Special evening celebrates faculty achievement
Recognition of faculty accomplishment at the University of Missouri-Kansas City entered a new phase in 2016 with the debut of the Leaders in Learning celebration, a gala dinner event at the Intercontinental Hotel.
The event represented an upgrade and expansion of what had previously been an annual daytime, on-campus recognition of faculty who had received promotions or earned tenure. The new format is an evening of dinner and jazz, and recognition was expanded to include new and existing endowed faculty, Curators’ Professors, and other awards of distinction.
The promotion and tenure process at UMKC involves a lengthy and rigorous review of academic performance in teaching, scholarship and service. Each of the academics recognized at the celebration has demonstrated to their peers and to the administration that they have met high standards for sustained contributions and outstanding performance.
“The awards, recognitions, promotions, and conferrals of tenure that we celebrate tonight are true milestones, and deserve to be treated as such,” said Barbara A. Bichelmeyer, provost and executive vice chancellor. “This evening, you are being recognized as leaders in your disciplines, in higher education, and in the life and progress of our community.”
Chancellor Leo e. Morton cited Bichelmeyer as “the driving force in making this evening’s event happen.”
“After her arrival here, Provost Bichelmeyer quickly recognized that we needed to do more to show our appreciation for our outstanding faculty, and to showcase to our community, and to the world, just how special you all are. Tonight is one of several steps in that direction,” Morton said. “Kansas City is growing and improving, and people across the country are noticing. Our faculty should take great pride in that, because they contribute greatly to that progress. Students, citizens and institutions turn to our faculty for their expertise, their good judgment and wisdom, and the vital new knowledge they generate through their research. That is what makes us Kansas City’s university.”
Guest speaker Dr. Karen Cox, a UMKC alumna and a UMKC Trustee, serves as an executive vice president of Children’s Mercy Hospital. She echoed Morton’s remarks about the value of faculty achievement to the community.
“There is a reason why so many of us over the years have been honored to serve as members of the UMKC Board of Trustees; why this community is so generous in endowing chairs, and contributing to the university’s campaigns,” Cox said. “We understand the difference you make. We know that the well-educated young adults who join our businesses and organizations every year are in many ways the fruits of your labors in the classroom. We know that the advances in knowledge that help our society progress come from your research. Because of your dedication to higher education, we are comfortable in the knowledge that the generations who follow us will have strong and capable leaders in their professions, and in the community.”
Those honored at the celebration are listed below:
New Endowed Faculty
Theodore Swetz, Ph.D.
Patricia McIlrath Endowed Chair of Theatre Arts
David P. Donnelly, Ph.D., C.P.A.
Siegmund Harzfeld Professor of Economics and Business Policy
Anne R. Williamson, Ph.D.
Victor and Caroline Schutte/Missouri Endowed Professorship in Urban Affairs
Theodore C. White*
Marion Merrell Dow Endowed Chair
Sarah L. Dallas, Ph.D.
Dr. William L. Lefkowitz/Missouri Endowed Professorship in Oral Biology
Jeff Nickel, D.M.D., M.Sc., Ph.D.
The Don J. Thompson Professorship in Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics
Cynthia Petrie, D.D.S., M.S., F.A.C.P.*
Dr. George Tanaka Hawaii Professorship in Restorative Dentistry
Craig Whitt, D.D.S.
Roy J. Rinehart Professorship in Dentistry
Justin Perry, Ph.D.
Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation/Missouri Endowed Chair and Professor in Counseling and Educational Psychology
Barbara Glesner Fines, LL.M., J.D.
Rubey M. Hulen Professor of Law
Nancy Levit, J.D.
Dean Edward D. Ellison Professorship in Law
Anthony (Tony) J. Luppino, LL.M., J.D.
Rubey M. Hulen Professor of Law
Allen Rostron, J.D.
William R. Jacques Constitutional Law Scholar
Irma Russell, J.D.
Edward A. Smith/Missouri Endowed Chair in Law, The Constitution and Society
Peter Almenoff, M.D.
Vijay Babu Rayudu Endowed Chair of Patient Safety
Mark Bernhardt, M.D.
Rex L. Diveley Professorship and Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery
Jill Moormeier, M.D., M.P.H.
Edward H. Hashinger Distinguished Professor in Medicine at UM System
Gary Sutkin, M.D.
Victor and Caroline Schutte/Missouri Endowed Chair in Women’s Health
Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure
ZhiQiang Chen
Presented by: Mark McClernon, Chair, Civil & Mechanical Engineering
Mingui Fu
Presented by: Dr. Peter Koulen, Professor and Felix and Carmen Sabates Missouri Endowed Chair, Vision Research Center
Carla Noack
Presented by: Ted Swetz, Department of Theatre
Leigh Salzsieder
Presented by: Dave Cornell, Interim Chair, Accounting
Promotion to full Professor with Tenure
Clara Elena Irazábal-Zurita
Presented by: Joy Swallow, Chair, Architecture, Urban Planning + Design
Ann Marie Marciarille
Presented by: Ellen Suni, Dean of the School of Law
Paula Monaghan-Nichols
Presented by: Dr. Peter Koulen, Professor and Felix and Carmen Sabates Missouri Endowed Chair, Vision Research Center
Justin Perry
Presented by: Barbara Bichelmeyer, Provost
Gary Sutkin
Presented by: Julie Banderas, Interim Chair, Biomedical and Health Informatics
Tenure at the rank of Associate Professor
Edward Cantu
Presented by: Ellen Suni, Dean of the School of Law
Masud Chowdhury
Presented by: Ghulam Chaudhry, Chair, Computer Science & Electrical Engineering
Promotion to the rank of full Professor
Jimmy Adegoke
Presented by: Wei Ji, Interim Chair, Geosciences
Hari Bhat
Presented by: Anil Kumar, Chair of Pharmacology & Toxicology
Donna Davis
Presented by: Justin Perry, Dean, School of Education
Leonard Dobens
Presented by: Sean Yu, Interim Head, Molecular Biology & Biochemistry
Lyn Elliot
Presented by: Michael McDonald, Co-Chair, Communications Studies
Jane Greer
Presented by: Virginia Blanton, Chair, English Language & Literature
William Gutheil
Presented by: Ashim Mitra, Chair, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Christie Hodgen
Presented by: Virginia Blanton, Chair, English Language & Literature
Stephanie Kelton
Presented by: Wayne Vaught, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences
Yugyung Lee
Presented by: Ghulam Chaudhry, Chair, Computer Science & Electrical Engineering
Jennifer Lundgren
Presented by: Wayne Vaught, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences
Sabrina Madison-Cannon
Presented by: Peter Witte, Dean, Conservatory of Music and Dance
Sean O’Brien
Presented by: Ellen Suni, Dean of the School of Law
Buddy Pennington
Presented by: Bonnie Postlethwaite, Dean of University Libraries
Kathleen Schweitzberger
Presented by: Bonnie Postlethwaite, Dean of University Libraries