Three named SUNY distinguished profs

By MARY BETH SPINA
News Services Editor

Three UB faculty members have joined the ranks of distinguished professors appointed by the State University of New York Board of Trustees.

James E. McConnell, professor of geography, was appointed a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor.

Norman D. Mohl, professor and chair of oral diagnostics, has been named Distinguished Service Professor.

William J. Rae, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, has been named Distinguished Teaching Professor.

The rank of distinguished professor, the highest faculty rank in the SUNY system, is an order above full professorship and has three co-equal designations: distinguished professor, distinguished service professor and distinguished teaching professor.

McConnell serves as coordinator of the geography department's graduate and undergraduate programs in international trade and associate director of the Canada-U.S. Trade Center, a research center housed in the department. He was director of the trade center from 1988-95 and chair of the department from 1983-88 and 1994-99.

A UB faculty member since 1968, McConnell's teaching and research interests are in the areas of international business, industrial location and regional growth and development. The focus of his current work includes regional economic-development strategies for international border areas, government trade and industry policy for declining industries, prospects for a Western Hemisphere free-trade area, and exports from U.S. metropolitan areas and economic impact on related firms and city-regions.

He has received more than $1.44 million in research grants and/or contracts from such entities as the National Science Foundation, the Small Business Administration, the Economic Development Administration, the U.S. departments of Commerce and Education, and the Canadian government, as well as private- and public-sector firms and agencies within New York State.

He has authored or co-authored numerous books, book chapters, monographs and articles for scholarly journals, and presented lectures and papers at professional meetings.

McConnell received a bachelor's degree from Slippery Rock State College, a master's degree from Miami University (Ohio) and a doctorate from The Ohio State University.

Mohl is widely recognized as a pioneering clinical investigator and dental educator. A specialist in the diagnosis and treatment of temporomandibular joint disorders (TMD), he has championed quality patient care through his outspoken efforts to encourage members of the profession to conduct, publish and use scientifically based information to diagnose and treat TMD and other oral-health problems.

For more than 30 years, Mohl has published his research findings in the Journal of the American Dental Association, the Journal of Dental Education, and the Journal of Orofacial Pain.

He also has published in and served on the editorial review board of the Journal of Prosthetic Dentistry and co-edited texts including "A Textbook of Occlusion" and "Temporomandibular Joint and Masticatory Muscle Disorders."

A UB graduate, Mohl became a part-time member of the dental faculty in 1959 while in private practice. He became a full-time faculty member in 1968.

Active on numerous university and professional committees, he is a member of many national dental organizations and has served as a consultant to the American Dental Association, the National Institute for Dental Health and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

Rae has received many honors and awards for his love of teaching and dedication to educating engineering students.

He joined UB's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in 1983 after a 30-year career as a research scientist and key engineer with the former Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, later the Arvin/Calspan Advanced Technology Center.

In 1993, he received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching and was selected by UB's Student Association as one of 27 professors to be included in the "best professors" section of the 1991-92 "User's Guide to UB."

Rae is the recipient of the Most Helpful Teacher Award from the UB student chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), as well as the Carl Naish Award from the Students Association of Millard Fillmore College for his unselfish dedication to MFC students.

Formerly associate dean of engineering for graduate affairs, he has served on many university committees, most recently the university-wide undergraduate curriculum committee. He currently is chair of the mechanical-engineering undergraduate committee and has served on the board of the Catholic Campus Ministry Foundation.