A
6 -Michigan Daily -Tue#, April 23, 1996
THE INTERIM VISION
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The Mic Daily- Tuesday, Ap53, 1996 -3
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NTO THE 21 CENTURY
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Neal prepares to step
up into the presidency
As Vice President for Research, elaborate on his other ideas.
Iomer Neal is preparing to step into the Some projects,he said, will be geared
ole of interim president with research toward short-term changes.
,fill at the forefront of his agenda. "He has made it clear that he has
"I have sexeral ideas and issues that I initiatives he wants to purse," said Vice
Nouidlike usto pursueafter July 1,"Neal President for University Relations
;aid. "Ihave been rather deeply interested V alter Harrison.
in finding ways for undergraduates to Harrison said that while Neal may not
participate more in research." be able to implement large projects, he
Neal said he has been talkingwiththe doeshave the power as interim president
academic program groups and other to make some changes. When former
nxecutive officers President Robben Fleming served as in-
o discuss the in- _terim, he con-
-atives. Tt structed the
"aTheessence of Yc ud ' Policy for Anti-
heproposalwould picked ain Discrimination
>e that the Univer- and Discrimina-
.ity should provide te tory Policy.
,very student the pO"He can get
pportunity to par- theleadeshi ff discreet things
ticipate in some " done,," Harrison
research, holar --James Duderstadt said. "Hecan'tdo
or service act Unversity president something as
wit a lai Sty-sweeping as the
mern e (chigan)Mandate or evenmajor con-
h h stud de struction because these take time. He
at rmnt er s r wI pickthree or four discreet projects.
he ne d btan on't think he can take on long, in-
.1 ~ ttcnbet d initiatives."
cal said he doesn't want the Univer-
tto be on hold while the search for
sJt derstadt's successor is in progress.
it.~ r .~ ~tr ris t~ One of the b ggest challenges is to
e oer mptsh o ep the ship moving forward ... and
when Se i president aethe campus in a position where the
c z r _ysupprt the idAea ol stu reins could be passed on to the next
dena oking sAtfacuti.Te or ident with minimal disruption,"
a s we can identify ways for that to Neal said.
happen, it is great for undergraduate President James DuderstadtsaidNeal
education." Schoem said. "I am sure will serve the University well during
he'll do great things. The University is the transition months.
moving in that direction anyway." "They couldn't have picked a finer
President James Duderstadt said it person to continue the leadership,"
would be feasible for Neal to accom- Duderstadt said.
plish some of his plans. Among hismany presidential duties,
"There are ideas he has talked to me Neal said he plans to continue finding
about.I wouldn't be surprised if he took discussions with state andlocal govern-
them on," Duderstadt said. "In the role ment officials.
of president, he would have the oppor- "it means going to Washington when
tunity to do some of them." appropriate, and, when appropriate,
Whilethe research proposal seems to bringing Washington here," Neal said.
be on the top of his list, Neal would not "i think the state situation at least for
A Look at NaI
ALc dVice President for Research Homer
Neal will e assuming the presidency
as an interim on July 1. Following
James Duderstat, Neal's
background is similarly impressive.
Just the facts:
Born: June 13, 1942, in Franklin,
Ky. -
Status: Married, two children
Education:
Undergraduate: Bachelor's in
physics, with honors, from
Indiana University - June 1961
Graduate: Master's in physics from
the University of Michigan -
February, 1963; Doctorate in
physics at the University of
Michigan - April 1966
Technical expertise:
1 High energy physics
M Design of particle detectors,
high speed
electronics,.
image
pattern
recognition
algorithms
event §
reconstruction and data
analysis
1 Large-scale database
management
Research areas:
Saer ie ta igh enesgy
physics
* Has conducted particle
interaction studies in hadron~
hadron and electron-positron
collisions
Research group is part of the
DZERD collaboration that
recently announced the
discovery of the top quark
Higher education experience:
1962-63: Head physics teaching
fellow, University of
Michigan *
£972: Visiting scientist,
Stanford Linear '
Accelerator
Center, Stanford :
University L t.
1972-81:
Professor of /
physics,
Indiana
University .
1976-81: Dean
of Research
and Graduate
Developent,
ndiana ,
University i
198046: a
National 9
Science Board member
1981-86: Provost. State University
of New York at Stoney Brook
1987-present: Professor of
physics, Uiversity of Michigan
19871993: Department of physics
chair, University of Michigan
1993-present: Vice president for
research, University of Michigan
Technology
expansion
impacted 'U'
As the 21 st century nears, the University likes to
picture itself on the cutting edge of a computer-
driven information revolution.#
From the evolution of the personal computer, to4
the navigation of the Internet, to the frontiers ofE
virtual reality, the era of President James
Duderstadt has been intertwined with the growing
dependenceandinnovationoftechnologicalbreak-,
throughs.F
Randy Frank, directorofthe informationtech-F
nology and facilities for the Media Union on
North Campus, said Duderstadt's strength in
developing the University's technology comes
from his willingness to challenge accepted
norms.
"Jim has really been sort of a godfa-:
ther to a lot of these projects," Frank
said.
Frank said that when Duderstadt
came into office, many people at the
Uni ersity were complacent with the
school's procedures and conditions,
Frank aid Duderstadt saw "poten-
tial a erV dlferent environment",
at the Utit rsi y and was interestedr
in . wn h for bat is on the hori-
zor."
Fransk sai Duderstad warted to do
more thanjust encourage the growth of
technolo y
'I don see Jimasatotal cheereader a
on campus rank said. "He's been {
asking a lot of hard questions."
Engineering Prof. Brice Carnahan, who has president of the University of Michigan Engi-
been at the University since 1959, said neering Council, said Duderstadt has helped
Duderstadt's impact on the University's tech- provide the University with "technology you
nology has been "substantial." can't find anywhere else in the state," including
"He had a lot to do with the early development "virtual reality things you're not going to see
of mainframe computing," Carnahan said, anywhere but here."
Like Frank, Carnahan said Duderstadt's Peponis said the creation of the Media Union is
strength in fostering technological growth a significant part of Duderstadt's history,
stemmed froma strong ability to foresee changes "People are very impressed with the Media
that others missed. Union and very excited about it," Peponis said.
"He (Duderstadt) saw these things coming long "It's really cool. They're very excited to get their
beforeother peopletook themseriously,"Carnahan hands on these things."
said. "In 1980, many people Peponis said students are
thought Apple Computers not drawn to the Engineer-
were toys. He didn't think Jim has really ing school solely because
so." of its technology, as that is
Duderstadt said that he is been sort of a only one factor among sev-
"not a technocrat," noting eral.
that his discipline in theo- godfather to a lot Frank said it would be a
retical.physics does not in- mistake to think technol-
volve computers. of $[hese prole $.GIS ogy was having an impact
"I hada sense in the 1970s - Randy Frank solely on engineers.
that this type of technology LSA Dean Edie
will have a strong impact on Media Union director Goldenberg agreed.
higher education," Goldenberg said the word
Duderstadt said. technology "can mean a lot of things."
"I recruited people to Michigan ... who really She used the University's effort to digitize its
did understand the technology and could apply papyrus collection as an example of how technol-
it." ogy has benefited LSA.
Carnahan said the College of Engineering has "Humanists depend on archives and on ob-
benefited greatly from Duderstadt's influence. jects which are far away," Goldenberg said.
"I believe the computing infrastructure here in "This whole movement to information technol-
the Engineering College is -ifnot the best--one ogy on campus has generally been to everyone's
of the top two or three in the country," Carnahan benefit.
said. "(Duderstadt) was way out ahead. Now we're
Catherine Peponis, Engineering senior and facing a new world."
Above: President James Duderstadt
peers through a fence at one of the
many blocked-off construction sites on
campus.
Left: Duderstadt looks out over the
Angell Hall Computing Center, one of
the many signs of the rising technology
on campus.
Below: Dederstadt in 1988 -the first
year of his presidency -replacing the
typewriter ir his oice with a
computer
Building
work seen
as mainstay
on campus
On North Campus, construction
cranes created an impromptu skyline.
In Angell Hall, the sounds of grind-
ing drills permeated through vacant,
semi-demolished classrooms.
Throughout the Duderstadt adminis-
tration, construction work has been as
dependable a fixture as football Satur-
daysandtheringingofthe BurtonMemo-
rial Tower.
But administrators say the long-term
benefits will more than make up for the
lengthy noise and hassle.
"We'll have one of the finest envi-
ronments for teaching and scholarship
of any university in America," said
President James Duderstadt.
BarbaraMacAdam,headofthe Shapiro
Undergraduate Library, said the exten-
sive construction work at the University
shows Duderstadt to be a visionary.
The president's role really is the
person who holds the overall vision of
where a cmpus needs to be going,"
Ma:; a ,sr aid.
"lridents of any institution don't
renoate or build structures for their
own sakel-buildings are just a tan-
gible rereenrtn of all the things
you ca' phica. 1vsee."
The indrg date tlibrary received
an extensive alceift on the outside, as
well as new study rooms and internal
wiring for computer hook-ups.
Other majorwork includes the renova-
tion of University landmarks like the
Michigan Union and Angell Hall. The
construction costs approach $1.5 billion.
"Five years ago, I was very frus-
trated," Duderstadt said, referring to
what he perceived as a financial cli-
mate that could stop further construc-
tion.
Duderstadt said the combination of
loweriinterest rates, private donations and
extra state funding allowed the Univer-
sity to enlarge the scope of the overhaul.
'We will have brought every facility
on this campus into the 21st century,"
Duderstadt said.
Duderstadt said he wished the con-
struction could have been done more in-
cremetally,sothatthe upheavalwouldn't
have been so inconvenient to students.
Students quest ioned on the issue said
the constant construction has been a
mnor distraction.
Irritation-- -well yeah, it can get a
little loud during class," said Engineer-
ing first-year student Trip Finnegan. "It
does get a little congested between the
(art) museum and the construction on
Angell."
Finnegan said he hopes the construc-
tion will end soon, but added he appre-
ciates the necessity of the work.
'Things have got to get built,"
Finnegan said.
Homer Neal walks through campus before he becomes interim president on July 1.
1997 we'll be in pretty good shape he has no intention ofbeing a candidate
before Jim leaves." for the permanent position of president.
Neal said it is difficult to set out He said he does not want to pursue the
definite plans until he receives more job because it would mean the final
input, which he said he will concentrate stage of his professional career.
on more after July 1. . "That would be the end of my profes-
"One of the big challenges is that you sional life. I am not ready to give it up
never know what will be controver- yet," Neal said. "Someday, I might con-
sial," he said. sider devoting the rest of my life to
Neal has indicated many times that administration or some other activity."
''ofcials say Neal wf rn different traits to post
In his sp.are time, soon-to-be Interim President say possesses many leadership skills. Neidhardt said the University will continue to move
Homer Neal does what most peop le wcould consider "Homer is very easy to communicate with," said forward in some areas. He also said Neal's personality
work. Provost J. Bernard Machen. "He is a great communi- will help keep the administration moving during the
"When 1 geta chance to do some phesics. I say how cator." transition months.
great it is tlat I can do this in my spare time," Neal Neal said his leadership style is very similar to "He is a consensus builder. He is very good at
said. Duderstadt's, especially since both come from back- consulting with everyone who will be affected by a
,eal admitte d that he probably a on't hat e much grounds in science. change in policy," Neidhardt said. "He has a fantastic
time to spend in his physics laboratory after June "I would not have come over here if some of his sense of humor that helps everyone around him."
30 when he takes on the job of Unisersity presi- style and views weren't similar to mine," Neal said. Vice President for University Relations Walter
dent. Prof. Frederick Neidhardt, who will serve as vice Harrison said Neal and Duderstadt may come from
He also won't hate time to hike through the moun- president for research while Neal is president, said he similar backgrounds, but they are different "tempera-
tatns or sail and canoe on the lake. two of his other is looking forward to Neal's term. mentally."
e xtra-curricular activities. "I think it will be very good for the University," "Jim makes a decision before you've finished your
But members of the University administration say Neidhardt said. "This University is not going to be on sentence," Harrison said. "Homer wants to read the
they are eager to begin working with Neal, who they hold while we look around fora permanent president." whole essay before making a decision."