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Trustees OK range of appointments

July 5, 2005

KALAMAZOO--Acting at a June 29 meeting conducted via conference call, Western Michigan University trustees approved a variety of personnel actions.

Trustees put their stamp of approval on the previously announced appointment of a new dean for Extended University programs, three new department chairpersons, the previously announced appointment of a new assistant vice president for legislative affairs and two changes in the appointments of high-level administrators.

The board approved the previously announced appointments of: Dr. Jack Luderer as executive director of the Biosciences Research and Commercialization Center, effective May 16; Dr. Nicholas Andreadis as dean of EUP, effective July 1; and Katie DeBoer as assistant vice president for legislative affairs, effective June 17.

Trustees also approved two changes in appointment. A two-year appointment that brought Dr. Linda Delene to the post of provost and vice president for academic affairs last summer has been converted to a continuing regular appointment. A title change and expansion of duties will move Greg Rosine, formerly vice president for legislative affairs, to the position of senior vice president for advancement and legislative affairs.

New chairpersons of three academic departments were named as well. They are: Dr. Jorge M. Febles, professor and interim chairperson of the Department of Spanish, effective July1, 2005, through June 30, 2006; Dr. David J. Hartmann, professor and chairperson of the Department of Sociology, effective July 1; and Dr. James A. Leja, associate professor and chairperson of the Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies, effective July 1.

Jorge M. Febles has been a WMU faculty member since 1980 and served for many years as head of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures' Spanish section before the Department of Spanish was formed in 2003. The 1997 winner of a WMU Alumni Association Teaching Excellence Award, he was previously honored for his classroom skills in 1991 when he was one of eight WMU faculty members presented with State of Michigan Teaching Excellence Awards. He earned his bachelor's degree from St. John's University in Minnesota and his master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Iowa. He replaces Dr. John Benson, who's sabbatical leave was approved in December.

David J. Hartmann came to WMU in 1996 as a member of the sociology faculty and director of the Kercher Center for Social Research. Prior to coming to the University, he was a faculty member at Southwest Missouri State University, where he directed that institution's Center for Social Research. A prolific researcher, he has published widely in the areas of urban sociology, statistics, survey design and evaluation research as well as the fields of criminology, substance abuse and public school reform. Hartmann earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Chicago in 1981, 1984 and 1987, respectively. He replaces Dr. Thomas L. VanValey, who will retire next year.

James A. Leja, who has served as associate dean for graduate and international education in the College of Health and Human Services since 1997, has been a faculty member in the Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies since 1986. He served as a Fulbright Scholar/Lecturer in Taiwan for the 1994-95 academic year after previously serving two stints in that nation as a visiting professor. Leja earned bachelor's and master's degrees from WMU in 1976 and 1979, respectively, and a doctoral degree from Southern Illinois University in 1989. He replaces Dr. Paul Ponchillia, whose sabbatical leave and return to the faculty were approved in December.

Media contact: Cheryl Roland, 269 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu

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