Academic Affairs

Joseph Cooper, a distinguished professor of social sciences at Rice University, is to be the new provost and vice president of academic affairs at Johns Hopkins University.Cooper was appointed Monday by the executive committee of the Johns Hopkins Board of Trustees. His selection was recommended by Hopkins President William Richardson."Dr. Cooper is a distinguished scholar . . . and a seasoned administrator who brings to us a wealth of experience," Richardson said.Cooper, who assumes his new post Sept.

The Johns Hopkins University has named Robert C. Lieberman, an interim dean at Columbia University and an expert on American politics, to its No. 2 academic spot: provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. He will take the post July 1, succeeding Lloyd B. Minor, who left last year to become dean of Stanford University's School of Medicine. "Rob brings a scholarly record and leadership experience, clearly marked with the 'excellence gene,' that will make him a wonderful partner for me and the university's senior leadership team as we work to advance our mission," Hopkins' President Ronald J. Daniels said in a statement.

An article in Tuesday's editions of The Sun should have stated that Nelson G. Markley, chairman of the mathematics department of the University of Maryland College Park, was named vice president of academic affairs and provost of the university on an acting basis.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 7/04/96

Dr. John Howard "Jack" Yardley, former director of pathology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who had also been associate dean for academic affairs, died Dec. 7 of a stroke at Gilchrist Hospice Care in Towson. The longtime Roland Park resident was 85. "For more than 50 years, John devoted his energies to research, patient care and teaching," Dr. Edward D. Miller, dean of the medical faculty and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine, wrote in an email to his medical school colleagues.

IN THE SPRING of 2001, Loyola College placed a job advertisement. The school needed a new assistant vice president for academic affairs and diversity. The last word, "diversity," is the key. It signals that self-conscious, and sometimes tortured, American effort to include all kinds of people in the national mix. Denys Blell saw the advertisement and thought the job description fit him like a glove. He has a master's degree in African and Afro-American history. That spring, he was associate vice president for academic affairs and diversity at the University of South Florida.

Frank Samuels, the former interim president and CEO for Wayne County Community College in Detroit, Mich., has been appointed vice president for academic affairs at the New Community College of Baltimore.He also worked for Milwaukee Area Technical College, first as associate dean for the adult vocational division and later as dean of the general education division. His job at New CCB began Feb. 3.

Ernest A. Lynton,71, a university physics professor and administrator, died March 18 in Brookline, Mass. Mr. Lynton taught physics at Rutgers University and was founding dean of its Livingston College, where a residential tower is named in his honor. He later became vice president of academic affairs at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and taught at the university's McCormack Institute of Public Affairs.Beverly C. Payne Jr.,77, a University of Michigan researcher who was among the first to develop quantitative methods for measuring physicians' performance, died in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The Johns Hopkins University has named Robert C. Lieberman, an interim dean at Columbia University and an expert on American politics, to its No. 2 academic spot: provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. He will take the post July 1, succeeding Lloyd B. Minor, who left last year to become dean of Stanford University's School of Medicine. "Rob brings a scholarly record and leadership experience, clearly marked with the 'excellence gene,' that will make him a wonderful partner for me and the university's senior leadership team as we work to advance our mission," Hopkins' President Ronald J. Daniels said in a statement.

Dr. Joan Develin Coley, professor of education at Western Maryland College and former dean of its graduate affairs programs, has been named provost and dean of the faculty.She succeeds Dr. David B. Seligman, who was vice president and dean of academic affairs from 1990 to 1993. Dr. Coley's appointment was effective March 8.Dr. Coley will be Western Maryland's chief academic officer and its second-ranking administrator. Her duties will include direction of all educational programs and personnel at the graduate and undergraduate levels, college-wide planning and budgeting, service on the Administrative Council, and serving as acting president in the absence of Dr. Robert H. Chambers.

VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AT THE COLLEGE OF NOTRE DAME SALLY WHITE ....................... SINCE THE BEGINNING OF HER TERM in the fall as the vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty, Sally White has been working to bring a school of pharmacy to the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. The program, slated to start next year, will be the first of its kind created by a women's college. In her spare time, White enjoys spending time with her family and playing golf.

— A popular diversity official at the University of Maryland is considering applying for the presidency of a historically black college in Virginia, nearly six months after the announcement that his position would be terminated amid budget cuts. The university publicized plans in November to replace associate provost for equity and diversity Cordell Black with a part-time administrator, effective June 30. The final decision fell to Nariman Farvardin, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, and spawned immediate protest, including a large November rally in support of Black's reinstatement.

VICE PRESIDENT FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AT THE COLLEGE OF NOTRE DAME SALLY WHITE ....................... SINCE THE BEGINNING OF HER TERM in the fall as the vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty, Sally White has been working to bring a school of pharmacy to the College of Notre Dame of Maryland. The program, slated to start next year, will be the first of its kind created by a women's college. In her spare time, White enjoys spending time with her family and playing golf.

Calvin W. Burnett, a resident of Westminster and former president of Coppin State College for 32 years, was sworn in yesterday as Maryland's secretary of higher education. He had been serving as acting secretary since Jan. 1, and last month was appointed by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. as secretary and chief executive officer of the Maryland Higher Education Commission. The swearing-in, which took place at the Carroll County Courthouse, included the installation of Michael J. Kiphart of Sykesville as assistant secretary for planning and academic affairs for the commission.

IN THE SPRING of 2001, Loyola College placed a job advertisement. The school needed a new assistant vice president for academic affairs and diversity. The last word, "diversity," is the key. It signals that self-conscious, and sometimes tortured, American effort to include all kinds of people in the national mix. Denys Blell saw the advertisement and thought the job description fit him like a glove. He has a master's degree in African and Afro-American history. That spring, he was associate vice president for academic affairs and diversity at the University of South Florida.

Ernest A. Lynton,71, a university physics professor and administrator, died March 18 in Brookline, Mass. Mr. Lynton taught physics at Rutgers University and was founding dean of its Livingston College, where a residential tower is named in his honor. He later became vice president of academic affairs at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and taught at the university's McCormack Institute of Public Affairs.Beverly C. Payne Jr.,77, a University of Michigan researcher who was among the first to develop quantitative methods for measuring physicians' performance, died in Ann Arbor, Mich.

An article in Tuesday's editions of The Sun should have stated that Nelson G. Markley, chairman of the mathematics department of the University of Maryland College Park, was named vice president of academic affairs and provost of the university on an acting basis.The Sun regrets the error.Pub Date: 7/04/96

When Anne Arundel Community College's Vice President for Academic Affairs, James S. Atwell, retires in July, he plans to move to upstate New York, teach part time, and maybe raise a few chickens.Atwell may well find he's the only area chicken farmer with professor emeritus status -- an honor bestowed by the college's board of trustees Tuesday night."Dr. Atwell has fulfilled his responsibilities, both as a teacherand as an officer of the college, with outstanding ability and with diligence to the needs of our community of students, faculty and staff," said college President Thomas E. Florestano.

Calvin W. Burnett, a resident of Westminster and former president of Coppin State College for 32 years, was sworn in yesterday as Maryland's secretary of higher education. He had been serving as acting secretary since Jan. 1, and last month was appointed by Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. as secretary and chief executive officer of the Maryland Higher Education Commission. The swearing-in, which took place at the Carroll County Courthouse, included the installation of Michael J. Kiphart of Sykesville as assistant secretary for planning and academic affairs for the commission.

WASHINGTON -- Novelist Walker Percy defined a ''deconstructionist'' as an academic who claims that the meaning of all communication is radically indeterminate but who leaves a message on his wife's answering machine requesting pepperoni pizza for dinner.Deconstructionists read things like Social Text, which will never again be called a ''learned journal.''In it Alan Sokal, a New York University physicist, has perpetrated a hilarious hoax that reveals the gaudy silliness of some academics.