Trustees lay groundwork for provost office reorganization, approve appointments for professors, dean, and IPFW change
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Friday (July 9) ratified several appointments that will lay the foundation for a reorganization of the provost's office, according to Timothy Sands, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.
In addition, trustees also ratified the appointments of four named and distinguished professors, the ratification of the dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and approved changing the name of the business school at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
"I have been impressed with the amount of work that flows through the provost's office on a daily basis," said Sands, who took the position April 1. "The reorganization is intended to consolidate work functions and better serve students and faculty by clarifying the primary responsibilities aligned with each position."
The changes include moving enrollment management and admissions from student affairs (formerly student services) to the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Academic Affairs (formerly vice provost for academic affairs).
"This move brings some critical administrative functions closer to the academic core and allows student affairs to focus attention on the growing role of 'co-curricular' activities on the retention and success of our students," Sands said.
Dale Whittaker
Dale Whittaker is vice provost of undergraduate academic affairs, with responsibility for undergraduate education, admissions, enrollment management, academic planning, program evaluation, and general academic policy development and implementation. Whittaker was associate dean and director of academic programs for Purdue's College of Agriculture.
Beverly Davenport Sypher
Beverly Davenport Sypher is vice provost for faculty affairs, with responsibility for promotion and tenure, faculty development, and academic leadership development in addition to her existing duties for internal and external reviews, administrative searches, and other personnel matters related to faculty. Sypher was associate provost for special initiatives.
Melissa E. Exum
Melissa E. Exum, vice president for student affairs, also was ratified by the trustees. Exum will oversee the Office of the Dean of Students, student health, recreational sports and the Center for Career Opportunities. Student affairs also provides additional learning opportunities through co-curricular activities, 81 Greek chapters, 12 cooperative houses, 875 registered student organizations, volunteer programs, three ROTC units, bands and orchestra, choral ensembles in Purdue Musical Organizations, and Purdue Convocations.
Exum will start at Purdue Aug. 2, and the other positions are effective immediately.
Two incumbent administrators - Victor Lechtenberg, vice provost for engagement, and Christine Taylor, vice provost for diversity and inclusion - round out the leadership team. In addition, Dennis Savaiano will serve as an associate provost for special initiatives during the coming year, with a focus on the development of the University Honors Program.
"Each one of these appointments oversees several essential functions and strategic initiatives for Purdue," Sands said. "They are responsible for helping to ensure the quality of instruction, faculty productivity, and university contributions to economic development in Indiana and the country. There is no aspect of Purdue's reputation they don't influence."
Sands said the reorganization did not add any new permanent positions.
Trustees also ratified the following appointments for named and distinguished professorships: M. Katherine Banks as the Jack and Kay Hockema Professor of Civil Engineering, Suresh Chand as the Louis A. Weil Jr. Chair in Management, Michael Murray as a Distinguished Professor of Pharmacy Practice, and Karthik Ramani as the Donald W. Feddersen Professor of Mechanical Engineering.
M. Katherine Banks
Banks' main research focus includes applied microbial systems, specifically in the areas of biofilm development, wastewater treatment and applied biological waste treatment processes. She has served as principal investigator for many multidisciplinary research grants and has served in leadership roles for three research centers at Purdue.
Banks received her bachelor's degree from the University of Florida, her master's degree from the University of North Carolina, and her doctorate in civil and environmental engineering from Duke University. She was a civil engineering professor at Kansas State before joining Purdue in 1997. She has authored or co-authored more than 120 journal articles, proceedings papers and book chapters and has presented her research at more than 200 conferences and scientific meetings.
Suresh Chand
Chand has been with Purdue's Krannert School of Management since 1979 and teaches operations management. His research interests include the application of operation management principles to improve health-care delivery processes, supply chain models to match supply with demand with multiple orders, and investigating characteristics of batch sizes in presence of learning and forgetting.
Chand received bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology-
Michael Murray
Murray was formerly the Mescal S. Ferguson Distinguished Professor of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina. His research interests include developing pharmacy services to improve drug therapy in older adults with chronic disorders, medication safety, improving the quality of health of low-income minority people, and the factors affecting the use and effects of drugs by different groups of people.
He is co-director of the Center for Medication Safety Advancement and holds the endowed chair in medication safety for the College of Pharmacy. He also currently is a research scientist for Indianapolis-based Regenstrief Institute Inc. and serves as executive director of the Regenstrief Center for Health Care Improvement and Research. Murray received a bachelor's degree in pharmacy and doctor of pharmacy degree from Duquesne University in 1975 and 1977 and a master's degree in public health from Indiana University in 1992.
Murray is returning to Purdue where he had been a faculty member for more than 20 years. He was the Bucke Professor of Pharmacy from 2002-04 and won the Purdue University Faculty Scholar Award in 1999. He has authored or co-authored more than 100 journal articles and 11 book chapters.
Karthik Ramani
Ramani, who has been at Purdue since 1991, serves as chair of the School of Mechanical Engineering's manufacturing area. His research interests are in design of shapes (shape analysis, sketching and mathematics of higher dimensional spaces) as well as computational support for early design and manufacturing.
He has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, a master's in mechanical engineering from Ohio State University and a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Stanford University.
He serves as the chief scientist at Imaginestics (now VizSeek), a knowledge-based software company that has launched the world's first online search engine for the global supply chain. He is on the National Science Foundation's Industrial Innovation and Partnerships advisory board and is on the editorial board of Elsevier Journal of Computer-Aided Design and ASME Journal of Mechanical Design.
Irwin Weiser
Trustees ratified the previously announced appointment of Irwin Weiser as dean of the College of Liberal Arts. Weiser had served as interim dean since July 6, 2009. Prior to that, he was head of the Department of English. He has been teaching and administering introductory writing programs, including developmental writing, at Purdue since 1981.
At IPFW, trustees approved renaming the Richard T. Doermer School of Business and Management Sciences as the Richard T. Doermer School of Business. William McKinney, IPFW vice chancellor for academic affairs, said the change "simplifies the name, improves the focus and public presence of the school, and also responds to earlier changes in academic structure that removed two departments from the school, leaving only departments that offer programs in business."
Writer: Chris Sigurdson, 765-496-2644, sig@purdue.edu
Source: Timothy Sands, 765-494-9709, tsands@purdue.edu