Awards The Detroit News has named U-M Associate Professor Sean Morrison, director of the Center for Stem Cell Biology, one of 14 Michiganians of the Year for 2005. The newspaper has honored leaders across the state since 1978, and annually receives hundreds of nominations for Michigan residents who perform good works, the paper says. “They are giants among us. Fourteen citizens who use their talents to quietly impact the lives of millions of people in Michigan and around the world,” the News states. Morrison was honored for his dedication to “making science matter.” The paper credited him for his work to increase understanding of the importance of stem cell research, as well as for leading a team that has made several important scientific discoveries that “could lead to safer and more effective treatments for people whose lives are touched by cancer, birth defects and other diseases.” Department of Aerospace Engineering Professor Anthony Waas has been selected for an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Sustained Service Award for leadership through technical publications as associate editor and editorial board member of the AIAA Journal, and the Journal of Aircraft, respectively, and for dedicated service to the Structures Technical Committee. Glenda Pettway, a biomedical engineering graduate student research assistant who is conducting research in the laboratory of a School of Dentistry department chair, is one of only 12 persons nationwide to receive the United Negro College Fund/Merck Graduate Science Research Dissertation Fellowship based on her academic and scientific achievements. UNCF and Merck established the award to help increase the number of African Americans in biomedical science education and research. Pettway will receive a $25,000 award from the chief executive officer of Merck during a June program in Pennsylvania. The company also will award $10,000 to the school’s Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine to purchase research supplies. Ruth Dunkle, the Wilbur J. Cohen Collegiate Professor of Social Work, June 5 will receive the Anthony V. DeVito II Memorial Award, presented annually by the Geriatrics Center to recognize outstanding service, dedication and commitment to excellence in the field of geriatrics education in Michigan. Richard Abel, chair of the Department of Screen Arts & Cultures, is the recipient of the 2005 Theatre Library Association Award for excellence in writing on film and broadcasting. The award was for the “Encyclopedia of Early Cinema,” for which Abel served as general editor. The association will present the award June 2 at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Jorge Delva, associate professor of social work, has been named an Academic Leadership Program (ALP) fellow for the 2006-07 academic year. The Committee on Institutional Cooperation sponsors the ALP, which has an objective to develop leadership skills of faculty members who have demonstrated exceptional ability and administrative promise. Rodney Ewing, the Donald R. Peacor Collegiate Professor of Geological Sciences, will receive the Dana Medal of the Mineralogical Society of America May 24 during a symposium at the American Geophysical Union meeting in Baltimore. Following the medal presentation, Ewing will deliver a lecture on global climate change and the potential for nuclear power to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. The Dana Medal, named for the contributions of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana to the science of mineralogy, recognizes mid-career scientists for continued outstanding scientific contributions through original research. Appointments Richard K. Rabeler, Research Museum collections manager and assistant research scientist, U-M Herbarium, has been named president-elect of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections, an international association of persons who study and care for natural history collections. Christopher Ruf, professor in the Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science departments has been appointed as the new director of the Space Physics Research Laboratory, one of only a few university-based space engineering facilities. His three-year appointment was effective May 16. Catherine McLaughlin, School of Public Health professor of health management and policy, and director of the Economic Research Initiative on the Uninsured, has been appointed to the board of trustees for the American Hospital Association Health Research and Educational Trust. She will begin a three-year term in July. William Elger Jr., executive director for administration and chief financial officer of the Medical School, has been appointed national chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Group on Business Affairs (GBA), an organization that advances administrative and fiscal management in support of medical education, research and health care among its members. His installation took place in April during the GBA annual meeting in Vancouver. Professor of Anthropology Maxwell Owusu has been elected to serve as a member of the Board of Trustees of World Neighbors Inc., a non-profit international development organization. World Neighbors’ mission is to transform communities by helping people address hunger, poverty and disease in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean by inspiring lasting leadership and collective action through programs that include food security, leadership training, and reproductive and community health.
