University of Pittsburgh Faculty Honored as University, Distinguished Service Professors

PITTSBURGH--The University of Pittsburgh is honoring two faculty members, one as Distinguished Service Professor and one as University Professor.

Malcolm R. McNeil is being named Distinguished Service Professor of Communication Science and Disorders and Alan J. Russell is being named University Professor of Surgery. University Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg made the appointments, which become effective June 1, based on the recommendations of Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor James V. Maher and Senior Vice Chancellor for the Health Sciences Arthur S. Levine.

The rank of Distinguished Service Professor recognizes distinctive contributions and outstanding service to the University community in support of its multifaceted teaching/research/service mission. The title of University Professor is given in recognition of eminence in several fields of study, transcending accomplishment in, and contributions to, a single discipline.

Biographical information on the faculty honorees follows.

Malcolm R. McNeil

McNeil is professor and chair of the Department of Communication Science and Disorders in Pitt's School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (SHRS) and an adjunct professor of otolaryngology in the University's School of Medicine. He also is a senior research scientist in the Veterans' Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System's Speech Pathology and Audiology Service, as well as cofounder and codirector of the Pittsburgh Aphasia Treatment, Research, and Education Center.

McNeil's primary research is in the area of motor speech disorders. Currently, he is developing a computer program for assessing resource allocation in persons with aphasia and in their communicative partners.

At Pitt since 1992, McNeil has given many invited talks and authored numerous articles, books, and book chapters. He is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Sigma Xi, the Academy of Aphasia, and the Academy of Neurologic Communication Disorders and Sciences, and serves as an editorial consultant to and on the editorial boards of several journals. McNeil received the Bachelor of Science degree in health and physical education and the Master of Arts degree in speech pathology from Northern Michigan University in 1969 and 1971, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in speech pathology from the University of Denver in 1977.

Alan J. Russell

Russell is a professor of surgery in the School of Medicine, of bioengineering and chemical engineering in Pitt's School of Engineering, and of rehabilitation science and technology in SHRS. He also serves as director of the University's McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, executive director of the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative, and director of the National Tissue Engineering Center.

Among Russell's many honors are the R&D 100 Award, which the Chicago Tribune called "the Oscars® of Invention"; the American Cyanamid Research Award; and the Carnegie Science Center Award for Excellence in Science and Technology. He is a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Molecular Catalysis B: Enzymatic, the Encyclopedia of Catalysis, and Biocatalysis and Biotransformation.

Russell earned the Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry and applied molecular biology at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in Manchester, England, in 1984 and the Ph.D. degree in biological chemistry at the Imperial College of the University of London in 1987. He joined Pitt as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering in 1989. In 1995, he became Nickolas A. DeCecco Professor and was chair of the Department of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering from 1995 to 2001. In 1999, he cofounded Agentase LLC, a highly successful Pittsburgh biotechnology company, and became executive director of the Pittsburgh Tissue Engineering Initiative. In 2001, Russell was appointed director of the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

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