Dr. Charles E. Kupchella was named the tenth president of the University of North Dakota on April 20, 1999. His official duties began July 1, 1999.
A native of Nanty Glo, Pa., where he spent one summer in his early years working in the coal mines, Chuck earned his bachelor’s degree in biology, with certification to teach biology and general science in secondary schools, from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (1964), and his doctorate in physiology and microbiology from St. Bonaventure University (1968).
Chuck started his career in 1968 as an assistant and then associate professor at Bellarmine College in Louisville, Ky. From 1973 to 1979 he was an associate professor of oncology at the University of Louisville and was associate director of its Cancer Research Center. In 1979 he joined the faculty of Murray State University as chair of the Department of Biology. He served there until 1985, when he went to Western Kentucky College as professor of biology and dean of its Ogden College of Science, Technology and Health. From 1993 to June 30, 1999, Chuck served as provost and professor of biology at Southeast Missouri State University, Cape Girardeau. There, he led the strategic planning for the university that resulted in a number of clear, focused initiatives to serve students and the region. He also was at the forefront of helping the University reach into communities from Kennett to St. Louis, and was instrumental in establishing program-to-program articulation agreements and specific cooperative programs with community colleges.
In his research, Chuck studied blood-coagulation adaptation in hibernating animals. He has also studied the effect of aspirin on the gastrointestinal tract and the properties of the extracellular matrix associated with the spread of cancer. Chuck, who holds the rank of professor of biology at UND, has published widely in his field of expertise. He has written three books: Sights and Sounds: The Very Special Senses (Bobbs-Merrill Publishing Co., 1976); Environmental Science: Living Within the System of Nature (third edition, Prentice-Hall, 1993, with Peggy Hyland); and Dimensions of Cancer (Wadsworth Publishing Co., 1987). He also has authored or co-authored more than 50 articles in professional journals and presented at
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more than 100 statewide, national and international meetings.
He is a past-president of the American Association for Cancer Education. He is affiliated with several scientific societies and was the author and co-author of various grants for projects in science and science education. He has served as a grant reviewer for the American Cancer Society, the National Cancer Institute, and other agencies. He is a collaborating partner in the National Dialogue on Cancer, now known as C Change.
Since 1999, he has served as a member of North Dakota’s Higher Education Roundtable, a group of legislators, business leaders, and representatives of higher education forging a forward-looking description of the expectations of higher education, the legislature and the private sector in partnerships to foster economic development in North Dakota.
Chuck has received many honors and recognitions, including being named to American Men of Science (1988), Who’s Who in Education (1993), Who’s Who in the World (1993), and Who’s Who in Science and Engineering (1996).
The Kupchellas both grew up in western Pennsylvania coal-mining towns. He was one of six children, all of whom earned college degrees (including three brothers with doctorates). Charles met Adele (Kiel), one of ten children in her family, in college while he was playing in a band. They married in 1963. They have three children — Rick (Minneapolis), Michele Adams (Johnstown, Pa.) and Jason (Bowling Green, Ky.) — and six grandchildren: Cory and Kyle (Adams), Caroline, Elizabeth, Griffin, and Julia.
Adele earned her degree in English literature from the University of Louisville. She worked for Biology Digest, owned by the Louisville Courier-Journal, and then went into insurance sales. Adele became a member of the Million Dollar Roundtable and continued working in insurance throughout moves to other universities. At Western Kentucky University, she worked for the public radio station as a development officer and then as a development officer for their libraries and museum. At Southeast Missouri State University, Adele worked in the development office.
Besides the social responsibilities that come with being first lady of the University of North Dakota, Adele has pursued many other concerns and interests. Prominent among these has been promoting wellness and nutrition across the campus and in the city and state. She was instrumental in organizing Operation Campus Friends with student government to support members of the UND family who are in military deployment.
An avid outdoorsman, Chuck enjoys fishing and black-powder hunting. He also dabbles in art, enjoys singing folk songs, and has even recorded a song. Adele enjoys baking, cooking, reading and sewing, and has a wide reputation as a gracious hostess and expert event planner. |