CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Twelve new department and unit heads on the University of Illinois campus were approved by the UI Board of Trustees at its July 12 meeting.
The new heads:
John B. Braden was approved as director of the campus Environmental Council, beginning Aug. 21.
Braden has been a professor in the department of agricultural and consumer economics since 1989, associate provost for the campus since 1998, and interim director of the Environmental Council since 1999.
He earned a bachelors degree in 1972 from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and two masters degrees and a doctorate in 1976, 1978 and 1979, respectively, from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Ron D. Chambers was approved as head of the department of speech and hearing science, in the College of Applied Life Studies, beginning Aug. 21.
Chambers has been interim head of the department since 1999 and a professor in the department since 1992. He earned a bachelors degree in 1974 and a masters degree in 1976, both from Texas Tech University, and earned a doctorate in 1983 from Purdue University.
Paul Alan Garber was approved as head of the department of anthropology, in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, beginning Aug. 21.
Garber has been a professor in the department since 1997. He earned a bachelors degree from the City University of New York, Brooklyn College, in 1973; a masters degree from New York University in 1976, and a doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis in 1980.
Suvir Kaul was approved as the director of the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, beginning July 16.
Kaul has been a professor in the department of English since 1999, and in the Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory since 2000. He earned a bachelors degree and two masters degrees from the University of Delhi, St. Stephens College, in 1975, 1977 and 1981, respectively. He earned his doctorate in 1986 from Cornell University.
Cary D. McDonald was approved as head of the department of leisure studies, in the College of Applied Life Studies, beginning Aug. 21.
McDonald has been a professor in the department since 1994 and its interim head since last year. He also holds professorships with the department of natural resources and environmental sciences in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, and with UI Extension.
McDonald earned a bachelors degree in 1979 from Purdue University, a masters degree in 1981 from the University of Tennessee, and a doctorate in 1985 from the University of Minnesota.
Robert D. Palinkas was approved as director of the McKinley Health Center, beginning July 24.
Since 1993, Palinkas has been a clinical professor in the Jefferson Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, in Philadelphia, and program director for internal medicine in the Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, Pa. He earned a bachelors degree in 1973 from William Paterson College in Wayne, N.J., and a medical degree in 1977 from the New Jersey Medical School.
Michelle Perry was approved as chair of the department of educational psychology, in the College of Education, beginning Aug. 21.
Perry has been a professor in the department since 1996 and its acting chair since last year. She earned a bachelors degree in 1979 from Brandeis University, and a doctorate in 1987 from the University of Chicago.
Andrew R. Pickering was approved as head of the department of sociology, in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, beginning Aug. 21.
Pickering has been a professor in the department since 1994, and its acting head since last year. He also has held professorships in the Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory and in the Campus Honors Program.
Pickering earned a bachelors degree in 1970 from Oxford University, a doctorate in 1973 from the University of London, and a second doctorate in 1984 from the University of Edinburgh.
Bruce Rhoads was approved as head of the department of geography in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, beginning Aug. 21.
Rhoads has been a professor in the department since 1992. He earned a bachelors degree in 1980 from Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania, a masters degree in 1982 from Michigan State University, and a doctorate in 1986 from Arizona State University.
Marc Snir was approved as head of the department of computer science, in the College of Engineering, beginning Aug. 21.
Snir has been with IBMs T.J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, N.Y., since 1986, and since last year has been a senior scientist and leader of the centers Scalable Parallel Systems Group. He also has held academic positions with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and New York University.
Snir earned a bachelors degree in 1972 and a doctorate in 1979, both from Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Paula A. Treichler was approved as director of the Institute of Communications Research, in the College of Communications, beginning Aug. 21.
Treichler has been a professor in the institute since 1995. During the same period, she has also held professorships in the College of Medicine, in the Womens Studies Program, in the Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory, and in the Campus Honors Program.
Treichler earned a bachelors degree in 1965 from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and a doctorate in 1971 from the University of Rochester in New York.
Stanley Yagi was approved as director of the Computing and Communications Services Office and as an assistant chief information officer on the Urbana-Champaign campus, beginning Aug. 1.
Yagi has been director of Information Technology Services at Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, since 1996. He earned a bachelors degree in 1967 from the University of Waterloo, Ontario.
Also approved at the boards July 12 meeting was the appointment of Paul W. Bohn as interim vice chancellor for research.
Bohn has been a professor in the department of chemistry, in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, since 1983. He also has held a professorship with the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology since 1989. From 1993-94, he was interim director of the School of Chemical Sciences, and from 1994-99 was head of the department of chemistry.
Bohn earned a bachelors degree in 1977 from the University of Notre Dame and a doctorate in 1981 from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
At its May 23 meeting, the trustees approved Richard E. Blahut as head of the department of electrical and computer engineering, in the College of Engineering, beginning June 21.
Blahut came to the university in 1994 after a 30-year career with IBM. In addition to his department professorship, he has been a research professor in the Coordinated Science Laboratory.
Blahut earned a bachelors degree in 1960 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a masters degree in 1964 from the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., and a doctorate in 1972 from Cornell University.