Three faculty granted emeritus status

ANN ARBOR—Three University of Michigan faculty members were granted emeritus status by the U-M Regents at their Nov. 16 meeting.

Those retiring are Clyde L. Owings, associate professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases and of biomedical engineering and of electrical engineering and computer science; Walter M. Spink, professor of history of art; and John F. Vesecky, professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences.

“Dr. Clyde L. Owings’ career,” the Regents noted, “combined bioengineering with specialty care in child abuse and neglect. He was responsible for establishing the Child Abuse and Neglect Clinical and Teaching Services, and served as director of the Child Abuse and Neglect Section of the Division of General Pediatrics for more than 20 years. His research focused on refining the techniques of physical measurement of U.S. infants, children and teen-agers, and he also performed other pioneering work in methods of evaluating isometric strength in children. He was a skilled and sought-after teacher who lectured extensively to residents and medical students, trained many pediatric house officers, and shared his extensive clinical knowledge about meeting the needs of abused and neglected children within the medical setting. As one of the pioneers of the U-M bioengineering program, he also mentored many graduate students and helped design a biomedical instrumentation class that became a bedrock of the program.”

Owings joined the U-M, initially as an instructor in pediatrics, in 1962. He was appointed assistant professor in 1968, received his electrical engineering appointment in 1969 and was promoted to associate professor in those two units in 1973. He was appointed associate professor of biomedical engineering in 1997.

Owings holds a B.S. degree from the University of Alabama, M.D. from Tulane University and a Ph.D. from the U-M in bioengineering. He was an intern and resident at University Hospital in Birmingham, Ala., and a resident and chief resident at the U-M.

“Adding an expertise in Indian art to his colleagues’ specializations in other Asian artistic traditions, Prof. Walter M. Spink became part of a seven-member contingent that made the University the nation’s leading institution for the study of Near Eastern and Far Eastern arts,” the Regents noted. “While teaching a full range of Indian art, Prof. Spink emerged as the world’s foremost authority on fifth-century cave temples of Ajanta with their extraordinary riches of paintings, sculpture and decorative apparatus. With uncommon dedication and the most carefully crated arguments, and in the face of considerable opposition from fellow Indianists, Prof. Spink developed his ‘short chronology’ for the Ajanta monuments, consisting of 15 years as opposed to the two-century development previously postulated. And with nothing short of religious zeal,” the Regents added, “he has made it possible for scores of students to enroll in his many site seminars at Ajanta to experience on site his unparalleled knowledge of an emotional engagement with the material. With his retirement, Prof. Spink can turn in earnest to the completion of his massive, six-volume study of Ajanta.”

Spink holds an A.B. degree from Amherst College (1949), and M.A. (1950) and Ph.D. (1954) from Harvard University. After serving in the U.S. Army (1954-56) and as a faculty member at Brandeis University (1956-61), he joined the U-M in 1961 as an associate professor. He was appointed professor in 1970.

“Prof. John F. Vesecky is an internationally recognized expert in remote sensing, particularly as it applies to oceanographic studies,” the Regents noted. “He is the author of more than 40 publications in refereed journals and the editor of three books. While at the U-M, he conducted an extensive research program in the design, construction and application of high frequency radar for the mapping of ocean currents, winds and waves. The program supported and resulted in Ph.D. degrees for 17 graduate students.

“A hallmark of Prof. Vesecky’s activities,” they added, “was his extensive involvement of undergraduate and graduate students in research.” He was responsible for the Undergraduate Research Initiative in the Ocean Surfaces Processes and Remote Sensing, a cross-disciplinary program involving four departments and 10 faculty. He founded the master of engineering program in remote sensing and geoinformational science, and both founded and taught a highly successful interdisciplinary design course in space systems.

Vesecky holds a B.A. (1962) and B.S. (1963) from Rice University, and an M.S. (1965) and Ph.D. (1967) from Stanford University, all in electrical engineering. He was a research associate at the University of Leicester, England, in 1967-69, and an associate professor there. In 1976, he joined the Center for Radar Astronomy, STAR Laboratory, at Stanford, and was a professor of electrical engineering in 1981-90. He joined the U-M as a professor in 1990 and was awarded tenure in 1991.