Correction appended: An earlier version of this story inaccurately stated when renovations to Alice Lloyd Residence Hall would be completed.
At a University Board of Regents meeting Friday afternoon, University President Mary Sue Coleman expressed her sympathy for Ora Pescovitz, the University’s executive vice president for medical affairs, whose husband, Mark Pescovitz, died in a car accident Sunday.
“I want to again express our deep sadness about this tragic loss,” Coleman said at the meeting. “I know that the extraordinary outpouring of support and sympathy from the University community has been very meaningful for the Pescovitz family. Ora and her family are very much in our thoughts and prayers and will be in the days and months ahead.”
The sparsely attended meeting, which was originally scheduled for Thursday, was delayed so the regents and other members of the University community could attend the funeral of Mark Pescovitz, a surgeon and vice chair for research at Indiana University School of Medicine’s Department of Surgery.
The funeral was held Thursday at Congregation Beth-El Zedeck in Indianapolis.
In an interview after the meeting, Coleman said more than 1,000 people attended the funeral — including a large contingent from the University.
“(The funeral) was really hard for all of us,” Coleman said. “Dr. (Ora) Pescovitz was strong and wonderful, and we were very grateful to be there with her and her family.”
Regents approve $56 million renovation to Alice Lloyd Residence Hall
The University’s Board of Regents approved several construction projects across campus in their monthly meeting Friday afternoon.
Regents Julia Darlow (D–Ann Arbor) and Katherine White (D–Ann Arbor) attended the meeting at the Fleming Administration Building, while the other six regents participated via telephone to unanimously approve schematics for renovations to Alice Lloyd Residence Hall and the G.G. Brown Memorial Laboratories. They also granted final approval for renovations of the Edward Henry Kraus Building.
The renovations to Alice Lloyd Residence Hall will include a new fire suppression system, upgrades to the restrooms and student rooms, new living and learning community areas and improvements to the building’s infrastructure. These will include updates in plumbing, electrical systems, heating, ventilation, phone lines and Internet access, both wired and wireless.
Slated to begin after winter semester ends, the project is expected to cost $56 million. It is scheduled to be completed by the start of the fall 2012 semester.
In addition, the G.G. Brown Memorial Laboratories located on North Campus will gain 62,500 square feet.
In a communication to the regents, Tim Slottow, the University’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, wrote that the extension will improve research capabilities in the lab, which focuses on bio-systems, energy systems and nano-systems.
“The addition will house research laboratories and faculty and graduate student offices to support these emerging research endeavors, as well as spaces that will enhance the ability to realize ultra-high-resolution measurements at molecular and atomic scale,” Slottow wrote.
The project is budgeted at $46 million and is scheduled to be complete in winter 2014.
The $1.7 million renovations to the Edward Henry Kraus Building, also called the Natural Science Building which is located on Central Campus, will revamp 4,200 square feet of the building’s second and third floors.
The areas will be used for laboratory and support space. The project is estimated to be finished in fall 2011.
Regents appoint new School of Public Health dean
In a unanimous vote, the regents approved the appointment of Martin Philbert to be dean of the University’s School of Public Health starting Jan. 1. Philbert is currently a professor of toxicology and a senior associate dean for research in the school.
In an interview after the meeting, Coleman said she thinks the regents made “a great appointment.”
“I’m excited about it because he’s a terrific scholar,” Coleman said. “He’s very well regarded nationally in his field, and there was so much support within the school. The faculty were very enthusiastic about it.”
Philbert first came to the University in 1995. His research focuses on experimental neuropathology and the treatment of tumors of malignant gliomas, according to the School of Public Health website.
Philbert will assume the position that Dean Kenneth Warner currently holds. Warner is leaving his post to pursue research and return to teaching, according to a Nov. 29 Michigan Daily article.