Trustees approve new leaders for eight academic units

Eight professors were approved as department chairs or heads and unit
directors by the UI Board of Trustees at its meeting Sept. 14 in Chicago.

Approved:

  * Marianne E. Kalinke as head of the department of Germanic languages
    and literatures.

    Kalinke, who has been acting head of Germanic languages and literatures,
    will succeed James M. McGlathery, who resigned to return to full-time
    teaching and research. Kalinke, a professor of Germanic languages and
    literatures and of comparative literature, began her new duties Sept. 18.

    Before joining the UI faculty in 1975, Kalinke taught at the University
    of Rhode Island and at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Conn.

    Kalinke earned a master's degree at the Catholic University of America
    and a doctorate at Indiana University.

  * Microbiologist Jordan Konisky, a former director of the UI School of Life
    Sciences, as the new director of the Biotechnology Center.

    Konisky assumed the post Aug. 21, succeeding Lowell P. Hager.

    Konisky, who joined the UI faculty in 1970, will retain the rank of
    professor of microbiology. A Rhode Island native, Konisky earned his
    bachelor's degree in 1963 from Providence College and his doctorate in
    1968 from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He served postdoctoral
    fellowships at Wisconsin and at Yale before joining the UI.

    He headed the UI microbiology department from 1984 to 1989, and directed
    the School of Life Sciences from 1989 to 1994.

  * Kwok-Yung (Fred) Lo as head of the department of astronomy.

    Lo has served as acting head of the department since Aug. 20, when
    Ronald F. Webbink returned to teaching and research.

    Lo, who will continue to hold the rank of professor, joined the UI
    faculty in 1986. He earned his bachelor's and doctoral degrees from the
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1969 and 1974, respectively.
    Lo held research fellowships at the California Institute of Technology
    and the University of California, Berkeley, before serving on the faculty
    from 1980 to 1986 at the California Institute of Technology.

  * Adam T. Martinsek as head of the department of statistics.

    Martinsek has served as acting head of the department since Aug. 20,
    when Walter Philipp's term expired. Philipp has returned to teaching and
    research.

    Martinsek will retain the rank of professor in the department, which he
    joined in 1981. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1976 from Harvard
    University, a master's degree in 1977 from the University of Chicago,
    and a doctorate in 1981 from Columbia University, New York.

  * George W. McConkie as chair of the department of educational psychology.

    McConkie, currently acting chair and professor in the department of
    educational psychology, as well as a professor of psychology, and a
    professor in the Center for the Study of Reading and in the Beckman
    Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, begins his new duties
    Sept. 21.

    Before joining the UI in 1978, McConkie taught at Cornell University.
    He earned his master's degree at Brigham Young University, and his
    doctorate at Stanford University.

  * Plant geneticist Michael Jacob Plewa as director of the UI Institute
    for Environmental Studies.

    Plewa, who will retain the rank of professor in the institute, has
    served as interim director of the institute since Roger Minear, who
    had been director, resigned effective July 15 to teach and conduct
    research.

    Plewa, who also is a professor of agronomy and of microbiology, joined
    the university in 1974 as a postdoctoral research associate. He joined
    the faculty in 1978. He served as a visiting scientist in 1984-85 at
    the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee and as a research
    geneticist in 1992-93 at the National Institute for Environmental
    Health Sciences at Research Triangle Park, N.C.

    He earned a bachelor's degree from Loyola University, Chicago, in 1969
    and a master's and doctoral degrees in 1971 and 1974, respectively,
    from Illinois State University.

  * Edward J. Shoben as director of the UI psychology department.

    Shoben, a cognitive psychologist, succeeds Emanuel Donchin, who resigned
    in August 1994 to return to full-time teaching and research. Lawrence
    Hubert had served as interim head following Donchin's resignation.

    Shoben, who continues to hold the rank of professor, earned a bachelor's
    degree from Yale in 1970 and a doctorate from Stanford in 1974. He joined
    the UI faculty in 1974. Shoben also is a professor in the Beckman
    Institute.

  * Charles F. Zukoski as head of the chemical engineering department.

    Zukoski has served as interim head of the department since former head
    Richard C. Alkire was named the campus's vice chancellor for research and
    dean of the graduate college.

    Zukoski joined the UI faculty in 1985, after earning a doctorate from
    Princeton. He earned a bachelor's degree in 1977 from Reed College,
    Portland, Ore.

    He will continue to hold the rank of professor in the department of
    chemical engineering. He also is a professor in the  Beckman Institute.

    Zukoski served as visiting professor of applied mathematics in 1992 at
    the University of Melbourne in Australia.