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May 4, 2006
Susan Beasy Latto, Director, UMD Public Relations 218 726-8830 slatto@d.umn.edu
Vickery French, UMD Academic Administration 218 726-7104 vfrench@d.umn.edu


UMD Announces Retirement
of Eight Faculty Members for 2005-06


UMD has announced the retirement of eight faculty members for the 2005-06 academic year.

James Belote, Assistant Professor of Sociology/Anthropology

James Belote came to UMD in 1989 to teach in the Department of Sociology/Anthropology. Professor Belote is a cultural anthropologist and has taught a variety of classes with emphasis on prehistoric cultures and cultural anthropology. He and his wife Professor Linda Belote have taken students to Saraguo and other parts of Ecuador during UMD's JTerm in 2004 and 2006 for an Ethnographic Field School. They both retired after completion of the 2006 Field School trip.

Linda Belote, Professor of Sociology/Anthropology

Linda Belote came to UMD in 1988 as an assistant vice chancellor for Academic Administration to direct the newly created UMD Achievement Center. In 1992 Chancellor Lawrence Ianni reorganized university administration with the result that the Achievement Center was placed under Vice Chancellor Bruce Gildseth and Linda became Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Support and Student Life. Professor Belote's love of teaching and anthropological research with the indigenous people of Saraguo, Ecuador led her to leave administrative duties and return to full-time faculty responsibilities in 1996. She was promoted to full professor in 1999 and received the Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award in 2005.

James Fetzer, McKnight Professor of Philosophy

James H. Fetzer, McKnight Professor of Philosophy, has published more than a hundred and twenty articles and two dozen books in the philosophy of science and on the theoretical foundations of computer science, artificial intelligence, and cognitive science. Founder and editor (for eleven years) of the journal, MINDS AND MACHINES, the former Marine Corps officer became the Director of the Master of Liberal Studies Program in 1986. Active in public affairs, he has published three books on the assassination of JKF, and co-authored another on the death of Senator Paul Wellstone. The founder and co-chair of Scholars for 9/11 Truth (st911.org), he frequently appears on talk shows about JFK, Senator Wellstone, and 9/11.

Craig Grau, Associate Professor of Political Science

Professor Craig Grau came to UMD in 1970. He has taught extensively in the Department of Political Science with special emphasis in American government courses. He has done extensive research in the field of state elections and lobbying, and is a frequent media commentator regarding politics and elections.

Linda Holmstrand, Associate Professor of Biology

Associate Professor Linda L. Holmstrand retired from the UMD Biology Department in January 2006. She has taught courses in Human Anatomy, Human Physiology, General Biology, Natural History of Invertebrates, Animal Diversity, and a freshman seminar on Invasive Species. She was the advisor for the Pre-Dental Club for the last 15 years. During that time she developed a strong relationship with the University of Minnesota Dental School. In recognition of her efforts she was awarded the College of Science and Engineering Outstanding Advisor Award in 2003. In addition to her service to students, Linda was strongly committed to serving the Biology Department. She was department associate head for the last 12 years, editor of the biology newsletter, "The Life Scientist", for the last 14 years, and the long-time chairperson of the Biology Curriculum Committee.

Andrew Klemer, Professor of Biology

Dr. Andrew Klemer will end his successful career at UMD where it all began, at the Lake Itasca Biological Station. He will teach one last May session in the spot where he was a graduate student in the 1970s. Dr. Klemer's deep commitment to social justice impacted his decision to turn his research to the emerging field of ecological economics. While he has taught many courses at UMD with an environmental focus, including Earth's Life Support Systems, Issues in Global Ecology, Lake Ecology, Advanced Lake Ecology, Ecological Economics, Ethics and the Human Condition, and Water Pollution Biology, he is most proud of his role in developing the Environmental Studies major in the College of Liberal Arts and the Environmental Sciences major in the College of Science and Engineering. In addition to his teaching and research at UMD, Dr. Klemer was also an advisor to countless graduate and undergraduate students.

Eugene Ley, Professor of Health, Physical Education and Recreation

Professor Eugene S. Ley is retiring from the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation after 26 years of service to university. Dr. Ley joined the faculty at UMD in 1980 as an assistant professor and director of the Dental Hygiene Program. Throughout his career at UMD he has remained a prodigious research and grant writer with many federally funded proposals from the U.S. Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HANES IV), National Institutes for Health (NIH), Center for Disease Control (CDC), National Aging Institute (NAI), and the National Institute for Dental Research (NIDR). He will be remembered by all his colleagues as a caring and giving individual with tremendous energy and a wonderful zest for life.

David Mayo, Professor of Philosophy

Professor David J. Mayo joined the UMD Philosophy Department in 1966. His primary interests at the time involved aesthetics and value theory. He was among the first generation of American philosophers to specialize in medical ethics after attending a 6-week conference in medical ethics in Haverford Pennsylvania sponsored by the Council for Philosophical Studies. He has been a Faculty Associate of the University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics since its inception in 1987. In the early 1980's he began to focus both as a scholar and as an activist on right-to-die issues, both publishing and speaking widely in connection with them, and serving on the boards of the Hemlock Society, Choice in Dying, and the Death with Dignity National Center.


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