Berks-Lehigh Valley Dean Gaige Announces His Retirement

February 4, 2000
University Park, Pa. — Frederick Gaige, dean of Penn State’s Berks-Lehigh Valley College since early 1997, has announced his retirement, effective Dec. 31. As dean of the college, he has overseen all aspects of administration, including academic affairs, student affairs, finances, fundraising and alumni activities for the Berks and Lehigh Valley campuses.

Previously, Gaige was campus executive officer at Penn State Berks since 1984. "Fred Gaige has played a major role in the development of Penn State Berks," said Rodney A. Erickson, Penn State’s executive vice president and provost.

"Under Fred’s leadership, there have been two successful capital campaigns, the campus’s endowment has grown, and major construction projects are under way," Erickson said. "Fred also has played an important role in the early development of the Berks-Lehigh Valley College, which now offers a mix of two-year and four-year programs carefully tailored to meet the needs of the Berks and Lehigh communities."

Penn State Berks is part of Penn State’s Berks-Lehigh Valley College. The college offers eight associate degree programs and six baccalaureate degree programs, including an associate degree in information sciences and technology and a B.S. degree in information sciences and technology.

Over the past 16 years, the Berks campus has grown from 1,000 students in four buildings on 135 acres of land to nearly 2,000 students in seven major buildings and 13 smaller ones on 240 acres.

Recently, a new residence hall for 412 students was completed at Penn State Berks. Ongoing construction projects on campus include a 16,000-square-foot Information Commons addition to the Thun Library, which will include a multimedia production studio, an electronic classroom, and technology pods for electronic research, and an expanded Perkins Student Center, now in the design phase. A major new academic building is also planned for the campus.

"I have been privileged to be part of one of the nation’s great universities over the past 16 years and to have had the opportunity to play a leadership role at the Berks campus and the Berks-Lehigh Valley College during a time of major growth and development," Gaige said. "Between now and my retirement in December, I want to move forward with a number of ongoing initiatives and continue to work at creating a greater sense of a college community among faculty and staff at Penn State Berks and Penn State Lehigh Valley."

Before coming to Penn State, Gaige was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, N.J. Gaige also was

involved in the study of nation building in Nepal.

He earned a master's degree at Brown University and spent two years at the University of Bombay as a tutor in history, before returning to the United

States to earn his doctorate in South Asian studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

He was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research in Nepal. As a result, the University of California Press published his book, "Regionalism

and National Unity in Nepal." He was asked by the U.S. Embassy to visit Nepal again after a 1989 revolution to predict the outcome of the first national

election in May 1991.

Gaige has been actively involved in many civic and community organizations, including serving as a member of the board of directors of National Penn Bank and on the boards of the Reading Hospital and Medical Center, the Hispanic Center and the Police Athletic League.

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For more information, contact Alan Janesch at 814/865-7517 or via e-mail at .