Coleman, Sullivan welcome new University faculty

A NASA Jupiter Icy Moon Orbiter principal investigator and a former U.S. ambassador are among roughly 500 new faculty, and many were on hand for a traditional welcome to campus program Aug. 30 at the Michigan League Ballroom headed by President Mary Sue Coleman.

President Mary Sue Coleman challenged incoming Michigan faculty members to nurture and develop their students. (Photo by Martin Vloet, U-M Photo Services)

"You are lecturers like Melvyn Levitsky, who served President Clinton as an ambassador to Brazil and President Reagan as ambassador to Bulgaria," Coleman told the group, which includes former NASA investigator John Foster.

"You are tenured professors like Michael Awkward, a leading scholar of African-American literary and cultural studies who joins the College of Literature, Science and the Arts," Coleman continued. "You are new assistant professors like Sandra Momper, who brings to the School of Social Work her knowledge of Native American life and her research into the effects of casino gambling on Native American mothers and their children."

Coleman said new faculty come to Michigan from universities as near as Detroit and as distant as Germany and Taiwan. "You have trained at the world's most prestigious institutions: Harvard, Berkeley, Emory, Carnegie Mellon and, of course, Michigan."

Before Coleman opened her remarks, new Provost Teresa Sullivan joked with new faculty: "I've been on campus since June 1st, so compared to most of you I'm settled."

"We've been recruited to join this community of scholars because the faculty want to have colleagues who will challenge them, push their thinking, help them to advance human knowledge," she continued. "Our responsibility, as we become part of this community, is to find fascinating projects, work on them, and share what we learn through our publications, teaching, artistic expressions and inventions. I can't imagine a better line of work!"

Coleman encouraged new faculty to take time during their first days at the University to explore the Diag. "It's really a remarkable place because it provides a kind of space unlike anywhere else at the University," she said, adding it is a spot to relax, to demonstrate, to teach and to socialize. "For all its energy, it also is an oasis from the classroom or office. It has an almost mythical status with alumni, because it is that one place all students share."

She noted the trees were contributed by Andrew White, one of the first Michigan faculty, who found the University's original 40 acres—today's Diag—as "unkempt and wretched," so he began to plant elm and evergreen saplings and created walkways.

Coleman said new faculty members have a similar role, "to plant the seeds of ideas in your students and watch what develops."

"Sustaining the superior intellectual work of Michigan is my top priority as president, and your decision to join our faculty tells me we continue to grow as an exceptional research university," she said. Coleman also encouraged a nurturing spirit, cross-pollination of ideas and approaches, and engagement in the world outside the University.