Periodic Updates - Update #56
OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT
December 15, 2005
| TO: | The CMU Community |
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| FROM: | Michael Rao |
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| SUBJECT: | CMU Update 56 |
As the semester draws to a close, I wish every member of the CMU team a very happy holiday. I hope that your holidays are filled with joy, fun, and excitement. Every one of you contributes tremendously to the CMU community and mission. There are some significant projects that hold strong implications for our future in which many of you are involved and leading. These include CMU 2010, SAP campus management and other SAP projects, six sigma projects, regional and program accreditation, new academic program development, new services, and many others. Most members of the CMU community exhibit a level of commitment that is rarely found in large organizations. Your commitment continues to make my job—however challenging it may sometimes be—an honor. I thank you sincerely for your dedication to our university.
December Commencement
CMU’s fall semester concludes on December 17 with three
commencement ceremonies in Rose Arena that include 3,667
prospective degree and certificate recipients. Each ceremony
will feature a guest speaker to whom I am pleased to award an
honorary degree on behalf of the CMU Board of Trustees. The 9:30
a.m. speaker is Matthew J. Perry Jr., a senior United States
District Court Judge for the District of South Carolina in
Columbia; the 1:30 p.m. speaker is Sue Schrier Bancroft, a
professional musician with a very strong record of community
involvement; and the 4:30 p.m. speaker is David Keilitz,
executive director of the American Baseball Coaches Association
and former CMU coach and athletics director. Congratulations to
all graduates!
New Director of Athletics
While most know of the appointment of the new Director of
Athletics Dave Heeke (http://www.news.cmich.edu/news/index.asp?id=994),
I take this opportunity to again welcome him. We look forward to
beginning work with Dave on January 16.
Governor’s Appointment to
Commercialization Board
Governor Granholm’s office announced on December 14 appointments
to the Strategic Economic Investment and Commercialization Board
(SEIC) and I am honored to have been appointed to this
newly-formed board. The SEIC is the group that will help develop
the plan to implement the Governor’s $2 billion jobs fund and
will have independent responsibility for grants and loans made
to support competitive-edge technology investments in the areas
of life sciences, alternative energy, advanced manufacturing and
homeland security and defense.
On a related note, CMU will host a meeting with representatives
of the Michigan Economic Development Council in Mt. Pleasant on
Friday, January 13. The MEDC representatives would like to talk
to professors and local businesses about how to apply for
funding through MEDC, requests that are then referred to the
appropriate body (such as the SEIC) for review and approval.
Michigan Professor of the Year
I offer congratulations once again to assistant professor Gary
Gagnon, marketing and hospitality services administration, on
being named 2005 Michigan Professor of the Year by the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for
the Advancement and Support of Education. The Carnegie/CASE
award is considered one of the most prestigious awards honoring
professors and we are proud of Gary and the past CMU recipients
of this honor, Mark Francek (2002) and Gary Dunbar (1997).
Board Chair Elected
Congratulations to Trustee John Kulhavi, who was re-elected
chair at the December 1 Board of Trustees meeting.
Congratulations also to Trustee Jeff Caponigro who was
re-elected as vice-chair and thank you to Trustee Gail Torreano
for her service as vice-chair during 2005. Central Michigan
University is fortunate to have a very talented board with
dedicated members who work well together to advance our
organization.
Tech Transfer Efforts
On December 8, Dr. Todd Zahn of Nexus Tech Ventures spent the
better part of the day speaking with seven faculty members about
their research and patent disclosures and patent filings. The
Office of Research and Sponsored Programs arranged for these
conversations to identify routes to commercialization for some
of the exciting ideas and research being conceived and brought
to practice by CMU faculty. Dr. Zahn is on contract to U-TEAMED,
the four-university joint tech transfer office created through a
grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
