Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs & Provost

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Provost’s Academic Update

December 13 , 2006
 
E. Thomas Sullivan
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
Julius E. Davis Chair in Law

Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students,

As the Fall Semester draws to a close, I want to highlight recent academic achievements here at the University of Minnesota, and to extend my best wishes for a joyful and safe holiday season.

Transforming the U: Update on Academic Initiatives

• Institute on the Environment: The Institute is now accepting nominations for twelve Founding Fellows to help conceptualize and create the new Institute on the Environment. The Fellows, working with Interim Director Deborah Swackhamer (CFANS and Public Health), will help to determine initial research themes of the Institute and determine the role of an External Advisory Board, among other expectations. Application deadline is December 20, 2006. More information, including details about the appointment, can be found here: http://www.academic.umn.edu/provost/interdisc/environment/index.html
• On December 7, the Board of Regents received an exciting and inspired report on interdisciplinary initiatives growing out of strategic positioning. To see a copy of the docket materials given to the Board, see http://www1.umn.edu/urelate/00_pdfs/BoR_InterdiscInit_120706.pdf
• On December 8, the Board of Regents approved another step in the strategic positioning process to create a new writing studies department--the transfer of the bachelor’s degree in Scientific and Technical Communication from the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences to the College of Liberal Arts.
• The 2006 Strategic Positioning Progress Report is now available here: http://www1.umn.edu/systemwide/strategic_positioning/.  The report outlines major accomplishments during the past year that are a result of the Transforming the University.

Congratulations to award-winning centers, departments, faculty, and staff who have secured new research grants in the recent month. Noteworthy examples include:

• The Psychology Department was one of two psychology departments nationwide to be honored by the American Psychological Association (APA) through the APA Departmental Award for Culture of Service in the Psychological Sciences. Faculty commitment to service and engagement in professional activities at the national, state, and local levels were key reasons for the department’s selection.
• The Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change received four new grants from the Mellon and Luce Foundations, totaling $1.7 million, to develop transnational partnerships with institutions in Africa, Turkey, and Latin America. The grants also will support expansion of the Center’s undergraduate honors program in Global Issues for U.S. students of color. Find out more: http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/news_details.php?release=061205_
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Congratulations to award-winning faculty, staff, and students:

• Five University professors were named 2006 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellows: Professor Wayne Gladfelter (IT), Professor Vipin Kumar (IT), Professor Paul Magee (CBS), Professor William Tolman (IT), and Professor William Toscano, Jr. (Public Health). Election as a Fellow of AAAS is an honor bestowed upon faculty for meritorious efforts to advance science or its applications. The University of Minnesota had more faculty elected this year than any other public research university except the University of California-Berkeley.
• Honors senior Katie N. Lee (CBS, IT), was named one of 32 U.S. Rhodes Scholars for 2007. Lee, a biochemistry and chemistry double major, will receive two to three years of degree courses at Oxford University. Lee also received the Marshall Scholarship, but accepted the Rhodes Scholarship instead. The University has had four students in the last five years selected as Rhodes Scholars. Read more: http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/news_details.php?release=061120_
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• Associate Professor Mike Molasky (CLA) was awarded the Suntory Prize for Arts and Letters for his recent book focusing on the jazz culture of postwar Japan. The Suntory Prize is one of the most prestigious awards for academic arts and humanities work written in Japanese. Molasky is the first English-speaking scholar to win the award.
• Professor Stephen Hecht (AHC) recently received the Award for Excellence in Cancer Prevention Research from the American Association for Cancer Research. This major international award recognized Hecht’s three decades of work on tobacco, and the biochemistry behind this carcinogen.
• Professor David Johnson (CEHD) and his brother Roger Johnson (CEHD) won the 2007 Brock International Prize in Education, which recognizes individuals who have made a significant impact on the practice or understanding of education. This is the first time that more than one individual has been recognized for this prestigious award.
• Professor Peter McMurray (IT) was honored with the Fuchs Award, the highest honor for researchers in the field of aerosol science.
• Professor Philip Pardey (CFANS) and Director of the International Science and Technology Practice and Policy (InSTePP) center, was named Fellow of the American Agricultural Economics Association in July 2006, for "substantially improving our understanding of the role of science and technology in fostering long-term economic growth and development."  For more information, visit http://www.aaea.org/fellows/f06Pardey.cfm .
• Associate Professor Mary Kennedy (CLA) was elected president of the Academy of Neurologic Communciation Disorders and Sciences, a professional organization dedicated to providing guidelines for the training of speech-language pathologists.
• Associate Professor Christine Mueller (AHC) received the 2006 Geriatric Faculty Member Award from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in October.
• Research associate Mary Findorff (AHC) was awarded the 2006 Aetna Susan B. Anthony Award for Excellence in Research on Older Women and Public Health at the American Public Health Association.
• Linda Watson, director of the University's Health Sciences Libraries, was named president-elect of the Association of Academic Health Sciences Libraries. She was also named a mentor in the association's Leadership Fellows Program.
• Third year law student Rebecca Lucero received the Law Student Volunteer Award by the Minnesota Justice Foundation. Lucero was the only law student in the state to be recognized with this honor.

I am delighted with the academic excellence that flourishes at the University of Minnesota. We are well on our way to becoming one of the top three public research universities in the world. I look forward to our continued transformation during Spring Semester.

With best wishes in the New Year,

E. Thomas Sullivan
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
Julius E. Davis Chair in Law

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