UC Trustees Approve Aventis Deal, New Officers and More

The University of Cincinnati approved a deal which will provide greatly expanded laboratory space for biomedical researchers. The deal involves a significant donation from the pharmaceutical giant Aventis.

In other business, the trustees welcomed the board's newest member, Greater Cincinnati businessman Jeff Wyler and approved officers for the year 2001. They are:

Benjamin Gettler, chair

George Schaefer, Jr., vice-chair

Michael Allen, Secretary

A summary of other actions taken at the Jan. 23rd meeting follows:

Trustees Approve Four New Degrees

The UC Board of Trustees approved four new graduate degree programs, including the first doctoral degree program in the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning.

Planning Professor David Edelman noted that UC has the largest planning department in the country without a Ph.D. program. The new degree would be a doctorate in urban regional planning, something Edelman said would boost Ohio's economy as well as the department's national reputation.

"We're already tops at the undergraduate level," Edelman told the trustees. "We want to reach the top at the graduate level as well." Edelman also noted that the planning department has been very effective in increasing the enrollment of women and minorities. "We have the largest number of minorities in DAAP. Of American students, two-thirds are women and one half are minority."

The other new degree programs were a master of science and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering (an outgrowth of the new biomedical engineering department) and a master of science in nutrition. That reflects the move of nutrition sciences out of the College of Education into the College of Allied Health Sciences, as well as current trends in the nutrition field.

Final approval for all new degrees must come from the Ohio Board of Regents.

Library Dean To Take Year's Leave
To Boost Work on UC Digital Press

David Kohl, Dean of University Libraries, will take a year's leave of absence at the end of this academic year, to devote his time to the development and marketing of the UC Digital Press (UCDP).

Kohl and Alice Cornell, assistant director and editor-in-chief described the progress made so far with the Digital Press during a special presentation to the Board of Trustees. Cornell explained how rare documents and artwork from a variety of collections are processed and made available to researchers and students on CD-ROM.

The digital format not only protects the originals from wear and tear, it enhances the information. "The software we developed allows us to present much more information," said Cornell. Images are linked to text, original documents, and maps - offering context as well as extremely high resolution reproductions of rare art.

"We've brought all this together, and we've done a tremendous job of making it all accessible," said Kohl. The first two publications from UCDP focused on the works of George Catlin and James Otto Lewis, who documented tribal life in the American West. A third publication is already in the works.

Clermont Building Named In Honor of First Dean

The UC Board of Trustees voted to approve the renaming of Clermont College's main building in honor of the college's first dean - Edith Peters Jones.

Jones is seen in this picture with an historic lantern. It belonged to Dr. Josiah Woodward who donated the land where the college was built.

Jones served as dean from the college's opening in 1972 until 1980. She was the first woman to serve as a dean in any Ohio public university.

Jones was a native of New York City, but enjoyed the challenge of serving Clermont County's rural population, focusing her efforts on job training and improving employment opportunities for the college's graduates.

She began her academic career at UC in 1964, teaching English in University College. Her wide-ranging career also included work as a news broadcaster, a machinist in a steel mill, and a member of the Mason, Ohio school board.