![[Alliance of Distinguished and Titled
Professors]](./pic/title.gif)
Indiana University
The following members were recently elected to serve a three year term
which
begins on the first day of the
month following the annual meeting in the fall..
IUB:
Co-Chair:
Fred H. Cate
Steering Committee:
David L. Ransel
Steven J. Sherman
Richard M. Shiffrin
Mohammad R. Torabi
IUPUI:
Co-Chair:
Henry R. Besch, Jr.
Steering Committee:
David J. Malik
John I. Nurnberger, Jr.
John Pless
George K. Stookey
The Alliance in many ways feels like an organization without a clear
purpose, yet there are significant needs in the University that the
members of the Alliance are ideally suited to help address. My goal is to
work with other Alliance members to make the Alliance a more active,
service-oriented organization, working with the faculty, Trustees, and
Administration to advance the quality of Indiana University, ensure that
we remain focused on our research, teaching, and service missions, and
push for the resources necessary to serve that mission. The challenges
facing Indiana University are great and will necessarily present difficult
choices. The Alliance must help make certain that those choices do not
reflect administrative convenience or mere economic efficiency, but rather
the core academic values of the University.
I am happy to have been nominated to serve on the Steering Committee of
the Alliance of Distinguished and Titled Professors. When I first became
aware of the Alliance a few years ago, it was known as a nucleus of
conservative political views and pressures. The Alliance has, fortunately,
moved away from this stance and now focuses on promoting excellence. I
pledge to continue this emphasis by giving attention to recruitment of
high-quality students and faculty and by cooperating with our departments
and administrators in making the case for increased public and private
support for scholarships and fellowships, faculty research, and first-rate
physical and technical facilities.
I am happy to have the opportunity to stand for re-election to the Alliance Steering Committee. I have been a member of the Psychology Department since 1967, and have seen all the changes and the ups and downs of the university over these 37 years. I became a Chancellor=s Professor in 2000, and would be delighted to serve the Alliance again in working toward its major goal, the enhancement of excellence, especially research and teaching excellence, in the university.
There are several constituencies with whom the Alliance must communicate, constituencies that are critical for the promotion of excellence. First, is the administration. I believe that the administration shares the goal of enhancing academic excellence, and working cooperatively with them is important. I have a good working relationship with administrators on the Bloomington campus. I have served on President Henry=s informal advisory group, and have served on several key search committees in recent years.
The second important constituency is the faculty. I have served several terms on the Bloomington Faculty Council, including a current term. Recently, I served as President of this council. This provided me with lots of experience in dealing with both faculty and administration. In addition, it involved my serving as Co-secretary of the University Faculty Council. This allowed me to gain a system-wide perspective, and to appreciate better some of the problems and needs of the other campuses. This position also gave me a great deal of experience dealing with the Trustees, for whom I gained an immense amount of respect.
Finally, there is the state political system. This is obviously important because it determines budget, how funding is allocated among colleges and universities, etc. From 1992-2000, I served as an elected City Councilperson in Bloomington. This provided me with a great deal of experience in local as well as state politics. I believe that I have a good relationship with both city and state legislators, and that I could work closely with them on issues that would enhance the excellence of IU in particular and higher education in general.
Serving this university has always been a high priority for me. This would
provide me with one more opportunity to do so.
I am fairly well known to the organization, having written the
organizational rules for the present form of the Alliance, obtained
funding for a secretary from the president's office, and served as one of
its initial co-directors for many years. I believe that the Alliance has a
very specific role to play in university affairs: We are in a position to
use, and ought to use, our influence to work for excellence in every
sphere of university activities. Further, we should be trying to express
our influence altruistically. We should be asking: What decisions and
changes should be made to make this university more attractive as a home
for outstanding scholars and scientists (especially in fields other than
our own).
It is an honor for me to have been nominated as a potential member of the Steering Committee of the Alliance of Distinguished and Titled Professors. Universities, in general, and major research institutions like our beloved Indiana University have faced many difficult challenges in recent years. I believe that the Alliance of Distinguished and Titled Professors can and should continue to play a major role in the life of our major research institution.
In my judgment, the following are selected and yet major challenges in which we need to work collaboratively and cooperatively with the University leadership, including administrators and faculty, to address:
1. Advocating excellence in research and creative activities as a vital mission of the Flagship Campuses of Indiana University and its role in the economic development of the State of Indiana.
2. Articulating the important link between research and teaching, an idea that research and teaching go hand in hand in an R1 institution.
3. Advocating for excellence in teaching, considering high faculty/student ratio in certain programs here at Indiana University.
4. Knowing research and creative activities are expensive but not doing it is far more expensive for the State. It is imperative to work closely with administrators for budget increases for research and creative activities.
5. Supporting academic freedom as the most valued principle and articulating the role it plays in advancing every aspect of the comfort and quality of life we experience in our country.
6. Finally, I believe the Alliance should continue to
work on its image so it would be viewed as a caring lead organization that
is highly visible and respected by the administrators and faculty at
Indiana University.
As a member for 25 years, I have seen the influence of the Alliance
rise when members stand together. Now is the time for such coalescence.
Excellence must not be simply a motto: it must be a meaningful creed. State financial
stringencies will continue to dictate tough decisions that will
require reallocations. These must be directed toward keeping and enhancing
Indiana's core academic values of research, teaching and service. I pledge to
work with the new Steering Committee and Co-Director to increase cooperative
initiatives of the Distinguished and Titled Professors and to foster political
engagement with University Administration and Trustees as well as State leaders.
John Nurnberger Jr. is Joyce and Iver Small Professor of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine. He has been a member of the Alliance since 1996 and has served on the Steering Committee for the past two years. His academic interests are in the genetics of psychiatric disorders, especially affective disorders and substance abuse disorders. His work in these areas has been continuously funded by NIH since 1989, and he coordinates the 11-site national collaborative study on the genetics of bipolar affective disorder. He serves as Director of the Institute of Psychiatric Research and Assistant Chairman for Research in the Department of Psychiatry.
Statement: I believe the Alliance can be a forceful and influential voice
for Excellence at Indiana University. This is possible if the members
concentrate on areas of shared interest and avoid fragmentation. We should
champion the agenda of bringing Indiana into the forefront of national
Research Universities, and we should encourage the recognition of
Scholarship at all levels.
The Alliance of Distinguished and Titled Professors can be a strong force
in the oversight of excellence in academics. We have established a good
working relationship with the current administration, and that should be
strengthened. We are entering a difficult time in university life.
External and nonacademic forces are threatening to undermine the basic
objectives of teaching, research and service. We can not loose the
historical perspective of the past in promoting educational freedom. We
must find some method to become proactive in the support of this effort.
I would like to continue to contribute my part in the support of the
Alliance and its place in academics.
The membership of the Alliance comes from a wide array of disciplines,
interests, and accomplishments. As a result, we are in a unique
position to advise the University, its officers and trustees in matters
that relate to its growing prestige and continuing accomplishments. I
believe that its composition is evolving into diverse representations
that can, not only provide insight into better decision-making, but can
take a more active role in engaging the public and its legislators in
ensuring that quality of higher education in Indiana is not
compromised. The Alliance should embrace a stronger interaction with
our political leaders, and provide more information and advice into
helping them form better decisions on the conduct of higher education.
A native of Indiana, I attended Indiana University and received a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1957. I then attended the I. U. School of Dentistry and received a master's degree in preventive dentistry in 1962 and a doctorate in dental sciences in 1971. I joined the faculty of the I.U. School of Dentistry in 1964 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1973 and to Professor in 1978. I served as the Associate Director of the Oral Health Research Institute during 1974-81, Director during 1981-99 and as Associate Dean for Research 1985-96 and 2000-01. Beginning in 1996 I served the School of Dentistry in various administrative positions including Acting Dean (1996), Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs (1997-2000), and as Executive Associate Dean (1998-2000). I was promoted to Distinguished Professor in 1998 and retired from administrative duties at the School of Dentistry in 2001 to continue my research. My primary research interests are fluoride pharmacology, use of fluoride to prevent dental caries, measures to prevent dental calculus formation and the development of new technologies for the early detection of dental caries. I am author or co-author of more than 250 publications in scientific journals and 360 presentations at scientific meetings with contributions to more than a dozen text and reference books.
The Alliance of Distinguished and Titled Professors is comprised of our
University's most outstanding faculty and is capable of significantly
impacting the future of our University. I have been privileged to serve as
Co-Chair of the Steering Committee at the present time and seek the
opportunity to continue to serve as a member of the Steering
Committee.