by Cindy A. Abole, Public Relations

William L. Roper, M.D., MPH, dean and professor of health policy and administration, School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and former director of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be the keynote speaker as distinguished faculty and honored guests gather at MUSC’s second annual fall faculty convocation ceremony on Aug. 26.

The convocation, a tradition resurrected from older college days, will symbolically mark the university’s formal introduction to a new academic year. It is a festive occasion for distinguished faculty held during the first week of classes as a reunion of the university’s academic community.

“Our first convocation was a great success,” said Ray Greenberg, M.D., Ph.D., vice president for academic affairs and provost and 1997 fall convocation speaker. “It brought together a very substantial portion of our faculty around a central academic program. It reaffirmed for me that our faculty desires a sense of community and that we all want to reinforce the academic goals of the Medical University.”

At last year’s ceremony, MUSC president James B. Edwards, DMD., detailed the achievements of the university’s six colleges and medical center and unveiled specifics of the university’s strategic plan for growth and excellence in research, education and patient care.

“The primary reason for our existence is to educate our future health care providers,” said Edwards. “The convocation gives us an excellent kickoff to the academic year and reinforces that part of our mission to serve the people of South Carolina. Were it not for our academic goals, we could not push ahead in our research and patient care efforts. The convocation renews our sense of purpose.”

The chairman of the MUSC Board of Trustees and Greenberg will present the Health Sciences Foundation (HSF) Distinguished Faculty Service awards, Teaching Excellence awards, Developing Scholars awards, and Distinguished University Professor Award.

Recipients of the HSF Distinguished Faculty Service awards are: J. Richard Sosnowski, M.D., professor emeritus of obstetrics and gynecology; Edward L. Hogan, M.D., professor of neurology and biochemistry; Peter C. Gazes, M.D., clinical distinguished university professor of cardiology in medicine; and Maria G. Buse, M.D., professor of medicine.

HSF Teaching Excellence award recipients will be recognized as follows: the Educator-Mentor Award to Ruth M. Patterson, Ed.D., associate professor of rehabilitation sciences, College of Health Professions; and the Educator-Lecturer awards to Robert W. Ogilvie, Ph.D., professor of cell biology and anatomy, College of Medicine, and David C. Morrisette, Ph.D., associate professor of rehabilitation sciences, College of Health Professions.

The 1997 HSF Developing Scholar Award recipients are: Michael E. Saladin, Ph.D., assistant professor of rehabilitation sciences, College of Health Professions; Robert G.Gourdie, Ph.D., associate professor of cell biology and anatomy, College of Medicine; and David J. Cole, associate professor of surgery, College of Medicine.

Norman H. Bell, M.D., professor of medicine, College of Medicine, will be recognized as recipient of the HSF Distinguished University Professor Award.

“The first annual faculty convocation (1997) was an overwhelming success,” said Don Wiest, chairman of the Faculty Senate. “The faculty and the guest attendance was excellent. Comments received from the faculty during the reception and weeks following were extremely positive. I look forward to an even more successful faculty convocation this year.”

As a preamble to the 1998 awarding ceremony, Roper will address the strategic mission of education, research and patient care in disease prevention.

“I first met Bill Roper when he came to the CDC as its director and I was in public health at Emory. I had the privilege of watching him transform the CDC over the next few years. He placed a strong emphasis on prevention, raised the national visibility of the CDC, and equally important, brought substantial new appropriations to them.” Greenberg said.

Roper assumed leadership as dean of UNC’s School of Public Health in July 1997. While at North Carolina, he guided the school’s mission to improve international health and total well-being of the world’s population. Locally, Roper wants to promote better health care and the prevention of diseases in various North Carolina populations. Currently, UNC-CH’s School of Public Health is ranked as the top publicly supported public health schools in the nation and is noted for its research and academics focusing on health care reform, family health, workplace and environmental safety, chronic illness and infectious diseases.

A native of Birmingham, Ala., Roper began his career as health director of Jefferson County, Ala., and as the state’s assistant health director. He earned his medical and public-health degrees from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Roper was previously president of the Prudential Center for Health Care Research, a New Jersey-based national health-care management company. He is immediate past president of the Association for Health Services Research, and is chairman of Partnership for Prevention. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

From 1990-1993, Roper was director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention serving under president George Bush, and previously served on the senior White House Staff under president Ronald Reagan.

Celebrated faculty and honored guests will gather at 4 p.m. on Aug. 26 at the Harper Wellness Center’s Gymnasium.