OSU Board Approves Personnel Actions

Friday, March 2, 2007

The Oklahoma State University/A&M Board of Regents approved several personnel actions during its March 2 meeting at Oklahoma State University.
 
Dr. Loren M. Smith of Texas Tech University was named professor and head of the Department of Zoology, effective June 29.

He received his B.S. in zoology from Truman State University, his M.S. in wildlife science from South Dakota State University, and his Ph.D. in wildlife ecology from Utah State University.

Smith joined Texas Tech in 1984, and served as associate chair of the Department of Range and Wildlife Management from 1991-97. Since 1997 he has served as Caesar Kleberg Professor of Wildlife Ecology, and since 2002 has been on the adjunct faculty of The Institute of Environmental and Human Health. He was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Wildlife Management in 1994 and 1995.

His professional affiliations include the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Society of Naturalists, The Ecological Science of America, The Wildlife Society, Society of Wetland Scientists, Society for Conservation Biology, and Sigma Xi.
    
 APPOINTMENTS:; Jianjun Ge and Jacqueline Vadjunec, assistant professors, geography; Kimberly S. Church and Lance M. Fisher, assistant professors, accounting; Bidisha Lahiri, assistant professor, economics and legal studies; Misty D. Smith, assistant professor, library.
  
 TITLE CHANGES: Betty J. Simkins, associate professor of finance, appointed Williams Companies Professor in Business; Colin M. Carmichael, from co-head coach to head coach, soccer; Karen E. Hancock, from co-head coach to assistant coach, women’s soccer.
    
SABBATICAL: Christopher T. Ramsay, art, 100 percent sabbatical leave to work with University of Michigan School of Art as a Witt Visiting Artist with opportunities to give workshops, participate in critiques, present lectures and exhibitions, from Sept. 1, 2007, to Jan. 31, 2008; Mark White, art, 100 percent sabbatical to complete book project, “Creative Experimentation and the American Avant-Garde, 1936-1946,” (working title), from Sept. 1, 2007, to Jan. 15, 2008; Gerald Schoenknecht, botany, 50 percent sabbatical to perform research at the Heinrich Heine Universitat, Dusseldorf, Germany, on better understanding evolutionary relationship of plant membrane transport proteins with Professor Dr. Andreas Weber, from Sept. 1, 2007, to May 31, 2008; Linda Leavell, English, 50 percent sabbatical to continue drafting the biography of “Marianne Moore: Possessed to Write,” thus completing the second half of the manuscript, from Sept. 1, 2007, to May 31, 2008; Jeffrey B. Walker, English, 100 percent sabbatical to complete two research projects, an edited volume of “Leather Stocking” and a critical edition of letters to James Fenimore Cooper, from Sept. 1, 2007, to Jan. 15, 2008; John R. te Velde, foreign languages, 100 percent sabbatical to write a textbook for second-year college/university German courses with Christine Sternberg, a native of Herne, Germany, from Sept. 1, 2007, to Jan. 15, 2008; Carlos E. Cordova, geography, 100 percent sabbatical to work on two projects, “The Cultural Ecological Foundations of Geoarchaeology” and “The Crimean Peninsula: A Natural and Cultural History,” from Jan 16-May 31, 2008; Ibrahim Cemen, geology, 100 percent sabbatical to collaborate on an NSF proposal and to conduct research on the tectonics of the Aegean sea region, from Jan. 16-May 31, 2008; L.G. Moses, history, 100 sabbatical to complete research and writing of a book to be titled “Our Mother Place: The Pueblo Indians of New Mexico and the Land Controversies of the 1020s,” from Sept. 1, 2007, to Jan. 15, 2008; Benny Evans, mathematics, 100 percent sabbatical to work on the production of a new linear algebra course that combines single linear algebra and numerical analysis at the University of Nevada, Reno, from Sept.1, 2007, to Jan. 15, 2008; Babu Z. Fathepure, microbiology and molecular genetics, 100 percent sabbatical to work on research in the laboratory at the University of Colorado, Boulder, focused on understanding the microbial communities that live in hypersaline environments, from Sept. 1, 2007, to Jan. 15, 2008; Satyanarayan Nandi, physics, 100 percent sabbatical to conduct research on String Theory dealing with the concept of extra space-like dimensions beyond the known three Cartesian dimensions, enhancing both productivity and the visibility of OSU, from Jan. 16-May 31, 2008; Bob Darcy, political science, 100 percent sabbatical at Tel Aviv University to explore research on legislative apportionment to ensure proportional representation, from Sept.1, 2007, to Jan. 15, 2008; Beth S. Caniglia, sociology, 50 percent sabbatical to conduct research and author a book titled “Talk Shops: The Articulation of Environmental Discourse at the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, 1998-2002,” from Sept. 1, 2007, to May 31, 2008; Gary R. Webb, sociology, 100 sabbatical to conduct research with scholars at Leiden University and the Crisis Research Center in the Netherlands, which will expand the collaborative work that was recently funded by the National Science Foundation,” from Sept. 1, 2007, to Jan 15, 2008.

RETIREMENTS: Peter C. Rollins, English, May 31; Gerald P. Smeyak, journalism and broadcasting, May 31; P. Larry Claypool, statistics, June 1; Gerald M. Lage, economics and legal studies, July 1; Charles E. Feasley, education research, Jan. 2.

For OSU-Oklahoma City, the appointment of Mauro Yanez as a general studies instructor was approved.

For the OSU Center for Health Sciences, appointments were approved for Teri L Bourdeau, clinical assistant professor, behavioral sciences; Jeffrey S. Stroup, clinical assistant professor, internal medicine; and M. Hanyfathy Elsayed, clinical associate professor, pediatrics. Changes in title were approved for Edward F. Goljan, from professor and chairman of pathology to professor of pathology, Center for Aerospace and Hyperbaric Medicine, and for Karlis I. Sloka, from interim chair and associate professor of pathology, to associate professor and chair, pathology.