Board of Regents Meeting, May 17, 2002: TENURE FOR NEW FACULTY APPOINTEES

Inhouse > Board of Regents Meeting, May 17, 2002

TENURE FOR NEW FACULTY APPOINTEES

PERTINENT FACTS

University policy stipulates that faculty appointees must serve a minimum of a one-year probationary period except when the President of the University may make an exception and recommend immediate tenure. Such cases involve senior faculty, always with outstanding reputations, and usually with tenure elsewhere, who are being recruited by this University. The records of the individuals named below have been carefully reviewed by the faculty committee in their respective departments following established procedures and published criteria, and endorsed by the Chair, the Dean, the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the President.

Dr. Thomas R. Cundari is an accomplished researcher, teacher, and member of the professional community. He received his Ph.D. in 1990 from the University of Florida and is currently a Professor with tenure at the University of Memphis. While at the University of Memphis, Dr. Cundari built an internationally recognized research program. He has published over 60 papers, given approximately 100 invited talks, been PI on two dozen major grants, supervised 18 graduate assistants, 25 undergraduate research students and was Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada postdoctoral fellow. All of his recent graduates are employed at government and national labs, such as Los Alamos, Idaho National Lab and PPG Industries, Inc. He has established a successful and widely recognized research program in theoretical and computational inorganic chemistry and is well known and highly respected in the scientific community. He has a demonstrated record of attracting significant funding and high quality students. Dr. Cundari is very student oriented and is both liked and respected by his students. His research and dedication to education will contribute to his success as Professor in the Department of Chemistry.

Dr. Oliver Finley Graves is an accomplished teacher, researcher, and member of the professional community. Dr. Graves received his Ph.D. in Accountancy from the University of Alabama in 1985 and was a tenured faculty member in the Department of German and Russian. He is currently the Chair of the Department of Accounting and Andersen Professor of Accounting at Kansas State University. Dr. Graves is active in a number of professional organizations including being recent Chair of the International Accounting Section of the American Accounting Association, Secretary of the Federation of Schools of Accountancy, and President of the Academy of Accounting Historians. At Kansas State University, he not only worked in close cooperation with the Kansas State Foundation in his fund-raising efforts, but also with the Department’s Advisory Council and with alumni. Within the past year, Dr. Graves has secured seven new faculty fellowships for the Department of Accounting faculty and doubled the dollar amount of existing fellowships for three other faculty. While at the school of Accountancy at the University of Mississippi, he was named Outstanding Teacher of the Year (1987; 1994) and Outstanding Researcher (1988; 1992). In 1990, he was honored with the Burlington-Northern Foundation Faculty Achievement Award for Outstanding Teaching and Scholarship at the University of Mississippi. Dr. Graves’ dedication to education and strong leadership will contribute to his success as Professor and Chair of the Department of Accounting.

Dr. Alfred C. Mierzejewski is an outstanding scholar, teacher and noted German historian. Dr. Mierzejewski received his Ph.D. in Modern European History in 1985 from the University of North Carolina and is currently an Associate Professor with tenure at Athens State University. He is active in numerous professional organizations including the American Historical Association, Economic and Business Historical Society, German Studies Association, and the Railroad and Locomotive Historical Society. Among the many awards he has received are Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, 1996 and 1998; nominated for the Newcomen Prize for the best paper at the 1996 Business History Conference; and best article on intelligence written by an American in 1989 from the National Intelligence Study Center for the article “Intelligence and the Strategic Bombing of Germany: The Combined Strategic Targets Committee,” Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, May 1990. In 1995, he was named outstanding teacher by his students at Athens State University. Dr. Mierzejewski is one of the most recognized historians of modern Germany practicing in the United States. His research and dedication to education will contribute to his success as Associate Professor in the Department of History.

RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF REGENTS

The President recommends, with the concurrence of the Chancellor, that the Board of Regents approve the award of tenure for Drs. Thomas R. Cundari, Oliver Finley Graves, and Alfred C. Mierzejewski, effective September 1, 2002.