PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 26, No. 1, July 6, 2006

Five faculty members appointed associate provost fellows

By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor
217-244-1072; slforres@illinois.edu

Five faculty members have been appointed 2006-2007 associate provost fellows through the Illinois Executive Academic Leadership Program, recently created by Provost Linda Katehi. The program provides an opportunity for talented faculty members with a high potential to explore the opportunities and demands of administrative careers while bringing valuable faculty vantage points to campus administration. The fellows, who will function as associate provosts, will hold dual 50 percent appointments in the Office of the Provost and in their home units for two- or three-year terms. Candidates were nominated by their deans or unit heads and selected by a committee reporting to the provost.

“The Illinois Executive Academic Leadership Program has a tremendous beginning with the initial class of associate provost fellows,” Katehi said. “The fellows represent the very best qualities of the Illinois faculty. As engaged, creative, high-achieving scholars and researchers, they will serve the campus well in developing creative approaches to pressing issues facing our institution and the academy.

“Selecting the initial cohort of associate provost fellows was very difficult; the applicant pool was extremely strong. We are enthusiastic about launching the program, and we look forward to the innovative solutions this group will bring to important institutional issues. The benefits to the campus of a program that strengthens the presence of faculty members with leadership experience will be considerable.”

The inaugural associate provost fellows:

• Andreas Cangellaris, professor of electrical and computer engineering and research professor in the Coordinated Science Lab. Cangellaris was elected a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in 2001 for his expertise and research interests in theoretical and applied electromagnetism. He received the his department’s Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award (2000) and the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award (2005) from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany, for outstanding contributions to electromagnetic theory and its engineering applications to the fields of antennas, scattering and electromagnetic interference. 
  
• Nan Goggin, professor of art and design and associate director of curriculum development in the School of Art and Design. An awarding-winning designer and a recognized pioneer in electronic art, Goggin co-founded the Narrative Media program and was a founding editor of the literary/visual culture magazine Ninth Letter. Goggin is a University Scholar.
  
• Peter Mortensen, professor of English and director of freshmen rhetoric. Co-chair of the Illinois Articulation Initiative’s statewide panel on general education communication course work, Mortensen received the English department’s 2005 Robert Schneider Award for Outstanding Teaching and Service, and has been named multiple times to the Incomplete List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent at the Urbana campus. He is a member of the executive committee of the Modern Language Association’s Division on the History and Theory of Composition and Rhetoric.
  
• Feniosky Pena-Mora, professor of civil and environmental engineering and an O’Neil Faculty Scholar. Pena-Mora’s research interests include information technology support for collaboration in preparedness, response and recovery during disasters involving critical physical infrastructures. He is the lead principal investigator on a $2.3 million Science Foundation Information Technology Research for National Priorities project. His honors include the 1999 NSF CAREER Award and a White House Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
  
• Joseph Squier, professor of art and design. Squier co-founded and teaches studio art in the Narrative Media Program. Squier’s network-based art has been featured in The New York Times and in numerous books on emerging electronic media. A co-founding editor of the Ninth Letter, Squier is a University Scholar and a Distinguished Teacher/Scholar.

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