Paul Mann of Northern Michigan University's School of Clinical Sciences is the 2022 recipient of the Stephen Young & Tricia Kinley Distinguished Faculty Award, NMU's top honor for significant professional contributions to teaching, scholarship and service. Mann is associate dean and director of the school in addition to professor. He will be recognized at NMU's April 30 commencement.
“I knew I had been nominated, but I honestly didn't expect to be selected as the recipient,” Mann said. “There are a lot of well-qualified, deserving people on campus, so it was a surprise to receive the message that I was chosen. I am thankful for the donors who endowed this award for NMU faculty. Having it funded at that level by the current chair of the NMU Board of Trustees adds some extra prestige to this recognition.”
This semester, Mann is teaching hematopathology, molecular diagnostics and medical genetics courses and supervising two students completing practicums.
“As much as possible, I try to use case study assignments so students can apply the information toward modified real-life situations that have occurred,” he said, in describing his approach to teaching. “That's really useful and there are different ways to go about it. Sometimes I will help students solve a problem. Or I might give them the solution and talk about how we came to that solution and they have to determine what the problem was that started the process.”
Mann is also involved in glioblastoma research as a member of the Upper Michigan Brain Tumor Center. In that capacity, he helps students conduct research using molecular diagnostic and basic cell biology techniques. His major focus is developing rapid molecular diagnostic methods for glioma biomarkers.
With the onset of the pandemic, Mann took on an expanded role beyond his typical teaching and administrative duties. A Northern committee dedicated to the university's COVID-19 response enlisted his extensive expertise in the clinical laboratory arena. He worked with the committee to figure out the right testing strategy for the university, and helped the NMU Health Center acquire enhanced testing capabilities in case they were needed. Mann also worked with a community group to augment testing capabilities within the region.
During the summer of 2020, Mann offered a special topics COVID-19 course for NMU students who were going to be assisting with the fall Passport to Campus program, which included mass testing and masking strategies.
Mann's professional activities include serving on the American Society of Clinical Pathologies molecular biology exam committee, which develops questions for the certification exam and annually reviews the data for any discrepancies that need to be addressed.
The Erie, Pa. native originally intended to go to medical school. However, a work study experience in a VA dialysis ward and later volunteer EMT duty in North Carolina convinced him otherwise.
“I recognized that I just wasn't very good at working with sick patients,” Mann said. “Medical lab science was the right path because it allows me to be involved in helping people in health care, but not directly interacting with patients all of the time.”
Mann spent 27 years in the U.S. Army, serving in various lab management and educational assignments to include two tours in Iraq. He decided to retire and pursue a second career in academia. A well-timed position opening at NMU surfaced just as he was leaving the military. He joined the NMU faculty in 2014.
Mann holds a doctorate in pathobiology and biomedical studies from Pennsylvania State University, a certificate in clinical laboratory science from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Methodist College in Fayetteville, N.C.