REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA - Key Persons
Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal, grew up in colonial French West Africa and has spent more than thirty-four years of his career striving for change through higher education and government service. He was the first dean of the College of Law and Economic Sciences at the University of Dakar. In the 1970's he founded and served as the Secretary General of the Democratic Party of Senegal. For the past ten years, he served as Minister of State and in March of 2000, he was elected President of the Republic. As President, he has played a pivotal role in developing policy and advocating for change in political, economics, and education in Africa. As a lawyer, he directly impacted the lives of people struggling for political freedom and human rights in Africa. His work with President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa to develop the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) is paramount in that it changed the international assistance model in Africa from one of dependency of other countries for help to one that emphasizes foreign investment in and empowerment for African nations.
Ancel Keys was a leading member of the University of Minnesota faculty from the late 1930s to 1972 and is now Professor Emeritus in the Division of Epidemiology. He founded a quantitative human biology and fathered cardiovascular disease epidemiology. His work has influenced the life sciences, affected the eating habits of the Western world, and contributed largely to the decline in heart attack rates in this country. The Keys Equation, 40 years later, is still considered the most precise and valid measure and predictor of the effect of diet change on blood cholesterol level. He is the author of numerous distinguished monographs and many journal articles.
Anne O. Krueger, former faculty member in the Department of Economics in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota (U of M), is a highly respected leader and influential scholar in the field of international economics, with a career spanning almost 50 years. She taught at the U of M for 23 years and then went on to join the faculties at Duke, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins Universities, where she served as an extraordinary mentor and role model to countless students. She currently is a senior research professor of international economics at Johns Hopkins' School for Advanced International Studies, a Senior Fellow at Stanford's Center for International Development (of which she was the founding director), a Distinguished Fellow and past president of the American Economic Association, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Science, the Econometric Society, and the American Philosophical Society. Krueger has advised governments and corporations across the globe and served in top positions at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. She served as World Bank chief economist from 1982-1986 and from 2001-2006, she served as first deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund. Krueger is one of only two people to have held both positions aforementioned and has been the only woman to do so. She pioneered the idea of the rent-seeking society in an influential 1974 article later cited by the American Economic Association as one of the 20 best papers published in the associations first 100 years. She has written numerous books and articles on economic development, international trade and finance, and economic policy reform and their forces on countries such asIndia, South Korea, and Turkey.
Job Titles:
- Author of Jitney, Ma Rainey
August Wilson is the author of Jitney, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, and King Hedley II. His plays have been produced at regional theatres across the country and all over the world. His work has garnered many awards including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987) and for The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony Award for Fences; Great Britain's Oliver Award for Jitney; as well as seven New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, and Jitney. The cast recording of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom received a 1985 Grammy Award, and he received a 1995 Emmy nomination for his screenplay adaptation of The Piano Lesson. In addition, he has written several one-act plays and the musical satire Black Bart and the Sacred Hills. Mr. Wilson has also received many fellowships and awards.
Beatrice Luoma Ojakangas is a nationally and internationally recognized culinary professional who has worked for over 40 years on preserving the culture and history of Scandinavian cooking through her cookbooks. She is a native of Floodwood, Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 1956 with a bachelor's degree in Home Economics. Since then, she has published more than 25 cookbooks and has been an editorial contributor to many national publications such as Bon Appetit, Family Circle, Redbook, and Woman's Day. The Finnish Cookbook (her first book) has been recognized as the absolute source on Finnish cooking in the United States and in Finland. It has been reprinted 25 times since it was originally published in 1964. She has worked as a consultant for Pillsbury and other food companies including Louis Kemp Foods and Chun King. She has also taught cooking classes and has appeared on several television shows such as the "Good Morning America" program and in a public television series called, "Baking with Julia Child." She is the recipient of numerous awards that recognize excellence and achievement in the culinary profession. In 2005, she was inducted into the James Beard Foundation KitchenAid Cookbook Hall of Fame, which is considered the highest honor in the industry that a culinary professional can achieve. She also received a Distinguished Alumni Award and was honored as a UMD Distinguished Alumni Speaker.
Job Titles:
- Professor Emeritus, Department of Veterinary PathoBiology
Benjamin S. Pomeroy, Professor Emeritus, Department of Veterinary PathoBiology served the University for the period of 1934-1981. His research accomplishments laid the foundation for the control and eradication of several diseases of turkeys, namely Salmonella typhimurium, Salmonella arizona, Mycoplasma gallisepticum, Salmonella synovia, Mycoplasm meleagridis, avian influenza and coronavirus. He is recognized nationally and internationally for his expertise on eradication and control programs. His professional activities included editorial and leadership roles in several national and state associations over a 50-year period. He continues to serve on the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council and Minnesota Turkey Growers Association. At the State legislature, he is a supporter of veterinary medicine and the University of Minnesota.
Billy Taylor has been at the forefront of the American Jazz world for over sixty years. He received national recognition in the 1940's while performing with jazz greats such as Slam Stewart, Eddie South, Stuff Smith, Coleman Hawkins, Jo Jones and Roy Eldridge. During the 1950's, he began a life-long interest in writing about jazz and giving lectures/clinics to music teachers interested in teaching jazz. He was named the musical director of the first TV series produced about jazz (1958), "The Subject is Jazz" on NET. He was also the musical director for "The David Frost Show." It was during the 1970's that he felt compelled to "organize his teaching materials," so he enrolled at the University of Massachusetts at Amhurst where he completed a M.A. and Ph.D. in music education. He has received a presidential appointment to the National Council for the Arts and was named Artistic Advisor for Jazz to the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. In addition, he is the recipient of numerous awards and honorary degrees.
Brian K. Kobilka, professor of molecular and cellular physiology and Helene Irwin Fagan Chair in Cardiology at Stanford University School of Medicine, graduated with a bachelor's degree of science in biology and chemistry in 1977 from the University of Minnesota Duluth. He earned his medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine in 1981; served in an internal medicine fellowship at the Washington University School of Medicine in 1984; and as a postdoctoral fellow and assistant professor at Duke University. He has worked at Stanford University since 1989. Kobilka's groundbreaking research has provided critical knowledge for scientists to comprehend the G-protein-coupled receptors' (GPCR) structure and purpose. His remarkable achievements have had a compelling impact on the future course of biomedical science, health care, and development of targeted therapeutic strategies. The findings of Kobilka's research group have resulted in several hundred publications in prestigious scientific journals, including Science, Nature, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. In 2004, he was inducted into the Swenson College Academy of Science and Engineering; in 2011, he was named a member of the National Academy of Science; and in 2012, he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Robert Lefkowitz for discoveries that reveal the inner workings of the G-protein coupled receptors. He is the recipient of other impressive awards, including the Nahum Prize, the 1994 Syntex Prize, the John Jacob Abel Award, a Howard Hughes Award, the 2004 Arthur Briggs Lectureship, and the 2005 Jacob Javits Award in Neurosciences.
Bruce Laingen, Ambassador and career diplomat, earned a master's degree in international affairs from the University of Minnesota in 1949. He is a Minnesotan who served in the United States Navy in World War II and in the Foreign Service from 1949-87. He has served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for European Affairs and as Ambassador to Malta. He is probably best known for his service as Chargé d'Affaires in Iran from 1979-81. It was during this time that he and 69 others were held as hostages for 444 days. Following his release, he served as vice president of the National Defense University in Washington D.C., until his retirement in 1987. He then served as executive director of the National Commission on the Public Service until it completed its work in 1990. He has received numerous awards and recognition, including the Award for Valor from the Department of State and the Distinguished Public Service medal from the Department of Defense. He has held the Sol Linowitz Chair in International Relations at Hamilton College, serves on several boards such as the National Defense University Foundation, and holds honorary degrees from a number of Universities. Currently, he is the president of the American Academy of Diplomacy.
Carl T. Rowan earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota in 1948. He is considered one of the most honored Americans in the fields of journalism, civic leadership and public service. He has been an outstanding journalist, writer and commentator for more than 40 years and has received numerous professional awards including five Emmys; the Peabody Award; the E.I. Dupont-Columbia University Silver Baton; the TBS Trumpet Award; and the National Press Club's Fourth Estate Award. Mr. Rowan is described as a trailblazer. He established one of the country's leading scholarship programs, Project Excellence, to help encourage and support young African Americans in pursuing a college education. He has also served as a naval officer, ambassador to Finland, and director of the U.S. Information Agency.
Cesar Pelli is an internationally recognized architect who has been pivotal in shaping the Urban Landscape around the world. A native of Argentina, he immigrated to the United States in 1952 and received a master's degree in architecture from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. He founded Cesar Pelli & Associates in New Haven, Connecticut (1977) and then from 1977 to 1984 was dean of the School of Architecture at Yale University. He is the recipient of more than 100 awards for design excellence including the Gold Medal, which recognizes a lifetime of distinguished achievement and outstanding contributions. Some of his architectural achievements include the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the World Financial Center in New York, the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, the Canary Wharf Tower in London, the Washington National Airport, and the Weber Music Hall at the University of Minnesota, Duluth.
Chandra M. Varma received a Ph.D. in physics and astronomy from the University of Minnesota in 1968. After finishing his degree, he joined Bell Laboratories where he had a long and distinguished career for more than 40 years. His research has had a profound impact on the understanding of the theory of high temperature superconductors, which is considered to be one of the grand challenges in condensed matter physics. He has also made significant impacts on other areas of condensed matter theory including mixed valence compounds and the mechanism for superconductivity in Fullerenes. In 2003, he was appointed to the position of Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of California at Riverside. He has published more than 190 papers that have had a very large number of citations. Perhaps one of his most famous papers (which is nearly twenty-years old) on the phenomenology of the normal state of high-temperature superconductor is believed to be the key to the understanding of the phenomenon. His work continues to be at the center of important debates in the field today. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Physical Society and the Third World Academy of Sciences. He is the recipient of the Distinguished Service Award for Sustained Achievement at Bell Laboratories.
Daisaku Ikeda is a peacebuilder, Buddhist philosopher, educator, author, and poet who has made countless contributions to our global, environmental, and humanitarian well-being. Dr. Ikeda is the founding president of Soka Gakkai International, a community-based Buddhist network that promotes peace, culture, and education linking 12 million members in 192 countries and territories around the world. For 39 years, he has submitted annual peace proposals to the United Nations, which in 2015 resulted in a Nobel Peace Prize nomination to the Buddhist lay organization he is president of. In addition, Dr. Ikeda has founded a number of independent, nonprofit research institutions, both within the U.S. and Japan, that promote peace through cultural and interdisciplinary collaboration. He is also a prolific writer who has published more than 250 translated works, ranging from commentaries on Buddhism to biographical essays, poetry, and children's stories. Dr. Ikeda is the recipient of over 200 honorary degrees, as well as numerous international honors, including the United Nations Peace Medal (1983), the International Tolerance Award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center (1993), the Rosa Parks Humanitarian Award (2008), and the Gandhi International Peace Prize for Social Responsibility (2014). His accomplishments directly align with the University of Minnesota and our state missions to foster cross-societal dialogue between researchers, practitioners, and citizens to fight for environmental quality, human rights, and prosperity.
Job Titles:
- President and CEO of Minnesota Philanthropy Partners
Eric J. Jolly is president and CEO of Minnesota Philanthropy Partners, a network comprised of 2,000 foundations, funds, and organizations dedicated to improving lives in Minnesota. He received a doctorate in psychology at the University of Oklahoma in 1984, and has served in roles as professor, dean, assistant chancellor, and director for affirmative action and diversity. From 2004 - 2014, Jolly served as president of the Science Museum of Minnesota where he is credited with working tirelessly and effectively to promote access and inclusion in science education for all people. Under his leadership, the Science Museum increased visitors, membership, funding, training, programming, and national standing. He is widely recognized for his work with communities and policy makers and has published articles and books and has lectured around the world about the importance of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. Jolly serves on numerous boards, including the Bush Foundation, Capella University, and the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology. He also serves on the National Academy of Engineering Committee on Guiding Implementation of K-12. He was appointed by President Obama to the Institute of Museum and Library Services Board. Jolly is a life member of the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and National Americans in Science, and an Advisory Council member at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
Job Titles:
- Chairman in Cardiology at Stanford University School of Medicine
Lorraine Beaulieu founded Project Union Outreach in New York City on September 13, 2001. This project was designed to provide services to the families of the unionized workers who lost their lives on September 11 at the World Trade Center, including restaurant workers employed at Windows on the World. She worked with professional experts in clinical theories and application and local community experts to plan and implement multiple family sessions using culturally and linguistically sensitive materials and interventions. Because of her leadership and expertise, graduate students in family therapy at the University of Minnesota were afforded the opportunity to participate in this service project. In addition to Project Union Outreach, she developed other community-based services for labor union workers. She organized and utilized the Building Trades Support Network to provide comprehensive educational/therapeutic services to over 1,600 workers who were traumatized by their experience at Ground Zero. AOL-Time Warner, Children's Aid Society of New York, and Project Liberty funds have been contributed to support her activities post 9-11. One person wrote, "She touched and transformed us all by serving as a role model of how one can rise to the occasion, confront their own fears in the midst of a chaotic situation, and persevere with compassion and hope. Ms. Beaulieu made the type of lasting impact on the lives of countless families and professionals in a way that is rarely observed."
Job Titles:
- President of Midcontinent Media
Mark S. Niblick is the president of Midcontinent Media and is recognized for his exceptional commitment to the Community-University Health Care Center (CUHCC), a community clinic in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis. CUHCC has provided essential medical, mental health, dental, and legal services to countless people without access to mainstream health care. He has served nine years on its board, as a member, chair of the finance committee, and chair of the board. He is described as dedicated and committed. He played a key role in the development of the board and the writing of its bylaws. His exemplary leadership enabled the clinic to reach new heights internally and externally. He has gone before the legislature to advocate for policies that would positively impact CUHCC, helped raise $800,000 for the clinic, and has been generous with his time and resources.
Reatha Clark King, born into poverty in the south in 1938, transcended significant barriers to becoming one of the nation's first African-American women to receive a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Chicago. She also has a master of business administration from Columbia University. Her early work in thermo chemistry aided NASA's space program. Her many public accomplishments include serving as president of Metropolitan State University where she had a significant impact and as president and executive director of the General Mills Foundation, where she oversaw its philanthropy and citizen programs. She served on numerous boards of several Fortune 500 Companies where she provided leadership in ethics and business. She has served on the board of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and as a trustee of Clark Atlanta University. She is a life trustee of the University of Chicago and the recipient of 14 honorary degrees in addition to many other awards. She was one of the Humphrey School's Hill Fellows in 2004 and continues to participate in the School's Leadership and Management area and on the Humphrey School of Public Affairs Advisory Council.
Rebecca M. Bergman, role model for women engineers, completed graduate studies in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Minnesota in 1979 after graduating from Princeton. Before she completed her University of Minnesota degree, Bergman accepted a full-time job at Medtronic in 1987, where she had a distinguished career as an engineer and leader in the medical device industry. She recently retired as vice president, Research, Technology and Therapy Delivery Stems for the Cardiac Rhythm Disease Management business (CRDM) to become president of Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota, starting July 2014. Bergman is a co-inventor on six issued U.S. Patents, a Medtronic Technical Fellow, a member of the Bakken Society, and a recipient of the Wallin Leadership Award. She was elected a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biomedical Engineering (AIMBE) in 2001, and she was elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) in 2010. Bergman serves on numerous boards and academic advisory boards including, the Board of Directors of Sigma-Aldrich, The Bakken Museum, and the Board of Trustees for Gustavus Adolphus College. She has also served on the National Advisory Council of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) of the NIH. Bergman has been an advocate of biomedical engineering programs at the University of Minnesota. She has also provided invaluable advising in her role as an industrial representative to the Industrial Partnership for Research in Interfacial and Materials Engineering (IPRIME), and in her role as a member of the industrial advisory boards to the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Institute for Engineering in Medicine.
Rodney P. Burwell, founder of Proform, Inc., has served on the Fairview Corporate Board since 1992 as member, chairman, and currently, at-large director. Throughout his tenure on the Board, he has been a champion for health care excellence and the improvement of care for the Minnesota community. He was instrumental in the successful merger between Fairview and the University. Because of his leadership and commitment, the Academic Health Center is in a position to better meet its mission of educating and training the next generation of health professionals. A talented and accomplished business entrepreneur, he has given generously of his time and resources to community service organizations. He has served on numerous boards of hospitals and educational institutions.
Roger Parkinson has been a pioneer in the publishing field for decades. He began his career at Newsweek Magazine as the director of special projects and quickly became a force in the publishing world serving as vice president of the Washington Post. During his 12 years in Minnesota, Parkinson served as president and publisher of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Under his leadership, the Star Tribune became the most successful newspaper in the region and won its first Pulitzer Prize in decades. Parkinson served as the chair of the 1990 National Olympic Festival and as chair and chief of operations for the Gorbachev visit. When he was told there were no state funds available for the Gorbachev visit, he raised over $1 million in a week to cover the costs associated with the visit. In the mid-80s, he served as co-chair of the All Star Baseball game and he also served on the committee that brought the 1991 Super Bowl to Minneapolis. After leaving Minnesota, Parkinson moved to Toronto in 1994 to serve as publisher, CEO, and chairman of the Globe and Mail, Canada's National Newspaper. He has served on numerous national and international boards and executive committees, including the Inter-American Press Association, the World Press Freedom Committee, and the IFRA (the international newspaper technical association, Darmstadt, Germany). Since retirement, he has been serving on the Advisory Council of the Humphrey School of Public Affairs as well as several other boards or councils.
Job Titles:
- Independent Consultant in Precision Coating Technology
Shuzo Fuchigami is an independent consultant in Precision Coating Technology and Technology Management. He began his career with Fuji Film Company in Japan in 1977 and it was during this period when Fuchigami first made a connection with the merging coating process research program in the Department Chemical Engineering & Materials Sciences at the University of Minnesota by placing promising young R&D engineers from Fuji in the Coating Process Fundamentals Program. This program continues today in the Industrial Partnership for Research in Materials and Interfacial Engineering (IPRIME) at the University of Minnesota. After he left Fuji he moved to Sumitomo-3M in Japan and after that to 3M-Maplewood, Minnesota. He served as president of the International Society of Coating Science and Technology and after his retirement last year, he continued his work as a consultant, speaker, and advisor to academics in Asia and in the United States. He is the recipient of five corporate awards and has six patents. He has also presented papers at numerous symposiums and conferences.
Job Titles:
- Owner and CEO of Starkey Laboratories
William F. Austin is the owner and CEO of Starkey Laboratories and founder of the Starkey Hearing Foundation, the largest privately held hearing aid manufacturing company in the world. He started the Hearing Aid Industry in the basement of his home and now the company employs about 3,700 people around the world. Approximately one third of these employees are Minnesota residents. The Starkey Foundation, now located in Eden Prairie, provides over 20,000 hearing aids to people in need every year. He received the Leader for Peace Award by the Peace Corps and was named Entrepreneur of the Year in 1989. In addition, he received the Outstanding Business Leader Award from Northwood Institute. He is described as a remarkable human being and generous philanthropist who literally has helped thousands of people around the world.
Job Titles:
- CEO and President of W. L. Hall Company
William L. Hall is CEO and president of W. L. Hall Company, located in Hopkins, Minnesota. His company has a long history and excellent reputation for serving the architectural and building community with quality products, exceptional service, and professional integrity. He is committed and dedicated to his profession, education, and the profession of architecture. He has been a key volunteer and advocate for the University, specifically for CALA. He led the fund drive during Campaign Minnesota to seek private support for the College's new building and has served on the dean's advisory board since 1986. He has also served as an advocate for the University at the state legislature. He is described as a leader, looking to the future, and a mentor and teacher of young practitioners who is passionate and enthusiastic about architecture. He has served on numerous boards and committees for the Construction Specification Institute and the American Institute of Architects.