kirschenmann was fascinated by the music he heard near his home in Valparaiso, Ind. “I would beg my mother to take me to watch the high school marching band practice because I was struck by the sound and movement,” says Kirschenmann, lecturer III…
  10. January 23, 2012

    University Press’ promotions coordinator explores comic writing

    Shaun Manning, U-M Press promotions coordinator, has written creatively for many years, however, he recently found a new outlet. “I read a lot; I read nonfiction, I read fiction, I read comics. So when I write, I have a sense of what form a story should take. One story came to me as a comic,…