COLUMBUS - A $1.5 million gift, accepted today (3/3/00) by The Ohio State University Board of Trustees from the late William Greenville Pace III and his wife, Joann Norris Collins-Pace (NAPLES, Fla.), will establish an endowed chair for cancer research in Ohio State's of Medicine and Public Health. Dr. Pace, who died in 1996, received his M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1952 and completed his surgical residency at Ohio State, receiving a master of medical science in surgery degree in 1959. He joined the university faculty in 1959 and at the time of his death was clinical professor emeritus of surgery.

The William Greenville Pace III and Joann Norris Collins-Pace Chair for Cancer Research will be held by Larry J. Copeland, professor of obstetrics and gynecology, who will continue to hold a concurrent appointment as chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the College of Medicine and Public Health.

The announcement of the Pace Chair highlighted the report by Vice President for Development Jerry May to the trustees. Along with the Pace gift, the board established 17 named endowed funds with gifts totaling nearly $2.1 million, amended names and/or descriptions of five endowed funds, and approved several personnel appointments.

Endowed Funds

· Richard C. Veler, D.D.S., and Betty G. Veler Dental Scholarship Fund, $48,742

· Larry Peterson Young Educators Award Fund, $27,461, established in honor of Dr. Peterson, former chair of the Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Section in the College of Dentistry from 1982 through 1988

· Vinton County 4-H Endowment Fund, $17,635 (grandfathered)

· Clark County 4-H Endowment Fund, $15,690 (grandfathered)

· Jerry N. Ulrich Undergraduate Scholarship Fund, $68,212, to benefit business students

· The Caroline B. Monahan Fund for Experimental Research Support in the Music Cognition/Perception Area within the Department of Psychology, $59,657

· The Robert W. and June G. Setterlin Endowment Fund in Engineering, $51,010, for student scholarships in civil engineering

· Lake County 4-H Endowment Fund, $47,864

· The Pickett Family Cancer Genetics Research Endowment Fund, $40,000

· The Jean H. Willett Memorial Nursing Scholarship Fund, $28,130

· The Jean and Agnes Lemmermen Endowed Scholarship Fund, $28,130, for student scholarships in the Department of Animal Science

· The Ellmore Wright and Belle Kinsman Hatton Fund in Cancer Research, $26,821, provided by gifts from the Robert H. Simmons Trust

· The Ellmore Wright and Belle Kinsman Hatton Fund in Medicine, $26,821, provided by gifts from the Robert H. Simmons Trust for support for advancement of medical knowledge related to heart disease in the College of Medicine and Public Health

· The Victoria S. Carnes Memorial Scholarship Fund in Elementary Education, $26,000

· The Medical Class of 1947 Endowment Fund, $25,490, for program support in the College of Medicine and Public Health

· The Nanette N. Hoge Scholars Fund, $25,000, for scholarships through the University Honors Center

· Katherine H. vanFossen Wildflower Garden Endowment Fund, $18,000 (grandfathered)

Changes in Name and/or Description of Endowed Funds

· The Chemical Engineering Class of 1941 Fund to The H. Richard Unkel Chemical Engineering Class of 1941 Fund

· The Mary E. Alford Cancer Research Endowment Fund to the Mary E. and John W. Alford Cancer Research Endowment Fund

· Charles S. Plumb Fellowship in Animal Husbandry to The Charles S. Plumb Agriculture Support Fund

· The Medical Research Endowment Trust Fund to The Manuel Tzagournis Medical Research Facility Grant Fund

· The Keith Wilson Cancer Research Fund to The Jeanne S. and Keith Wilson Cancer Research Fund

Academic Appointments

· Stephen R. Acker of WORTHINGTON, associate professor of journalism and communications, to director of technology enhanced learning and research, effective March 1 through June 30, 2001. Acker joined the Ohio State faculty in 1986 and has been serving as acting director. He also holds appointments as an associate professor of industrial design in the College of the Arts and associate director of instructional technology in University Technology Services.

· Ruth Colker , professor of law, to the Heck-Faust Memorial Chair in Constitutional Law, effective Oct. 17, 1997. Colker joined the College of Law faculty in 1997 after holding faculty appointments at George Washington University, Tulane University, University of Toronto and University of Pittsburgh. She teaches constitutional law, legislation, sexual orientation and the law, feminist legal theory and disability discrimination.

· Larry J. Copeland of UPPER ARLINGTON, professor and chair of obstetrics and gynecology in the College of Medicine and Public Health, to the William Greenville Pace III and Joann Norris Collins-Pace Chair for Cancer Research, effective March 3, 2000 through June 30, 2004. Noted for his research in chemotherapy of gynecologic tumors and his development of clinical treatment protocols, Dr. Copeland joined the Ohio State medical faculty in 1988 from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

· Michael J. Hogan of UPPER ARLINGTON, professor of history and interim dean of the College of Humanities to dean of the College of Humanities, effective March 1, 2000 through June 30, 2005. Hogan's teaching and scholarly interests are in American diplomatic and recent U.S. history A faculty member since 1986, he is the author of three books, including a prize-winning history of the Marshall Plan, and he is a recipient of Ohio State's University Distinguished Scholar Award.

· Daniel T. Lichter of UNIVERSITY PARK, PA., director of the Population Research Institute and professor of sociology at the Pennsylvania State University and visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation in New York, NY, to the Robert Lazarus Professorship in Population Studies in Ohio State's sociology department, effective Jan. 1, 2000 through Sept.30, 2004. Lichter's teaching and research interests include demography, family and children, poverty and inequality, and rural sociology.

· Jerry R. Mendell of WORTHINGTON, professor and chair of neurology and professor of pathology, to the Helen C. Kurtz Chair in Neurology, effective March 1, 2000 through June 30, 2004. Dr. Mendell joined the medical faculty in 1972 after three years in the medical neurology branch at the National Institutes of Health. He is a recipient of the Presidential Award from the American Neurological Association.

· Mary Ann Sagaria of UPPER ARLINGTON, associate professor of education, has been named interim director of the School of Educational Policy and Leadership, effective Dec. 1. 1999 through June 30, 2000.

· K.C.Ting, currently professor of bioresource engineering at Rutgers University, has been named chair of food, agricultural and biological engineering in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, effective July 1, 2000 through June 30, 2004.

Emeritus Titles Granted

The Board approved emeritus status for the following:

· Calvin M. Kunin, Department of Internal Medicine, professor emeritus effective July 1, 2000

· Larry J. Peterson, College of Dentistry, professor emeritus effective March 1, 2000

· Paul Jansma, School of Physical Activity, professor emeritus effective Feb. 1, 2000

Resolutions in Memoriam

The Board adopted resolutions in memoriam for the following:

John L. Blaisdell, professor emeritus in the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, who died Feb. 1, 2000

· Salvatore Imbrogno, professor in the College of Social Work, who died Jan. 10, 2000

· Robert Edward Lauer, clinical associate professor emeritus in the College of Dentistry, who died Dec. 3, 1999

· Bernard S. Weiss, associate professor emeritus in the College of Social Work, who died Jan. 24, 2000.

Miscellaneous Business

In other business, trustees

· Approved the naming of several campus facilities, including the Allied Medical Professions Building, now named Robert J. Atwell Hall; Lane Avenue Park, now named Fred Beekman Park; 1501 Neil Avenue, now named the Mershon Center as long as the building houses the academic programs of the Mershon Center; and the Grand Lounge in the Longaberger Alumni House, now named the Sanders Grand Lounge.

· Approved the renaming of the Department of Medical Biochemistry to the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry to better reflect the research and teaching activities of the department.

· Amended a 1996 resolution to authorize the Technology Transfer Oversight Committee to approve research incentives for all faculty, staff and students who meet the criteria of being potential inventors of Ohio State technology. Previously, the resolution applied only to faculty inventors who wished to be involved in private business ventures to commercialize university technologies they had created.

· Approved 195 contracts totaling $13.3 million for research projects funded in January.

· Approved the establishment of separate employing units within the Medical Center to comply with state law relating to the Public Employees Retirement System. The action reflects the recent acquisition of OSU Hospitals East and Harding Hospital.

· Heard a report on graduate education at Ohio State and its close ties to the university's research mission. Ohio State houses one of the largest graduate schools in the country, with nearly 10,000 students in 120 programs, approximately 100 of which offer doctoral degrees. Administrators and faculty introduced several students who illustrated the recruitment of quality graduate students to Ohio State, utilization of programs available to move talented students through the school, and the fruits of the combined efforts: obtaining employment in a competitive academic job market.