Faculty members named to distinguished professorships

January 22, 2007
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ANN ARBOR—University of Michigan Regents, at their Dec. 18-19 meeting, approved several appointments to endowed and named collegiate professorships.

Thomas C. Kinnear, vice president for development, professor of marketing, and the D. Maynard Phelps Professor of Business Administration, will hold the Eugene Applebaum Professorship of Entrepreneurial Studies, effective Jan. 1. He will not retain the title D. Maynard Phelps Professor of Business Administration.

Philip H. Bucksbaum, professor of physics, also will hold the Otto Laporte Professorship of Physics, effective Sept. 1, 1998.

Joel A. Smoller, professor of mathematics, also will hold the Lamberto Cesari Professorship of Mathematics, effective Sept. 1, 1998.

Sherman A. James, professor of epidemiology, also will hold the John P. Kirscht Collegiate Professorship of Public Health, effective Jan. 1.

“Recognized as one of the nation’s leading experts in business and marketing, Prof. Kinnear has served the Business School and the University with dedication and distinction since joining the faculty in 1975,” said B. Joseph White, dean of the Business School. “In addition to his academic pursuits as professor of marketing, and his exemplary and continuing administrative service, Prof. Kinnear has helped start, guide and direct a number of small business enterprises. This combination of academic and professional business expertise makes him ideally suited to fulfill the mission and intent of the Applebaum professorship.”

Prof. Bucksbaum joined the U-M faculty in 1990. “His research ability and professional reputations place him among the elite in his field, nationally and internationally,” said Edie N. Goldenberg, dean of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. “He has been elected Fellow of the American Physical Society and Fellow of the Optical Society of America. In 1995, he was the Rosenthal Lecturer in Physics at Yale University and is currently being honored as Miller Visiting Research Professor at the University of California at Berkeley.”

Prof. Smoller joined the U-M faculty in 1963. “His current research interest lies in two areas: shock-waves in general relativity and the coupling of gravity (Einstein’s equations),” Goldenberg said. “He has earned an outstanding international reputation marked by originality and variety. Over the years, his research has grown in depth and significance, providing the opportunity to introduce new ideas, methods, and problems. He is a teacher who infuses students with the beauty of the subject, the excitement of research, and motivates them to their highest level of achievement.”

Prof. James joined the U-M faculty in 1989. “Throughout his career, he has been extraordinarily productive and has a well established national and international reputation in epidemiologic aspects of hypertension as it relates to race and stress, among other variables,” said Noreen M. Clark, dean of the School of Public Health. “He is the developer of a theoretical model for explaining the high rates of cardiovascular and other chronic diseases among African American men that has been highly influential in the public health community of scholars. He has received the recognition of his peers in numerous awards and honors by professional societies and organizations.”

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Philip H. BucksbaumJoel A. SmollerSherman A. JamesU-M News and Information ServicesUniversity of Michigan