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Past Issues
Twelve-member U Presidential Search Advisory Committee will be key to identifying top candidates. Committee, appointed by Board of Regents, will be responsible for sorting through resumes and identifying 7 qualified semifinalists to advance to board, which will make the final decision. First committee meeting will be in August. Regents hope to name a new president to replace Mark Yudof by end of the year. Robert Bruininks, former executive vice president and provost, has been named interim president effective Aug. 1.
VP and chief of staff Tonya Moten Brown is leaving for U of Texas system in August. Among her responsibilities during her 5-year tenure were overseeing the U's investigation of academic fraud allegations in the Gopher men's basketball program and leading a comprehensive financial assessment of the TC men's and women's athletics departments, which resulted in the recent merging of both units under one new athletic director. Transition planning for Moten Brown's position has begun; an appointment is likely within 2 weeks.
New U of M Foundation fellowship recognizes Mark and Judy Yudof's leadership in raising private gifts and engaging the community on behalf of the U. The $500,000 Mark G. and Judy Yudof Endowed Graduate Fellowship in Science Policy and Ethics will support a top graduate student who is pursuing interdisciplinary work in these fields. Fellowship will be funded by a $250,000 grant from the foundation and matched by the 21st Century Graduate Fellowship Endowment, a fund that matches fellowship gifts of $25,000 or more.
U Cancer Center will accelerate its research on new cancer therapies for patients thanks to a $3.5 million bequest from former Minneapolis school teacher Olga Hart. Combined with gifts from other benefactors, bequest will be used to create the Cancer Therapeutics Initiative, which will support high-priority clinical trials and convert laboratory findings into treatments to help patients.
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum has begun construction for new $18 million visitor center. Current work includes building a new road, 2 parking lots, picnic areas, and model rain gardens. When completed, new center will serve as a formal entry point to the gardens and collections. Center will also provide expanded space for educational displays, classrooms, an auditorium, gift shop, restaurant, and outdoor terrace.
U will use 4-year, $1.7 million grant from Howard Hughes Medical Institute to ease shortage of biology teachers in rural areas of the state and encourage more American Indians to become science teachers. Grant, one of 44 given to research universities nationwide, will support internships for future K–12 biology teachers and professional development for current middle school and high school teachers in Bagley, Bemidji, Grand Rapids, Park Rapids, Waubun, and White Earth Reservation school districts.
Lanny Schmidt has been appointed Regents Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science. Regents professorships are the U's highest faculty honor. Supported by U of M Foundation, regents professors receive an annual $10,000 salary augmentation and $15,000 to support research or other professional activities. Schmidt's current research focuses on new ways to convert natural gas and gasoline into hydrogen for next generation of fuel cells to produce cheaper and cleaner electricity.
Susan Stafford will be new dean of College of Natural Resources effective Oct. 1, pending Board of Regents approval Sept. 14. Stafford was head of the forest sciences department at Colorado State U. She replaces Al Sullivan, who returns to a faculty position after serving 9 years as dean.
Diversity Explorations program will be Aug. 12–23. Nehrwr Abdul-Wahid, U Diversity Institute training coordinator, and Beth Zemsky, Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Programs director, will facilitate 6, 3-hour sessions on enhancing a positive climate for diversity. Cost is $200 for staff and faculty and $400 for non-U participants; $50 discount is available for departments and organizations that have received training from the institute. For more information, call 612-625-0537.
Copyright permission requests for fall 2002 course packets sold at U Bookstores or charged to a CUFS number must be submitted to the Copyright Permissions Center via fax, 612-626-9810; online at www.copyright.umn.edu; or by campus mail, 106 Printing Services Building, as soon as possible. Citations may also be dropped off at any Printing Services location. For more information, call Lois Williams at 612-624-8258.
U-Wide Policy Library has 2 new policies: Review of Proposals for New and Changed Academic Programs and Assessing Institutional Revenue Sharing. Also, 2 new standards on Anti-Virus and Wireless Access Point were added to the Acceptable Use policy. See www.fpd.finop.umn.edu.
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\CROOKSTON—Dell Latitude model C610 will be standard notebook computer for all students and faculty 2002–03. Standard software will include Microsoft Windows XP operating system and
Windows XP programs—Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, FrontPage, and Outlook. Technology access fee remains unchanged at $500 per semester.
UMC has received its largest gift ever—$1 million for academic scholarships from Lyle and Kathleen Kasprick, Orono. Lyle was raised on a farm near Angus and graduated from Northwest School of Agriculture in 1950 before it became UMC.
DULUTH—New pharmacy program will begin at UMD September 2003. Program, an expansion of U College of Pharmacy, is aimed at addressing shortage of pharmacists in Minnesota. Fifty students will be enrolled in program.
Joseph Prohaska, biochemistry and molecular biology professor, was an invited speaker and chair for the opening session at the 11th international meeting on Trace Elements in Man and Animals (TEMA) in Berkeley, CA. He was reelected chair of the parent committee, which will oversee organization of the next TEMA meeting in Coleraine, Northern Ireland.
Lester Drewes, head of Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, chaired the opening session of the Gordon Conference on Barriers in the Central Nervous System in Tilton, New Hampshire.
ROCHESTER—UMR and Rochester Area Alumni and Friends of the U will host a booth at the Olmsted County Fair, July 29–Aug. 4.
TWIN CITIES—Fairview-U Medical Center ranked 38th for cancer care by U.S. News and World Report in 13th annual "America's Best Hospitals" edition. Ranking is based on facts such as mortality figures, hospital survey information, and reputation of institute among 150 randomly chosen board-certified oncology specialists. See www.usnews.com/usnews/nycu/health/hosptl/tophosp.htm.
Tentative site for new Bell Museum of Natural History building is southwest corner of Larpenteur and Cleveland in St. Paul, according to museum director Scott Lanyon. Planning group of museum staff and supporters made the decision after considering 4 sites in Minneapolis and 5 sites in St. Paul during an 18-month, predesign study. Relocating to St. Paul will enable museum to partner with U units engaged in environmental research, Lanyon said. Next step is to complete the predesign based on the selected location. U has yet to approve construction of the building; there is no timetable for completion.
New Medical School Emergency Medicine Department is 62nd such department in nation, according to Society for Academic Emergency Medicine; first was established in 1971 at U of Southern California. Department is the result of efforts among the U, Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), and Regions Hospital, and evolves from the Medical School's emergency medicine program that has been in place for the past 10 years. New department, which will have about 45 faculty from HCMC and Regions Hospital, will be led by Joseph Clinton, who is currently chief of emergency medicine at HCMC.
Cargill Building for Microbial and Plant Genomics is official name of genomics research building under construction on Gortner Ave. in St. Paul. Approved by regents in June, name recognizes Cargill Foundation gift of $10 million, half the building cost.
U in Partnership with Coca-Cola is seeking individuals to serve on selection committees for grants awarded through academic, campus life, and community-building initiatives during 2002–03. For more information, e-mail swiley@umn.edu.
July 17 Brief reported closure of East River Road from Oak Street to Church Street beginning Aug. 28; road is closed now until Aug. 28. See www.facm.umn.edu.
Event: "Exploring Nature's Histories and Mysteries" at the Bell Museum will run through Aug. 4. Exhibit draws from rarely seen objects from museum's art and scientific collections. For more information, call 612-624-7083.
Announcements: Michael Farrar, assistant professor of laboratory medicine and pathology, was named one of the nation's 20 most promising biomedical researchers by the Pew Charitable Trusts. He received the 2002 Pew Scholar Award and $240,000 to support his research in immunology over a 4-year period.
o Richard Di Fabio, professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation, received the American Physical Therapy Association Golden Pen Award for contributions to association's journal, Physical Therapy.
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