Alumnus donates life sciences fellowship
A fellowship will be available for students in the Eli Broad Graduate School of Management starting in 2004.
The James M. Cornelius Guidant Foundation MBA Fellowship will go toward a student who wants to pursue a career in the life sciences industry.
Cornelius received his bachelor's and master's degrees in accounting from MSU. In 1994, he founded and chaired the Guidant Corporation. In honor of his contribution, the Guidant Foundation donated $400,000 for the endowed fellowship.
This is not the first time the MSU alumnus has given back to his alma mater. Cornelius, along with his wife, Kathleen, donated to the construction of MSU's James B. Henry Center for Executive Development.
Conference honors program excellence
MSU's Summer University Program Excellence Required program, or SUPER, was honored with the 2003 Noel-Levitz Retention Excellence Award at the National Conference on Student Retention early this month.
Noel-Levitz is a national education consulting firm and a division of Sallie Mae.
The MSU SUPER program allows underrepresented incoming freshmen an extended orientation to the university during the summer. The program started in 1988 and about 35 students are chosen for the program each summer.
Students in the eight-week program take 11 to 14 college credits, with focuses on math, social science, composition and learning strategies seminars.
Institutions are selected for the award based on the originality and creativity of the program, adaptability of the program for other institutions, identifiable and measurable program results, use of resources and clarity of program focus.
SUPER students have an 83 percent rate of retention at the university, which is 1.2 percent greater than the retention rate for all minority students.
Hospital CEO is given adjunct professor title
The president and CEO of Lansing's Sparrow Health System has joined the MSU community as an adjunct professor in the College of Human Medicine.
Joseph Damore has worked as the health system's president and CEO since 1990, and has been lecturing at MSU for 10 years without the adjunct professor title.
"For me it's just a real honor to do that," he said. "I've really enjoyed our partnership with MSU."
Damore is a regular lecturer at the college, as well as at the colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, Nursing and the Eli Broad College of Business.
"Many of the CEOs of the health systems we have partnerships with are professors," said Glenn Davis, dean for the College of Human Medicine.
There are about 20 joint programs between MSU and Sparrow Health System.
"He gives talks and lectures from time to time," he said. "(The appointment) represents their commitment to the university and to teaching students."
Damore said MSU holds a special place in his heart because he respects the college and the MSU community - plus his daughter is a fellow Spartan.
Damore specializes in health care administration and management, health care systems and leadership. He earned his master's degree in health administration from The Ohio State University.
Stephanie Korneffel
