Presenters
The following people have presented at New Faculty Orientation:
- Robert Bruininks
- Frank Cerra
- Robert Jones
- E. Thomas Sullivan
- Heidi Barajas
- Rusty Barceló
- Leza Besemann
- Carole Bland
- Vic Bloomfield
- Barbara Brandt
- Arlene Carney
- Carol Carrier
- Carol Chomsky
- Gail Dubrow
- Pamela Flash
- Laurel Hirt
- Nick Jordan
- Karen Kaehler
- Michael Klug
- David Langley
- Wendy Pradt Lougee
- Geoffrey Maruyama
- Richard McCormick
- Louis Mendoza
- Tim Mulcahy
- Jerry Rinehart
- Bill Rozaitis
- Geoffrey Sirc
- Myrna Smith
- Dick Sommerstad
- Craig Swan
- Anne Taylor
- Patricia McCarthy Veach
- Mike Volna
- Billie Wahlstrom
- Dave Wehner
Robert Bruininks, President
Contact: 612-626-1616, or bruin001@umn.edu
Robert H. Bruininks was appointed the 15th president of the University of Minnesota on November 8, 2002. He has served the University for 37 years, as professor, dean, and executive vice president and provost, and now as chief executive officer.
President Bruininks currently oversees a major strategic planning and positioning effort aimed at making the University of Minnesota one of the top three public research universities in the world within a decade, an effort that has generated significant excitement on campus and around the state. Through it, the University is implementing system-wide changes to its academic and capital investment strategies, its organizational structure, and its operations, with the University’s coordinate campuses planning for new levels of excellence and improvement based on their signature programs and unique roles in their respective communities.
To maintain a high level of access for students, President Bruininks has made student scholarships his top private fundraising priority. Other priorities for President Bruininks include strengthening the University’s interdisciplinary research across expanding fields of knowledge, continuously improving the quality of the University’s management and operations, and actively fulfilling the University’s responsibilities as a public land-grant research university.
President Bruininks joined the University as an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Psychology in 1968. Throughout his career, his work has centered on human development and performance, policy research and development in education and social services, and strategic improvement and accountability in the fields of preK-12 and higher education, and he has authored or co-authored nearly 90 journal articles and more than 70 book chapters, as well as training materials and several nationally standardized tests. For his contributions to education, President Bruininks has been honored with numerous awards, including election to Fellow status in the American Association on Mental Retardation, the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society. In January 2004, Minnesota Monthly magazine named him Minnesotan of the Year.
President Bruininks earned his bachelor of arts degree from Western Michigan University, and his master of arts and doctor of philosophy degrees from George Peabody College (now of Vanderbilt University).
Frank Cerra, Senior Vice President for Health Sciences
Contact: 612-626-3700, or cerra001@umn.edu
Frank Cerra leads one of the largest and most comprehensive academic health centers in the United States. The Academic Health Center includes the schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, public health, and veterinary medicine, as well as interdisciplinary programs in bioethics, spirituality and healing, cancer, and genomics. The Academic Health Center prepares two-thirds of the state’s health professionals, supports biomedical research and industry, and receives $234 million a year in government and private grant awards.
Since assuming leadership in 1996, Dr. Cerra has guided many changes to enable the AHC to respond more nimbly to the evolving health care marketplace, to advance science and technology, and to translate those advances into new treatments. He has overseen a successful partnership with Fairview Health Services and the establishment of many interdisciplinary and leading edge centers, such as the Center for Biomedical Genomics and the Stem Cell Institute.
Dr. Cerra came to the University of Minnesota in 1981 as director of surgical critical care. In 1995 he was named dean of the Medical School after serving briefly as head of the Department of Surgery. In 1996 he assumed leadership of the Academic Health Center. An accomplished researcher, who holds a number of U.S. patents, he is co-developer of the bioartificial liver, a device similar to a kidney dialysis machine.
Dr. Cerra received his B.A. degree in biology from the State University of New York at Binghampton and his M.D. degree from Northwestern University School of Medicine.
Robert Jones, Senior Vice President for System Academic Administration
Contact: 612-624-3533, or jones012@umn.edu
Senior Vice President Jones has 28 years of experience at the University of Minnesota. He is a professor of Agronomy and Plant Genetics and an internationally recognized authority on plant physiology, and has published more than 100 scientific papers, manuscripts, and abstracts. He conducts research on stabilizing grain yields of maize against environmental stresses. He has been a visiting professor and featured speaker in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and served as an academic and scientific consultant for Archbishop Tutu’s South African Education Program. He is also a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy, the Crop Science Society of America, and the TIAA CREF Institute.
Dr. Jones has previously served in several academic administrative positions and his leadership responsibilities have included academic affairs, faculty development, promotion and tenure, institutional strategic and budget planning, community economic development, multicultural affairs, and student academic support services, and public engagement and outreach.
He is a strong leader for diversity initiatives locally, nationally, and internationally. He spearheaded efforts to provide better access for international students, developed support systems to help retain students of color, and initiated programs to recruit and retain faculty of color.
E. Thomas Sullivan, Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
Contact: 612-625-0051, or sulli059@umn.edu
E. Thomas Sullivan became Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost in July 2004. As the chief academic officer for the Twin Cities campus, Provost Sullivan has system wide leadership responsibilities on issues related to faculty promotion and tenure, academic policy, graduate, undergraduate, and professional education as well as central support units and student affairs. He has been pivotal to the strategic positioning and planning process, serving as chair of the Academic Task Force that produced a wide-ranging series of recommendations.
Provost Sullivan served as the eighth dean of the University of Minnesota Law School from 1995 to 2002. Upon finishing his term as dean, he was named the Irving Younger Professor of Law and in 2005 was named the Julius E. Davis Chair in Law. His teaching areas include antitrust, civil procedure, complex litigation, and regulation of business. He is a nationally recognized authority on antitrust law and complex litigation, having authored eight books and over 40 articles.
He has been honored by awards from the American Bar Association Section of Legal Education for leadership and contributions to law school development and the Stanley V. Kinyon Teacher of the Year Award for Excellence in Teaching
Before coming to the University of Minnesota, Prof. Sullivan served for six years as dean of the University of Arizona College of Law and as associate dean at Washington University in St. Louis. He began his career in higher education as a faculty member at the University of Missouri, Columbia. Prof. Sullivan graduated magna cum laude from law school at Indiana University in 1973, where he served also as an editor on the Law Review.
Heidi Barajas, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, College of Education and Human Development
Rusty Barceló, Vice Provost and Vice President for Equity and Diversity
Contact: 612-624-0594, or barcelo@umn.edu
Nancy “Rusty” Barceló is the first vice president for access, equity and multicultural affairs and vice provost. Dr. Barceló is responsible for developing and implementing a systemwide strategic plan for access, equity, and multicultural affairs consistent with the university's strategic positioning efforts. Dr. Barceló is responsible for ensuring that the university continues to be a vibrant and inclusive academic community.
As a national leader for multiculturalism in higher education, Dr. Barceló has more than 20 years of experience promoting diversity and multiculturalism in higher education. Prior to returning to the University of Minnesota, she served as vice president and vice provost for minority affairs and diversity at the University of Washington from 2001 to 2006. From 1996 to 2001, she was the associate vice president for multicultural and academic affairs at the University of Minnesota, and she headed the University’s Chicano studies department from 1999 to 2001. Dr. Barceló holds a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Iowa.
Leza Besemann, Technology Transfer Liaison, Office of the Vice President for Research
Contact: 612.625.8615, or besem007@umn.edu
Leza Besemann is the technology transfer liaison for the Institute of Technology and the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI). Ms. Besemann received a bachelor's degree in chemistry, summa cum laude, from Binghamton University and holds a master's degree in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Before joining PTM in 2006, she worked as a Product Manager (marketing) of process analytical technologies at Thermo Electron Corporation, an analytical instrumentation company.
Carole Bland, Director of Research Programs, Family Medicine and Community Health, Medical School
Vic Bloomfield, Associate Vice President for Public Engagement, Office of the Senior Vice President for System Administration
Contact: 612-625-2268, or victor@umn.edu
As Associate Vice President Dr. Bloomfield leads the integration of public engagement into all aspects of the university’s activities. He was a founding member of the Council on Public Engagement and has extended his renowned scholarship into this field.
Dr. Bloomfield is a Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics and is an internationally recognized expert in molecular biophysics, especially the physical behavior of DNA. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Bloomfield has held a number of positions in administration and faculty governance, including founder of the Biotechnology Institute; Chair of the Faculty Consultative Committee; and Associate Dean and Interim Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Research.
Barbara Brandt, Vice President, Academic Health Center Office of Education
Contact: 612-625-3972, or brandt@umn.edu
Barbara F. Brandt, Ph.D. is currently Assistant Vice President for Education, the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center and Professor, Pharmaceutical Care and Health Systems, University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy. Her current responsibilities include leadership for implementing the Academic Health Center Strategic Plan in education, specifically AHC-wide interprofessional education, community-based education, workforce development, and technology-enhanced learning programs. She administratively oversees Academic Health Center academic issues and advices the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences on these issues, such as promotion and tenure. She also serves as the Director of the Minnesota Area Health Education Center.
Arlene Carney, Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs
Contact: 612-626-9545, or carne005@umn.edu
As vice provost, Dr. Arlene Carney assists the faculty at all stages of their careers, with primary responsibility for faculty promotion and tenure review, and faculty development and recognition processes. In addition, she will facilitate the University's efforts in learning assessment.
Prior to her appointment to vice provost, Dr. Carney was associate dean for academic programs in the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) and chaired the Council of Undergraduate Deans. As professor of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences in CLA, her primary research interests involve the development of speech perception and speech production skills in children with hearing loss as well as audiovisual speech perception.
Carol Carrier, Vice President for Human Resources
Contact: 612-624-4515, or carrier@umn.edu
Carol A. Carrier is the University of Minnesota's chief officer responsible for leadership of human resources strategies, including policies, systems and services for all employee groups in support of the university's mission. Dr. Carrier directs the Office of Human Resources which performs the following functions: Employee Benefits, Employee Relations and Compensation, Human Resource Information Systems, Training and Development and Employment. She assumed leadership for human resources in April 1998 after a brief period as acting vice president. Carol also holds a tenured professorship is in Curriculum and Instruction, College of Education and Human Development.
Carol Chomsky, Professor, Law School
Contact: 612-625-2885, or choms001@umn.edu
Professor Chomsky joined the University of Minnesota Law School in 1985. Her publications have focused on the law of contracts and sales of goods, the history of women lawyers, American Indian legal history, and late nineteenth century American legal history. She has served as Co-President of the Society of American Law Teachers, an organization dedicated to issues of multiculturalism and equal justice in and outside the academy: Coordinator of the University of Minnesota's Early Career Teaching Program; and Co-Coordinator of the Multicultural Teaching and Learning Fellowships sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning.
Professor Chomsky has been active in faculty governance and chairs the Senate Faculty Consultative Committee in 2006-2007. She received a B.S. degree from Brown University and a J.D. degree, summa cum laude, from Georgetown University.
Gail Dubrow, Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School
Contact: 612-625-2809, or dubrow@umn.edu
Dr. Gail Dubrow, as the University of Minnesota’s Graduate School dean and vice provost, provides central leadership for the university’s graduate programs. She is responsible for fostering best practices in graduate education and advancing innovation through interdisciplinary initiatives.
Prior to her appointment in 2005, Dr. Dubrow was professor of architecture, landscape architecture, urban design and planning, with adjunct appointments in history and women’s studies at the University of Washington and had held administrative academic appointments there.. During the 2003-04 year she was a fellow of the American Council on Education.
Dr. Dubrow has produced two award-winning books, Sento at Sixth and Main, with Donna Graves (Smithsonian Books, 2004), and Restoring Women’s History Through Historic Preservation, edited with Jennifer Goodman (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003). She received a doctorate in urban planning from the University of California Los Angeles in 1991.
Pamela Flash, Center for Writing, College of Liberal Arts
Laurel Hirt, Director, Service Learning and Community Involvement, Career and Community Learning Center, College of Liberal Arts
Nick Jordan, Professor, Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics, College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences
Karen Kaehler, Technology Transfer Liaison, Office of the Vice President for Research
612.626.8274, kaehl001@umn.edu
Karen Kaehler is the technology transfer liaison for the College of Biological Sciences ; the College of Food , Agriculture and Natural Resource Sciences; the Biotechnology Institute; the Center for Microbial and Plant Genomics; and the Initiative for Renewable Energy and the Environment. Ms. Kaehler worked previously at the University as coordinator for the Center for Plants and Human Health and the Center for Dietary Supplement Safety. Karen has over 20 years of experience in the medical device, health information, and biosciences industries. She has a successful history of transitioning projects from strategic development to implementation, having led over two dozen product development and launch teams.She holds a bachelor's degree in biology and an MBA from the University of Minnesota.
Michael Klug, Technology Transfer Liaison, Office of the Vice President for Research
Contact: 612.626.8495, or klugx027@umn.edu
Michael Klug is the technology transfer liaison for the Academic Health Center. Prior to joining the University, Dr. Kl;ug was the licensing liaison and contract manager at the Mayo Clinic where he was involved in coordination, management and licensing of intellectual property. He was a laboratory head and project leader at F. Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel , Switzerland , and worked in drug discovery at Eli Lilly and Co. He earned his Ph.D. in physiology from the Indiana University School of Medicine where his research established that heart cells derived from embryonic stem cells could form grafts in adult hearts. Dr. Klug is an inventor on several patents and has broad expertise in biomedical technologies and medicine.
David Langley, Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, Office of Human Resources
Contact: 612-625-3343, or langl029@umn.edu
David Langley serves as the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning and coordinates an array of services that support the University's goal for excellence in teaching. He served in a similar position at Indiana State University prior to his arrival on the Twin Cities campus and has been a faculty member at the university level for 20 years. Dr. Langley received his Ph.D. in Kinesiology from the University of Oregon and has professional interests in faculty development models and the assessment of student learning.
Wendy Pradt Lougee, University Librarian, University Libraries and McKnight Presidential Professor
Contact: 612-624-1807, or wlougee@umn.edu
Wendy Pradt Lougee is University Librarian and McKnight Presidential Professor. Prior to 2002, she was associate director of the University of Michigan Library, launching the institution's award-winning digital library program. Lougee's research and professional engagement focuses on economics of publishing, digital libraries, and cyberinfrastructure. She holds graduate degrees in
Library Science (University of Wisconsin) and Psychology (University of Minnesota).
Geoffrey Maruyama, Associate Vice President for System Administration and PreK-12, Office of the Senior Vice President for System Administration
Richard McCormick, Professor, Department of German, Scandinavian and Dutch, Director, Honors Program, College of Liberal Arts and Chair, Senate Committee on Educational Policy
Louis Mendoza, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Chicano Studies, College of Liberal Arts
Contact: 612-624-1338, or lmendoza@umn.edu
Louis Mendoza is an associate professor and chair of the Department of Chicano Studies. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas. He taught at the University of Texas and served as associate dean for the College of Liberal and Fine Arts and an Interim Director of the Hispanic Research Center. His research interests include Chicana/o literary and Cultural studies, U.S. immigration literature, prison literature, and oral histories. He is the author of Historia: The Literary Making of Chicana and Chicano History; co-editor with S. Shankar of Crossing into America: The New Literature of Immigration; and editor of My Weapon is My Pen: raúlsalinas and the Jail Machine, Selected Prison Writings. In 2005-2006 Dr. Mendoza co-chaired the University’s Taskforce on Diversity and is a 2006-2007 Multicultural Teaching and Learning Fellow.
Tim Mulcahy, Vice President for Research
Contact: 612-624-5054, or mulcahy@umn.edu
R. Timothy Mulcahy, began his tenure as the University of Minnesota's Vice President for Research in 2005 and is responsible for the overall vitality of the research environment, including maintaining a competitive research infrastructure, supporting evolution of new research and technology transfer, and managing all sponsored activity, policies, and systems. Dr. Mulcahy works closely with deans and faculty leaders to identify, foster, and champion strategic initiatives, both disciplinary and interdisciplinary.
Dr. Mulcahy earned his bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Rochester in 1973 and his doctorate in pathology and radiological sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1979. After four years at the University of Rochester Cancer Center, he joined the University of Wisconsin and achieved the rank of full professor in 1991. From 1996 until 2005, Dr. Mulcahy served as associate dean for the biological sciences in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Graduate School
Dr. Mulcahy's research has focused on cancer biology with an emphasis on the development of novel therapeutic approaches and on the molecular mechanisms of tumor cell resistance to conventional chemotherapy.
Jerry Rinehart, Vice Provost for Student Affairs
Contact: 612-626-1242, or g-rine@umn.edu
Jerry Rinehart, as the vice provost for student affairs, is responsible for student development, student services and campus life, including helping to ensure integration of academic programs with student services and co-curricular activities that support student learning, retention and graduation. Mr. Rinehart has more than 25 years of senior administrative experience including 20 years as the Director of Undergraduate Programs and Assistant Dean in the Carlson School of Management.
Mr. Rinehart began his career at the university as a doctoral student in the English department and served as assistant director of the composition program. He has a bachelor of arts from Dartmouth College, a master of arts degree from Middlebury College in Vermont, and a master’s in business administration from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School. He was recently awarded the University’s John Tate Award for Academic Advising, and the Carlson School’s Golden Globe award for enhancing the international perspective of the school’s programs and curriculum.
Bill Rozaitis, Associate Education Specialist, Center for Teaching and Learning, Office of Human Resources
Contact: 612-625-6812, or rozai001@umn.edu
Bill Rozaitis is an Instructional Technology Consultant at the Center for Teaching and Learning. Dr. Rozaitis offers a variety of workshops and presentations on technology-enhanced learning and serves as an instructor in the Preparing Future Faculty program. Dr. Rozaitis has a Ph. D in English from the University of Minnesota and has taught literature and composition at UMN and the University of Wisconsin-River Falls.
Geoffrey Sirc, Professor, Department of English, College of Liberal Arts and Chair, Senate Committee on Faculty Affairs
Myrna Smith, Director of Faculty Research and Graduate Fellowships, The Graduate School
Contact: 612-625-7579, or mgsmith@umn.edu
Mryna Smith administers The Graduate School Grant-in-Aid of Research, Artistry, and Scholarship program; Faculty Summer Research Fellowship program; and external faculty award nominations (e.g., NEH Summer Stipend, Packard,);McKnight Land-Grant Professorship for junior faculty; and Distinguished McKnight University Professorship for outstanding midcareer faculty.
Ms Smith also oversees the Graduate School Fellowships for first-year students; Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships; National Science Foundation Fellowships; Fulbright Scholarships; Germany DAAD awards; Luce Scholar internships in Asia. She also administers The Guy Stanton Ford Lecture with recent by Margaret Atwood, Richard Leakey and David McCullough, with Elaine Pagels coming October 2006.
Dick Sommerstad, Director, Office of Business Development, Office of the Vice President for Research
Contact: 612-625-8352, or somme024@umn.edu
Craig Swan, Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education
Contact: 612-626-8690, or swan@umn.edu
As Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Dr. Craig Swan has oversight responsibilities for the University's entire undergraduate initiative, including orientation and first-year programs, the 4-year graduation plan, freshman seminars, residential college, and the Academy of Distinguished Teachers. In addition, Swan has line responsibility for services for both prospective and current students, including admissions, the registrar, financial aid, and classrooms. Swan is also a professor in the Department of Economics.
Anne Taylor, Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Medical School
Contact: 612-626-2183, taylo135@umn.edu
Anne L. Tayloris Professor of Medicine/Cardiology and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at the Medical School since October, 2000. Her interests include cardiovascular disease in African-Americans and women, and the transfer of principles of cardiovascular disease prevention from academia to the community. She currently chairs the Steering Committee for the African-American Heart Failure Trial and in 2003 became Co-Director of the National Center of Excellence in Women’s Health. Dr. Taylor has authored numerous manuscripts, editorials, book chapters, and abstracts.
Dr. Taylor received her medical degree from the University of Chicago School and her research training at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the University of Iowa. Prior to joining the University, she was Assistant Professor the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center and an Associate Professor at Case Western Reserve University and Chief of Cardiology at the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Patricia McCarthy Veach, Professor, Department of Educational Psychology, College of Education and Human Development
Contact: 612-624-3580, or veach001@umn.edu
Pat McCarthy Veach is a Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology and an affiliate of the Center for Bioethics. Her primary research interests involve investigations of genetic counseling process, and training and supervision of students in both genetic counseling and mental health counseling. Dr. McCarthy Veach co-authored the first helping skills manual for genetic counseling. Dr. McCarthy Veach is an associate member of the National Society of Genetic Counselors (NSGC), and an Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Genetic Counseling.
Dr. McCarthy Veach received her doctoral degree from the Ohio State University and is recipient of the College of Education and Human Development’s Distinguished Teaching Award and the University of Minnesota’s Award for Outstanding Contributions to Post-Baccalaureate, Graduate, and Professional Education.
Mike Volna, Associate Vice President, Controller’s Office
Billie Wahlstrom, Vice Provost for Distributed and Instructional Technology
Contact: 612-625-0051, or bwahlstr@umn.edu
As Vice Provost for Distributed Education and Instructional Technology, Dr. Billie Wahlstrom coordinates efforts to use instructional technology strategically and effectively to enhance teaching, learning, and outreach activities. She works with others in the provost's office to align University initiatives such as workforce development, career ladders with MnSCU, and the Metropolitan Education Strategy. She chairs the Technology-Enhanced Learning Council and is the University's representative to the State of Minnesota's Internet System for Education and Employment Knowledge (ISEEK). Wahlstrom is also a professor in the Department of Rhetoric.
Dave Wehner, Postdoctoral Associate, Center for Teaching and Learning, Office of Human Resources
Contact: 612-624-5645, or wehne002@umn.edu
Dave Wehner is a post doctoral associate at the Center for Teaching and Learning. Dr. Wehner serves as Project Manager for the Twin Cities 2004-2007 Bush Foundation Grant on Innovative Teaching and Technology Strategies. He also assists the Preparing Future Faculty program and provides administrative support to the teaching workshops held throughout the year. Dr. Wehner holds a doctorate in English Literature from the University of Minnesota and has focused his scholarly attention on the work of Kate Chopin, Flannery O'Connor, and Toni Morrison.