September 4, 1998

Faculty honored for 25 years of service

During convocation, University President Bernard P. Knoth, S.J., recognized three faculty members for 25 years of scholarly service to Loyola. The three honorees are: James Marshall Klebba, J.D., associate dean for academic affairs for the School of Law; Michael T. Saliba, Ph.D., associate professor of economics in the College of Business Administration; and James R. Watson, Ph.D., professor of philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Klebba, the Victor H. Schiro Professor of Law, began his career with Loyola in 1973 after serving as an associate with the law firm of Dorsey and Whitney in Minneapolis, Minn. During his 25-year tenure, Klebba has served eight of these years in administration, including an appointment as interim dean in 1989. He is a nationally respected scholar having published extensively in leading legal journals and publications. Klebba has lectured frequently in Eastern Europe and the former U.S.S.R. and is director of Loyola’s Summer Legal Studies Program in Moscow and Budapest. He serves as a volunteer attorney for the Legal Assessments and Concept Papers for the Central and East European Law Initiative (CEELI) and is the former chair of the Association of American Law School’s Section on Civil Procedure. On the university level, Klebba served on the Law School Committee on Foreign Programs (chair), the Law School Rank and Tenure Committee (chair), Legal Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees, University Budget Committee, University Honorary Degrees committee, and the Public Law Center Board of Directors. In recognition of his tremendous contribution to the enhancement of the law school, Klebba was invested with the Victor Schiro Professorship of Law in 1993. He received a juris doctor from Harvard Law School in 1967 and a bachelor of arts in political science from St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn.

Before joining the Loyola teaching community, Saliba served as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Oklahoma and an assistant professor of economics at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. Here at Loyola, Saliba heads the College of Business Administration Curriculum Committee and is former area chair for economics and finance for the school. From 1983­90, he was associate dean of the college.

Saliba believes greatly in service to others and remains an active and involved member of the Loyola community and the New Orleans community at large. He serves or has served on the university’s Academic Action Committee, Admissions and Standard Policies Committee, Board of Trustees Committee on Buildings and Grounds, Faculty Senate, and the University Rank and Tenure Committee. As a board member of Junior Achievement of Greater New Orleans, Saliba acts as a liaison between the organization and the business school. Thanks in large part to this fruitful role, Loyola was the leading organization in New Orleans in placing volunteers in the program in which college students teach elementary students basic business concepts. Seventy-five business students participated in the program last semester.

Saliba obtained a doctorate in economics in 1972 and a master of arts in economics in 1971, both from the University of Oklahoma. He received a bachelor of arts in economics in 1967 from the University of Alabama.

Watson came to Loyola after serving as a photography instructor at the Layton School of Art and the YMCA in Milwaukee. During the fall semester of 1994, he was a visiting scholar at the Forschungsschwerpunkt Wisenschafts theorie und geschichte der Förderungsgesellschaft Wis sen schaftliche Neuvorhaben (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft) in Berlin. In the beginning of his career at Loyola, Watson designed a curriculum for the philosophy major program which is still in use today. His work on various university committees and boards includes the A & S Dean Planning Committee, Salary Oversight Committee, University Senate (president), Academic Assessment Committee, and the Financial Exigency Committee (chair). In the community at large, Watson serves as a photographic resource person for the New Orleans Council for Young Children and for seven years he was a member of the Louisiana Council for Music Performing Arts project team. Watson is a prolific author having penned more than 35 articles for journals and publications as well as presented over 50 papers in national and international conferences. He has written six books and a host of book and art reviews. Also, he is a talented photographer who has had his works exhibited in Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Wisconsin.

Watson obtained a doctorate in philosophy from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Ill. in 1973, a master of arts degree in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1969, and a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy and psychology in 1966 from Marquette University.