6C Wednesday, January 5, 2011 The Statement
haping the classroom,2 and U
By Rachel Brusstar
In an era when academic scheduling relies heavily on word-of-mouth reputation and the smiley face hierarchy of ratemyprofessors.com, students are
fortunate to have courses taught by tried and true Ann Arbor figureheads and some of the University's leaders and best, including the mayor of Ann
Arbor, a former University president and the current University provost.
Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieft je, former University President James Duderstadt and Provost Philip Hanlon teach a range of graduate and undergraduate
courses at the University, providing students with an engaging perspective on pertinent campus issues.
During the fall semester, Hieftje taught Public Policy 456 Local Government, Opportunity for Activism in the School of Public Policy and Hanlon taught
Calculus I. Because of Duderstadt's position on a special congressionally-appointed committee on the future of the University, he did not teach during
the fall semester, but will teach two courses on national science policy in the School of Public Policy during winter semester.
Wednesday January 5, 2010/ The Satement 3C
news in review
Five of the most talked-about stories of the week, ranked in ascending order of actual importance
The Big Ten's bowl performance On Tuesday, DNA testing proved Bloomberg reported automotive A $450 million investment from Changes are expected to Presi-
was nothing short of anemic: the innocence of Cornelius Dupree sales of 11.6 million in 2010, an in- investment bank Goldman Sachs dent Barack Obama's White
Mississippi State drummed Jr., a Texas man imprisoned in crease from 10. 4 million in 2009. over the weekend - comple- House staff. Among the potential
Michigan, Alabama stomped 1980 on rape and robbery charges. While General Motors remains the mented by a $50 million invest- shake-ups: the exit of Press Sec-
Michigan State and Wisconsin Dupree, who was originally handed leader in sales, Ford moved above ment from Russian firm Digital Sky retary Robert Gibbs and appoint-
lost in a nail-biter to TCU in the a 75-year prison sentence, said, Toyota, which was the former Technologies - set Facebook's ments to Chief of Staff and the
Rose Bowl. "It's a joy to be free again." second-place holder. projected value at $50 billion. National Economic Council.
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quotes of the week from the archives
"This is the sort of thing you'd expect from a 19-year-old recruit. A modest proposal
But you're dealing here with a 49-year-old senior officer."
A NAVY OFFICIAL, commenting on the behavior of Captain Owen Honors,4;
who was removed from his position for producing sexually explicit videos.
"It's the craziest thing I've ever experienced, and I've been
doing this for 25 years."
KEITH STEPHENS, a Game and Fish Commission spokesperson, on the thou-
sands of red-winged blackbirds that reportedly plummeted from the sky to their
deaths on New Year's Eve in Beebe, Ark.
"I don't really look back, I look forward, and we look forward
to, as I said before, being a willing partner and solving the
problems of the American people." FLE PHoT_/Dily
NANCY PELOSI, outgoing Speaker of the House, at news conference Tuesday. LSA sophomore Joe Skaistis intended to propose to University President Mary Sue Coeman at her house.
Any starry-eyed Casanova seeking an "I do" from University President Mary Sue
Coleman would wisely heed the warning served by the failed matrimonial efforts
the ruleso f former University student Joel Skaistis, according to a Feb. 15,2006 Michigan
Daily article "Police foil student's quest to propose to President Coleman."
Upholding his end of a Facebook bet - with the group "I'll Propose to Mary Sue Cole-
No. 302: No. 303: No. 304: man on Valentine's Day If 250 People Join This Group" reaching its requisite membership
No. 02:No. 03:- Skaistis sported a tuxedo and parked outside the President's House on South University
If you're 10th on a It's not a New Year's My break sucked Avenue at 7 a.m. on Valentine's Day for the prospective proposal. Two of Skaistis's friends
course wait list, it's resolution if you and was too short. - one of them recording the event on camera - briefly accompanied him. Skaistis also
planned to regale Coleman with amateur poet Mel Sharrar's "Deep as the Rose is Red"
time to pick another haven't started it Stop asking. After an hour, however, a Department of Public Safety officer - tipped off by a caller who
class. yet. reported loitering outside the President's House - arrived to break up the charade. Accord-
ing to the article, the officer told Skaistis, "I don't think you're her type." It goes to show: If
cold feet don't get you at the alter, DPS will.
by the numbers cOURTESY OF THE HUFFINGTON POST
The number of years Cornelius Dupree Jr., wrongful- The total amount, in millions of dol- Dupree's number of unsuccessful appeals against the
ly charged for a 1979 rape and robbery, served in pris-. lars, in compensation Dupree is eligible Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
on. DNA testing proved his innocence on Tuesday. for under Texas law.
The Provost
University Provost Philip Hanlon cited the potential of the stu-
dent body to change the world asone of the mosterewarding aspects
of his role asa professor and administrator.
Hanlon, a native of New York, completed his bachelor's degree
at Darmouth College, majoring in math and minoring in history. In
1981, he earned a doctoratefrom the California Institute of Technol-
ogy and taught applied mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology before returning to Cal Tech to pursue a fellowship.
In1986, Hanlon came to the University of Michiganto take a posi-
tion as an associate professor.
"I've been here 24 years, so it seems like home," Hanlon said.
Hanlonhas also maintained along-standingrelationship with the
U.S. National Security Agency, with which he works on cryptology,
the study of writing and solving codes.
"Some of my research is in very abstract mathematics - what's
called algebraic combinatorics. The more applied things that I've
worked on are computational genetics and some theoretical com-
puter science and ... quite a bit of work on randomizing lists, which
is equivalent to card shuffling," Hanlon said. "SoI know a lot about andaleft Riemann sum, students inthe class were receptive to Han-
card shuffling." len's teaching methods.
During his time in Ann Arbor, Hanlon has taught an array of "He tendstouse examples fromreal life," said Engineering fresh-
graduate and undergraduate classes, including a handful of fresh- man Breanna Fairchild. "He does a lot of graphing and he doesn't
man courses like cryptology, geometry and calculus. use too many math terms sothat you're confused, so I think it's easy
Hanlon said he enjoys shaping the academic path of students, par- to understand."
ticularly through teaching freshmen inhis Calculus I course. It was not until about 2000 when Hanlon began administrative
"I think there's a lotof energy when youcteach freshmen," Hanlon work at the University, serving as vice provost for about five-and-
said. "I like the idea that you can have a lot of impact on a student's a-half years before he was named provost on Jan 26, 2010, officially
academic career if you start with freshmen." assuming the position on July 1,2010.
Hanlon explained that his classes are "aimed atteachingstudents Hanlon said he will not be able to teach during the winter semes-
to learn for themselves through experimentation" ter because he spends a lot of time working on the University's
When sittingin Hanlon's Calculus I course in early December, it budget and completing promotion documents for select faculty
was clear that despite its 8:30 a.m. beginning time, the atmosphere members, but he will resume teaching in the fall2011 semester.
was very interactive, and Hanlon accommodated the different capa- Hanlon highlighted his enthusiasm for engaging with University
bilities of his students. students and said it's important for administrators to not become
Engineering freshman Emily Saban, who took Hanlon's Calcu- "disconnected."
lus class, said she liked the small class style. "Starting probably the "I think it's incredibly valuable for academic leaders at the Uni-
third day, Dr. Hanlon learned our names and ... he walks around and versity to really stay grounded in the core missions of teaching and
makes sure that almosteveryone inthe class understands each prob- research atthe University - whetherthey do that by teaching a class
lem," she said. or whether they do that by staying involved with grad students and
While an outsider may have been lost in a lecture on related rates research."