Press Release

Setember 26, 2006
Contact: Kaylyn Dines
(973) 972-3000
dineskd@umdnj.edu

12 Faculty Members Statewide Inducted
into UMDNJ’s Master Educators Guild

STRATFORD — During the 22nd Annual University Day program of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 12 faculty members throughout the statewide system were recently inducted into the Master Educators Guild during a ceremony held at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine.

During the University Day address, UMDNJ’s Interim President Dr. Bruce C. Vladeck, shared his vision for the future of the university and announced a five-point strategic plan with administrators, faculty, staff and students. Dr. Vladeck acknowledged the Master Educators Guild in the address and described the role these educators will have in carrying out the strategic plan. The Master Educators Guild will help administrators enhance collaborative activities throughout the eight schools statewide. The goal is to encourage interdisciplinary education and research opportunities.

The Master Educators Guild was created by former UMDNJ President Dr. Stuart D. Cook in 1999 to emphasize the value of excellence in teaching, consistent with the university’s strategic goal to continuously improve the quality of its educational programs. The Master Educator designation recognizes a long-term commitment to excellence in education. Master Educators have demonstrated exceptional teaching skills, creativity, scholarship and the ability to motivate students and garner the respect of their peers.

The purpose of the Master Educators' Guild is to recognize and promote excellence in the University's educational mission and to contribute to educational scholarship, research and innovation. Excellence may be demonstrated in any instructional setting including classroom instruction, hospital or clinic teaching, laboratory instruction, research mentoring and instruction, continuing education, community-based instructional settings or electronically mediated teaching and learning.

Master Educators are chosen by their deans from nominations by their peers, students, other faculty, administrators, and department chairs. Nominees must demonstrate exceptional teaching skills, creativity in curriculum design or innovations in the delivery of education, and currency and the underlying scholarship requisite for exceptional teaching. In addition, nominees should engender enthusiasm among their students and be regarded by their peers as an excellent educator.

The 2006 Master Educators Guild inductees are listed by county:

BERGEN COUNTY:

Dr. Debra S. Heller, of Closter, is a tenured professor in the Department of Pathology at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School. She is the co-recipient of the 2006 Public Medical Education Award. In 2003 she was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Honor Society at New York Medical College. With a career that began in obstetrics and gynecology, Dr. Heller has written numerous books and articles for peer reviewed journals.

CAMDEN COUNTY:

Dr. Anita Chopra, a professor of medicine and director of education and clinical programs for the New Jersey Institute of Successful Aging, is a resident of Voorhees. Dr. Chopra successfully contributed to the university’s educational mission by developing and strengthening the Geriatric Education on the undergraduate and graduate levels. Dr. Chopra’s expertise in geriatric education and proven ability to obtain educational grants is recognized nationally.

Dr. James Giudice, a resident of Haddonfield, is a professor in the Department of Medicine at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine and program director in the Department of Internal Medicine at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine. He is responsible for the development of the Pulmonary Medicine Fellowship, the Critical Care Fellowship and the Combined Internal Medicine/Emergency Medicine residency program. He has also made significant contributions to the American College of Osteopathic Internists.

Dr. Muralidhar Mupparapu, of Voorhees Township, is an associate professor in the division of Oral Maxillofacial Radiology in the Department of Diagnostic Sciences at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School. The recipient of several technology grants towards the development of innovative teaching programs, Dr. Mupparapu was the recipient of the UMDNJ-New Jersey Dental School’s Master Educator Grant award in 2003 and 2004.

ESSEX COUNTY:

Dr. Richard Feinberg, of West Orange, is an associate professor of Ophthalmology at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School in Newark. This faculty appointment gives him an opportunity to teach in two schools: the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School and the UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences.

Dr. John Reeves, of Montclair, is professor and vice chair of the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at the UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Science. He has held several faculty and administrative positions in higher education institutions including his former role as the associate dean of the UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. In July 1993, he began serving as a professor of physiology at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School where his principal research interest is ionic homeostasis in cell physiology, with a strong emphasis on the heart cells that play an important role in regulating the strength of cardiac muscle contraction.

HUNTERDON COUNTY:

Dr. Celine Gelinas, of Holland Township, is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway and a member of the UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. She was nominated for this honor by faculty, postdoctoral scholars and students. Dr. Gelinas is a resident faculty member of the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and a member of the Cancer Institute of New Jersey.

MIDDLESEX COUNTY:

Dr. Gloria Bachmann, of Highland Park, is an associate dean for Women’s Health and a professor of medicine, and a professor of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive services at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. This internationally recognized physician directs the Uterine Artery Embolization Program, providing non-surgical interventions to treat symptomatic uterine fibroids. In addition to being a clinician, she is an author and researcher.

MORRIS COUNTY:

Dr. Nancy Kirsch, of Rockaway Township, is an associate professor of physical therapy at the UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions. Active in several state and national professional organizations, she is chair the Board of Physical Therapy Examiners, past president of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association.
Dr. Kirsch is currently a member of the APTA Ethics and Judicial Committee, the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy Finance Committee. She also writes a monthly article titled, Ethics in Action for the National Physical Therapy Magazine. She was recently honored with the APTA's Lucy Blair Service Award.

SOMERSET COUNTY:

Dr. Kitaw Demissie, of Somerset, is an associate professor of public health and vice chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the UMDNJ-School of Public Health. Dr. Demissie’s contributions to medicine are well recognized. In addition to serving as a course instructor for the Introduction to Outcomes Research for six years, he also has developed a course titled, “Epidemiologic Research Methods II” for masters and doctoral-level students. In 2003, the UMDNJ Student Government Association presented him with the Excellence in Teaching Award. He has also published more than 70 papers in peer reviewed journals and academic books.

Kerry A. O’Rourke, a campus library director at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Library of the Health Sciences in New Brunswick and adjunct associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, is a resident of Somerset. O'Rourke provides academic and research support for the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and library services to the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. She is an active member of professional associations serving in numerous board positions including Chair of the New York - New Jersey Chapter of the Medical Library Association and President of the Health Sciences Library Association of New Jersey. She is a Distinguished Member of the Academy of Health Information Professionals.

OCEAN COUNTY:

Founding Dean Emeritus Dr. Frances Ward resides in Little Egg Harbor and is a nationally recognized administrator and faculty member who is a professor at the UMDNJ-School of Nursing. She earned undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees in nursing and is known for her success as an administrator, a faculty member and a clinician. From 1992 to 2002, she served as both the dean and a professor at the UMDNJ-School of Nursing.

UMDNJ is the nation’s largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and a school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.