Back to the November 2000 Board of Regents Agenda

EMERITUS RECOMMENDATIONS

The policy of conferring Emeritus status upon distinguished retired individuals was instituted by the Board of Regents on August 29, 1975.

Emeritus status is recommended for the following individuals, three of whom – Dr. Edward Baird, Dr. James Robert Lott, and Dr. Martin Mailman – are recognized posthumously.

Dr. Cecil Adkins retired at the end of the Summer II 2000 semester, after having served 37 years in the Division of Music History, Theory, and Ethnomusicology. He was nominated as a Regents Professor in 1988. Dr. Adkins is known worldwide as a distinguished musicologist. He has specialized in music instruments, music notation, and early music performance. Much of his career has been devoted to the development of an early music program at UNT. Dr. Adkins served as president of the American Musical Instrument Society from 1987 to 1991. Together with Alis Dickinson, Dr. Adkins produced the annual index, Doctoral Dissertations in Musicology for the American and International Musicological Societies, for over 25 years. The excellence of ensembles such as Les petits violons, which he founded, has been a credit to the College and an inspiration to many students.

Dr. Edward Baird served in the College of Music for 37 years and was well known as both a singer and an actor. He had been soloist with many symphony orchestras throughout the United States and Mexico, as well as recitalist, stage director, clinician, and adjudicator. Dr. Baird had numerous performances with the Texas Gilbert and Sullivan Society and a Messiah soloist role in Ipswich, England. He appeared with 12 opera companies and 14 symphonies over the many decades of his outstanding career as a professional singer. He was past president of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and a member of the Board of Directors of the NATS Foundation. Dr. Baird authored numerous articles for the NATS Journal. At the time of his death in August 2000, he was a professor in the Division of Vocal Studies and director of graduate studies for the College of Music.

Dr. J. Arthur Cooper retired at the end of the Spring 1998 semester, after serving 32 years in the Department of Teacher Education and Administration. Dr. Cooper’s published writings represent a substantial contribution to his field, the historical, philosophical, and sociocultural foundations of education. He taught undergraduate and graduate courses in educational foundations that were viewed as thorough, rigorous, and well-delivered. In addition to serving on numerous university committees, he also served three terms on the Faculty Senate and was Vice-Chair during 1981-1982. He was a member of the Personnel Affairs Committee and served on the Executive Committee for the Department of Educational Foundations,

Research, and Special Education. A significant contribution to the College of Education was researching, collecting, and preparing the display of the Gallery of Great Educators.

Dr. John Corbin retired at the end of the Spring 2000 semester, after having served on the School of Library and Information Sciences faculty from September 1973 through May 1977 and from September 1987 through December 1995. He was on modified service from January 1996 to May 2000. Dr. Corbin initiated the Automation Round Table of the Texas Library Association and the Texas Conference on Library Automation with the University of Houston Libraries. His course on library automation was the first to be offered by a library school in Texas in the 1960s. Dr. Corbin was awarded the Esther J. Piercy Award by the American Library Association in 1970 and the Texas Librarian of the Year by the Texas Library Association in 1981. He has written over 11 books and 10 articles, including one in an award-winning issue of Library Journal in 1976.

Dr. John Paul Eddy retired at the end of the Summer II 2000 semester, after serving in the Department of Counseling, Development, and Higher Education for over 20 years. Dr. Eddy directed and expanded the master’s program in student services administration, served as major professor on over 50 dissertation committees, and published widely in refereed journals in counseling, student services and higher education. In 1976, he received the Gilbert Wrenn Award from the American Counseling Association; in 1998, he received the Association of Counseling Educators "Notable Achievement Award"; and in March 2000, he received the American Counseling Association’s "Kitty Cole Human Rights" award.

Mr. Ron Fink retired at the end of the Summer II 2000 semester, after serving 36 years in the Division of Instrumental Studies. He has represented the university for years in the Chamber of Commerce and as a leader in many community projects. He was formerly principal percussionist and timpanist with the Fort Worth Symphony, Opera, and Ballet Orchestras. Mr. Fink and two UNT physics professors were awarded a grant to study the harmonic analysis of the timpani using spectral analysis. He has been a devoted teacher and mentor and is well loved by many percussion and jazz students who have been inspired by his professionalism and his supportive attitude. At the time of his retirement, he was coordinator of the percussion program.

Mr. Mel Ivey retired at the end of the Summer II 2000 semester, after having served 10 years as a professor in the Division of Conducting and Ensembles. He was director of choral activities and musical director of the A Capella Choir. He has been an effective mentor guiding graduate choral conducting students into professional careers and has collaborated with music education to promote the recruitment of highly qualified music teacher candidates to UNT. Mr. Ivey has prepared and/or conducted numerous major choral and orchestral works with the New Orleans, Detroit, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek Symphony Orchestras in addition to preparing choruses for the Dallas Opera and the Michigan Opera Theatre.

Dr. Malena Kuss retired on September 30, 1999, after serving 23 years in the Division of Music History, Theory, and Ethnomusicology. She is internationally recognized for her significant work as a musicologist, and her research on Latin American music has been published extensively. Dr. Kuss has been executive editor of The Universe of Music: A History, general editor of the Studies in Latin American Music series, and former secretary of the Bibliography Commission, International Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and Documentation Centers. She was a successful and popular teacher sought by students for her wisdom and as inspiration to brilliant intellectual achievement.

Dr. George Larson retired at the end of the Spring 2000 semester, after having served in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences for 30 years. He is nationally recognized for his work in voice and stuttering. Dr. Larson co-chaired the department from 1988 to 1993, directed the graduate program from 1992 to 2000 and has chaired or participated on many committees, including admissions, curriculum, faculty search, and personnel affairs. From 1974 through 1993, Dr. Larson generated over one million dollars in training grant monies for UNT from the Department of Education.

Dr. James Robert (Tad) Lott began his career at the University of North Texas in 1957, as Professor of Biological Sciences. Dr. Lott was known for his research on the effects of radiation on humans, the effect of microwaves on humans, and alternative treatments for cancer. His research was funded by the U. S. Atomic Energy Commission, the National Science Foundation, and a number of private organizations. He was formerly editor of the Texas Journal of Science and was active as an early motivator of its activities. He was a dedicated teacher and was devoted to the University. Dr. Lott was important in the early development of the Department of Biological Sciences and was conducting research long before there was an expectation of scholarly activity at UNT. At the time of his death in February 2000, he was on modified service and was to officially retire in May 2000.

Dr. James Mackey retired at the end of the 1999 Summer II semester, after having served the Department of Physics for over 30 years. In the past few years, Dr. Mackey has been an important contributor to the undergraduate pre-med physics program. He has participated in several important research activities and has contributed significantly to studies in non-linear science as well as initial computer automation of the Trace Element Accelerator Mass Spectrometry system, an instrument unique in the world.

Dr. Martin Mailman began his career at the University of North Texas in 1966 in the College of Music. His original orchestral music won significant prizes, and his band music has been performed by virtually every collegiate band in the United States and by many high school groups. He was an inspiration to beginning students of composition as well as a mentor to the most advanced. Dr. Mailman was appointed a Regents Professor in 1987. He received a commission from the Ben E. Keith

Company for an orchestral work to celebrate the opening of the Murchison Performing Arts Center. The resulting work, Dance Imageries, was premiered by the UNT Symphony Orchestra in the spring of 1999 in Winspear Hall conducted by Regents Professor Anshel Brusilow. At the time of his death in April 2000, he was on modified service.

Dr. Richard M. Owsley retired at the end of the Spring 1996 semester, after 33 years of service to the Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies. He was instrumental in establishing the department and charting its direction. Dr. Owsley was Chair of the Division of Philosophy and after initiating and supervising its transition into a department in 1968, he served another year as Chair. He again became Chair from 1986 to 1988. He also played an important role in the shaping of the CAS core curriculum in the 1980s. Dr. Owsley’s primary influence within the department was in instruction. His interest in existentialism and phenomenology and the philosophy of Heidegger was an inspiration to undergraduate students in philosophy for several decades.

Dr. George Papich retired at the end of the May 2000 semester, after having served 33 years in the Division of Instrumental Studies. He served the college and his many students as professor of viola, chamber music coach, adviser to string students, and as Chair of the Doctor of Musical Arts degree program oversight committee. He was appointed Regents Professor in 1988. Dr. Papich has been principal violist in the Fort Worth Symphony, Dallas Opera, Dallas Lyric Opera, and the Richardson Chamber Music Society. He represented the United States as an adjudicator for the Evian International String Quartet Competition.

Dr. Edgar A. Schlueter retired in 1984 from the Department of Biological Sciences. He joined the faculty at UNT in the 1960s and became a professor in 1969. Dr. Schlueter was important in the early development of the department. He conducted research long before there was an expectation of scholarly activity at UNT, and his research was funded by the National Science Foundation. His investigations contributed to the aquatic biology program that was instituted by J.K.G. Silvey. Many freshmen were introduced to the field of zoology by Dr. Schlueter, as his was one of only two biology courses that freshmen were required to take. He also taught parasitology, a course taken by most pre-med students.

Dr. Kenneth Stewart retired at the end of the Fall 1999 semester, after 38 ½ years of service in the Department of Biological Sciences. Dr. Stewart served as Chair of the department from 1979 to 1983 and was instrumental in the development of the department. He is recognized both nationally and internationally. He has received numerous grants including 17 awards from the National Science Foundation. His scholarly record was acknowledged by the Award of Excellence in Benthic Science by the North American Benthological Society, as President of the North American Benthological Society, and as a Fellow of the Texas Academy of Science. Dr. Stewart has served on the editorial board of the International Journal of Aquatic Entomology and was named Decker Scholar at UNT in 1991 and Regents Professor in 1994.

Dr. B. Dwain Vance retired from the Department of Biological Sciences in 1985. He was brought to UNT by Dr. J.K.G. Silvey in 1967 as part of a group of aquatic biologists. Dr. Vance’s specialty was phycology, the study of algae and their role in water quality of Texas reservoirs. His research expertise was highly valued and was funded by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, the R. A. Welch Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and private industry. Dr. Vance introduced countless freshman to the field of plant science, since his course was one of only two biology courses that most freshman were required to take. He also taught plant ecology and graduate courses on algal biology. He was part of a team of aquatic biologists whose legacy survives today as the Institute of Applied Sciences. His devotion to the programs at UNT have been carried on in his retirement in the form of senior volunteer for outreach programs in the EESAT building.

Dr. Roland Vela retired from the Department of Biological Sciences at the end of the Spring 2000 semester, after 35 years of service. Dr. Vela served as Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and on numerous committees at the university level. He was also a member of the Faculty Senate. His research in bacterial physiology was recognized nationally and internationally as leading the field in the study of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Dr. Vela is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the Texas Academy of Science. He was editor of the Texas Journal of Science from 1975 to 1983. He was recognized for his teaching of microbiology courses, was active in the training of graduate students, and has taught courses in Spanish at universities in Mexico, Venezuela, Columbia, Argentina, Uruguay, and Spain. Dr. Vela was recently recognized as one of the 100 most influential Latinos in the millenium edition of Latino Monthly magazine.

Dr. Hoyt F. Watson retired from the Department of Teacher Education and Administration at the end of the 1998 Summer II semester, after 22 years of service. Dr. Watson has made many outstanding contributions to his students, colleagues, the department and UNT. He was a member of many professional associations, including the American Association of School Administrators, American Education Finance Association, and the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration. He served on many committees for the university and his department, including Coordinator of North Texas Regional School Boards Workshop, Faculty Senate, and Personnel Affairs Committee. Through his teaching, scholarship, and professional service activities, he has provided an outstanding level of service to the university.

The President recommends, with the concurrence of the Chancellor, that the Board of Regents grant emeritus status – or in three cases, posthumous emeritus status - to these distinguished retired or deceased individuals.