TRUSTEES RENAME BUILDING, ACCEPT ENDOWED FUNDS, APPROVE APPOINTMENTS

   COLUMBUS -- The Ohio State University Board of Trustees on Friday (12/3) approved the renaming of the medical research facility, accepted named endowed funds and approved several personnel appointments. The board also conducted other business.

Medical facility renamed

   Trustees authorized renaming the Medical Research Facility at Ohio State in honor of Manuel Tzagournis, who is stepping down as vice president for health sciences this month and returning to the faculty full time to teach and practice. The Manuel Tzagournis Medical Research Facility opened in 1994 at 420 W. 12th Ave., housing six floors of state-of-the-art laboratories.

   Tzagournis, a nationally recognized expert in the field of endocrinology, was involved at Ohio State as an undergraduate and medical student, graduate fellow, instructor, professor and assistant dean before becoming dean of the College of Medicine in 1981. He led the college for 15 years. During the nearly 20 years that Tzagournis served as either dean, vice president, or both, the Medical Center underwent a transformation from being a fine teaching and patient care institution to one with a more balanced mission of excellent teaching, superb patient care, and distinguished scholarly and research activities.

Board accepts 10 named funds, two chairs and one professorship

   Trustees heard a report from Jerry A. May, vice president for development, on fund-raising efforts, including the establishment of the Richard J. Solove Endowment Fund for Human Cancer Genetics Research. Gifts of almost $1.73 million from alumnus Richard J. Solove will support research activities within the Human Cancer Genetics program in the Comprehensive Cancer Center - The Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

   May reported on the establishment of nine other funds, two chairs and one professorship with gifts totaling more than $3.3 million.

   -- The Donald D. Glower Chair in Engineering, $1.5 million, for a senior faculty position in the College of Engineering whose teaching and research focus on transportation. The Transportation Research Center provided the gift in honor of Glower, dean of the College of Engineering from 1976-90 and vice president for University Communications and Development from 1990-92.

   -- The Marion N. Rowley Designated Chair in Cancer Research, $75,000 per year in funds from the OSU Medical Center until an endowed chair is established and fully funded at $1.5 million.

   -- The Marantz Distinguished Alumni Lectureship Fund, $25,000, supporting events that illuminate contributions of alumni of the Department of Art Education.

   -- The Black Alumni Society Endowed Fund, $16,204, providing general university scholarships.

   -- The Young Bucks of Central Ohio Alumni Scholarship Fund, $15,000, providing need-based scholarships for students from Franklin County and contiguous counties attending the Columbus campus.

   -- The Clayton C. Wagner Parkinson's Disease Research Professorship, $1.4 million, for a professorship position in the College of Medicine and Public Health supporting the advancement of medical knowledge of Parkinson's disease.

   -- Barbara J. Bonner Chair Fund in Lung Cancer Research, $220,375.

   -- Mary M. Yost Student Emergency Fund, $51,943, providing emergency grants to students in the College of Education.

   -- The Vincent T. Aveni Athletic Scholarship Fund, $40,000.

   -- The Farnham E. Mosley Scholarship Fund, $31,423, providing scholarships in the Fisher College of Business and to graduates of Urbana High School seeking OSU degrees.

   -- Joseph A. Kucera Jr. Scholarship Fund, $25,715, providing scholarships to students studying Turfgrass Management Technology at the Agricultural Technical Institute.

   -- The Thomas P. Hennessy Memorial Scholarship Fund, $25,100, providing scholarships for students from Logan County schools who were members of 4-H, Family Consumer Sciences, or FFA.

Appointments

   The board approved several appointments. They are:

   -- Philip F. Binkley, professor of internal medicine, director of cardiovascular research and section head of heart failure/transplantation, to the James Hay and Ruth Jansson Wilson Professorship in Cardiology, effective through June 30, 2003. An Ohio State faculty member since 1991, Binkley's research and clinical interests revolve around congestive heart failure. The professorship was established in 1987 to support the work of a distinguished cardiologist.

   -- L. Scott Lissner as Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator, effective Jan. 3, 2000. Lissner, currently director of Academic and Disability Support Services at Longwood College in Farmville, Va., will be Ohio State's first full-time ADA coordinator. His responsibilities will include ensuring that the university is in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and other federal and state laws and regulations pertaining to persons with disabilities, and coordinating university policies and procedures concerning persons with disabilities. The scope of his responsibility includes faculty, staff and student employment, as well as public and student access to programs and facilities.

   -- John N. Reeve of POWELL, chair of the Department of Microbiology, to the Rod Sharp Professorship in Microbiology, effective Dec. 1. Reeve joined Ohio State's faculty in 1979 and has chaired the microbiolgoy department since 1985. His research areas include molecular genetics of Archaea, the structure and regulation of genes responsible for methane biogenesis, and biodegradation of environmental pollutants. The professorship was established in September to support an outstanding researcher in the College of Biological Sciences' Department of Microbiology.

   -- James M. Ryan of UPPER ARLINGTON, associate professor of clinical internal medicine and director of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, to the Joseph M. Ryan, M.D. Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine. Ryan has been on Ohio State's faculty since 1985, specializing in nuclear cardiology, cardiac echocardiolography and heart disease in athletes. The chair was established in November to support the advancement of medical knowledge in the field of both basic and clinical cardiovascular research.

   -- Daniel M. Sedmak of COLUMBUS (43235), as interim senior vice president for health sciences, effective Dec. 15, 1999, through June 30, 2000. Sedmak also is serving as interim dean of the College of Medicine and Public Health. Sedmak has been chair of the Department of Pathology since 1997. After earning his M.D. summa cum laude at the Ohio State University College of Medicine in 1980, he served a fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic before returning to Columbus in 1985 to join the Ohio State faculty. Manuel Tzagournis, vice president for health sciences, is stepping down from the vice presidency this month to return to the faculty full time to teach and practice.

   -- Michael R. Grever, as chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, effective Jan. 1, 2000, through Dec. 31, 2003. Grever, director of the division of hematologic malignancies at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a former physician and researcher at The Ohio State University Hospitals, has led efforts in new cancer drug development at Johns Hopkins since 1994. From 1978 to 1989, Grever was on the medical staff at Ohio State, where he directed the interdisciplinary oncology unit for nine years. He also was in charge of anti-cancer drug development for four years. Grever replaces Ernest Mazzaferri, who retired after more than 35 years in medicine -- including 15 years as chair of internal medicine. Grever received his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1971 and served both an internship and residency in internal medicine at Presbyterian University Hospital.

   Trustees also reappointed James D. Metzger of DUBLIN, professor of horticulture and crop science, to the D.C. Kiplinger Chair in Floriculture, effective through Nov. 30, 2004.

Emeritus titles granted

   The board granted emeritus titles to:
-- Dorothy E. Schumm, professor emeritus of medical biochemistry, effective Jan. 1.
-- Marilyn A. Spiegel of DUBLIN, associate professor emeritus, Ohio State University Extension, retroactive to Nov. 1, 1999.

Resolution in memoriam

   Trustees adopted a resolution in memoriam for:
-- Thelma L. Lang, instructor emeritus in the School of Allied Medical Professions, who died Oct. 13.

Contact: Emily Caldwell, University Relations, (614) 292-8309
David Crawford, Medical Center Communications, (614) 293-3737