Appointments

Inquirer staff writer named
professional-in-residence

Mark Davis, staff writer for The Philadelphia Inquirer since 1993, will join the College of Communications this fall as its Professional-in-Residence.

Now in its seventh year, the Professional-in-Residence program, co-sponsored by the College of Communications and The Inquirer, provides professional journalists with the opportunity to spend a semester at Penn State to take classes to strengthen their skills, teach journalism courses, collaborate with faculty and meet with students.

Davis has won the Keystone Award for outstanding news coverage and the Distinguished Writing Award from the American Society of Newspaper Editors. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a B.A. in journalism.

Penn State Public Broadcasting
names multi-media unit manager

Penn State Public Broadcasting has named Kate Domico as the production manager for its multi-media production unit. In this new position, Domico will oversee the Penn State Public Broadcasting Web site, and through Penn State Public Broadcasting's Media Solutions unit will direct projects for University clients who need Web sites, PowerPoint presentations, CD-ROM production and other computer-related communication tools. Domico's top priority at Penn State Public Broadcasting will be to assist in the transition to digital broadcast technology.

Domico was most recently the product manager for energy information software and services of OmniComp Inc./Enron Energy Services of State College, where she provided strategic direction for a suite of energy information software, multimedia training productions and services. Before that, Domico served as vice-president of Aris Corp. of State College, where she provided leadership in automation and product development.

Professor is named head
of Department of Chemistry

Andrew Ewing, holder of the J. Lloyd Huck Chair in natural sciences, professor of chemistry and adjunct professor of neuroscience and anatomy, was appointed head of the Department of Chemistry.

Ewing succeeds Peter Jurs, professor of chemistry, who served the department as its interim head since July 1998, and Steven M. Weinreb, the Russell and Mildred Marker professor in natural products chemistry, who served as its head from 1994 until he was appointed interim dean of the Eberly College of Science in July 1998.

Ewing is a leader in developing microscale techniques and tools for understanding fundamental processes within the brain's individual cells. His research has resulted in two major methods for monitoring nerve cells during their communications with each other.

In recognition of his research contributions, Ewing has received numerous awards, including the 1999 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellowship. He is author or co-author of more than 140 publications and currently is serving on the editorial advisory boards for the research publications Journal of Microcolumn Separations, Journal of Capillary Electrophoresis, Electrophoresis and Analytical Chemistry.

Ewing earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry, cum laude, at Saint Lawrence University in 1979 and a doctoral degree in analytical chemistry with a minor in biological chemistry at Indiana University in 1983.

Distinguished professor named Chaired Professor of accounting

James C. McKeown has been appointed the Mary Jean and Frank P. Smeal Chaired Professor of Accounting, one of the most prestigious faculty positions in The Smeal College of Business Administration.

The Smeal chair in accounting was
one of five positions created when benefactors Frank and Mary Jean Smeal donated $12 million to the business school. McKeown is the fourth professor named to a Smeal chair.

He joined Penn State accounting faculty in 1989, after having served 21 years at the University of Illinois. Much of his scholarly work focuses on empirical accounting research, forecasting and research methodology.

McKeown is the author or co-author of nearly 60 papers and has written several books including two computerized texts for first-year accounting students. He has served as associate editor of The Accounting Review and the Journal of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, and he has been an editorial board member and reviewer for several other publications. Before this appointment, McKeown was a distinguished professor and holder of the Ernst & Young Professorship of accounting.

McKeown earned bachelor's and doctoral degrees from Michigan State University.

Penn State Beaver employee
promoted to assistant director

Daniel J. Pinchot was recently promoted to assistant director of University Relations at Penn State Beaver.

Pinchot, a former reporter with the Beaver County Times and free-lance writer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, has been an associate in the University Relations Office since 1997.

In his new position, he will continue to be responsible for public information and media relations, advertising and marketing, publications and special events. Pinchot also will serve as the director of alumni relations and continue to coordinate the Brodhead Cultural Center summer performing arts series. In addition, he will assist in campus development/fund-raising efforts.

Penn State Erie appoints director
of humanities and social sciences

Clare Porac has been appointed director of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Penn State Erie. As director she will be responsible for faculty hiring, performance, development and promotion; curriculum development; and recruitment and retention of students in humanities and social science majors.

A member of the psychology faculty at the University of Victoria in British Columbia since 1974, Porac has been a professor of psychology since 1983. She is a fellow in both the general and experimental divisions of the American Psychological Association. She is also a fellow of the American Psychological Society and the Canadian Psychological Association.

Porac is the author of five books, several book chapters and numerous refereed journal articles. She served as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General from 1991-95.

Porac received her bachelor's degree from Duquesne University and both her master's and doctoral degrees from The Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research.

Penn State Wilkes-Barre
welcomes chief academic officer

Jeffrey Senese was recently named chief academic officer/director of academic affairs at Penn State Wilkes-Barre. Senese has been serving as associate dean at the University of Baltimore in the Yale Gordon College, where he also had been an associate professor and division chairperson in the Department of Criminology, Criminal Justice and Social Policy. Before that he was an assistant professor at Indiana University at South Bend.

Senese earned his master's degree from Indiana State University's Department of Criminal Justice and his Ph.D. from Michigan State University's School of Criminal Justice. His bachelor's degree is from Penn State, where he majored in administration of justice.

Materials Research Lab
names two to posts

Susan Trolier-McKinstry, associate professor of ceramic science and engineering, has been named associate director of the Materials Research Laboratory. Trolier-McKinstry is a 1992 graduate of Penn State with a Ph.D. in ceramic science. She is the recipient of a National Science Foundation Career Award. Her current research interests include electroceramic materials, ferroelectrics, structure-microstructure-property relations in thin films, and spectroscopic ellipsometry.

Michael R. Silsbee, associate professor of materials, has been appointed assistant director of the lab. He holds a Ph.D. in solid state science from Penn State and his research interests include low-temperature chemically bonded ceramics, the use of industrial by-products and high-strength/high-toughness cementitious materials. He is the author or co-author of more than 50 publications.