Three New Kensington
faculty members retire

Three members of the faculty at Penn State New Kensington have announced their retirements, after a combined 89 years of service.

n Barbara Uncapher has retired after 32 years of service. She earned a B.A. in speech from Denison University, an M.A. in speech pathology and audiology from West Virginia University and a Ph.D. in interpersonal and organizational communication from the University of Pittsburgh. She taught speech communication, organizational communication, group discussion and independent studies.

Uncapher is looking forward to her retirement. Her plans include continuing her research on a number of projects and finishing a book. She also is going to travel, spend more time at the beach and enjoy time with her family.

n Hilton Hinderliter has retired from his position at New Kensington after 30 years of service. His responsibilities included instructing several physics classes at the campus as well as some trigonometry classes the past few years. Hinderliter earned a B.S. in physics and a Ph.D. in physics from Penn State. His original career plan was to become an experimental physicist but he discovered that there were too few jobs. He began teaching at Penn State New Kensington, found he enjoyed teaching and made a career of it.

In his retirement, Hinderliter is looking forward to working in his orchard, which has virtually every kind of fruit and nut tree that will grow in the region.

n History professor Carl Myerhuber has decided to retire from Penn State with 27 years of service and emeritus status. He spent two years at University Park and the last 25 at Penn State New Kensington.

Myerhuber received a B.A. in history at Colby College in Waterville, Maine; his M.A. in history at the University of Michigan; and a Ph.D. in history at the University of California at San Diego. His responsibilities at the campus include teaching American, Pennsylvania, labor and business history.

Myerhuber has done a great deal of research in many areas with focus on the aluminum, coal and steel industries in western Pennsylvania and the labor unions that organized their workers. Publications include numerous articles on labor and industrial unionism and a book titled Less than Forever, The Rise and Decline of Union Solidarity in Western Pennsylvania, 1814-1918.

Myerhuber's retirement plans include fly fishing and railroading.

Professor was founding member of MRL

L. Eric Cross, Evan Pugh professor of electrical engineering with a joint appointment at the Materials Research Laboratory, has retired from Penn State after 38 years of service.

Cross is recognized internationally as one of the world's leading researchers in ferroelectric materials. He has authored more than 600 scientific papers, holds numerous patents and supervised more than 50 doctoral and numerous post-doctoral students. His research, which was key to the development of the $10 billion advanced electronic ceramics market, spans from theoretical concepts to practical devices and systems. Cross' invention of the composite transducer with Robert Newnham, professor emeritus of solid state science, dramatically changed the field.

Cross received his bachelor's degree with honors and doctoral degree from Leeds University in England. Before coming to Penn State, he was a University Scholar, assistant professor and ICI Fellow at Leeds University, and a senior scientist at the Electrical Research Association in England.

He began his career at Penn State in 1961 as a founding member of the Materials Research Laboratory (MRL). Later while serving as associate director of MRL, Cross initiated groundbreaking research activities in electronic ceramics. Before joining the electrical engineering faculty, Cross served as professor of solid state science.

Cross has received numerous University and professional awards, most notably election to the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the highest professional honor an engineer can receive. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Physics, the American Ceramic Society, the American Optical Society and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers. He serves as an advisory board member for the Defense Sciences Research Council, the academic advisory group to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and is one of the two permanent representatives for Ferroelectrics in the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics.

Although Cross has retired, he will continue to lead an active research effort at MRL.

Staff assistant worked in ARL for 25 years

Phyllis A. McGarvey, staff assistant at the Applied Research Laboratory, has retired from the University after 25 years of service.

After attending beauty school in Elmira, N.Y., and secretarial school in Williamsport, McGarvey worked as an operator for Sears Catalog Shopping before being hired as a University information telephone operator in 1971.

McGarvey came to ARL in 1979, serving first as a front desk receptionist and then as a technical secretary. From 1993 to 1999, she worked as a staff assistant in the Guidance Systems Technology Department.

In retirement, she plans to travel and spend more time with her children and grandchildren.

Professor emeritus taught for
34 years, founded laboratory

William A. Jester, professor emeritus of nuclear engineering, is retiring after serving on the Penn State faculty for 34 years.

Jester was the founder and technical supervisor of the University's Low Level Radiation Monitoring Laboratory, established to support the monitoring requirements of the Safe Drinking Water Act. The lab was expanded to provide radon monitoring services to the public and radiation monitoring services to industrial organizations. He also established and supervised the Radionuclear Applications Laboratory at the nuclear reactor facility in support of University-wide research.

In support of the nuclear industry, he has developed a number of sensitive radiation monitoring systems. He holds patents on two of these systems and used his systems to monitor the radioactive emissions resulting from both the Three Mile Island and the Chernobyl reactor accidents.

In addition to teaching graduate and undergraduate courses on radiation detection and measurement, Jester developed a number of public education programs on nuclear science and radiation.

Jester received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the Drexel Institute of Technology and his master's and doctoral degrees from Penn State in nuclear engineering and chemical engineering, respectively. He performed the research for both of these graduate degrees at the University's nuclear reactor facility and has been associated with that facility since 1959.

He is the recipient of numerous awards and is a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemists. Jester has authored or co-authored more than 180 refereed technical papers and chapters or sections in 11 books or manuals.

Associate professor gains emeritus rank

Hubert C. 'Skip' Smith, associate professor of aerospace engineering and director of undergraduate studies, is retiring from Penn State with emeritus status after 31 years.

Smith taught in the senior year capstone design courses, in which he advised four award-winning student teams that participated in the National General Aviation Design Competition, co-sponsored by NASA and the Federal Aviation Administration.

Smith's contributions to the University include developing the curriculum for and coordinating the associate degree program in aerospace engineering that existed from 1969 to 1979.

He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in aeronautical engineering at Penn State. He holds a doctoral degree in systems engineering from the University of Virginia and a bachelor's degree from Gettysburg College. Smith served twice as the visiting professor of aeronautical engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. His research interests include aircraft aerodynamics, flight mechanics and aircraft operations, particularly relating to aviation safety.

A pilot since 1952, Smith was awarded a Lifetime Honorary Accident Prevention Counselor appointment by the FAA in 1984. Smith's numerous awards include the Piper General Aviation Award from the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, where he is an associate fellow.

Although Smith is retiring, he still plans to teach part time and stay involved with students.

ARL senior engineering aide retires after 26 years

George D. Pytel, senior engineering aide at the Applied Research Laboratory, has retired from Systems Engineering after 26 years of service.

During his years at the laboratory, Pytel did sea testing in practically every ocean and sea in the Northern Hemisphere. After repairing a system north of the Arctic Circle, he rode a submarine under the ice for more than two months before surfacing at the North Pole. Before working at ARL, Pytel was employed by HRB Singer, North American Aviation and the U.S. Air Force.

He has received two Outstanding Performance Awards, a letter of commendation from Rear Adm. B.M. Kauderer, an Honorary Submariner award and a technical contribution award. He has served Ferguson Township as supervisor, and as a member of the Water and Sewer Authority.

In retirement, Pytel plans to stay involved in local government and community activities, and to hunt, fish and work on his garden. Above all, he and his wife, Joanne, will take time to enjoy their three grandchildren.

Several announce
retirements from University service

Connie L. Bjalme, staff assistant VII in Office of the Senior Vice President for Finance and Business, from Oct. 7, 1968, to June 30.

Russel S. Conrad, foreman, trades at Penn State Harrisburg, from Dec. 10, 1979, to June 30.

A. Margaret Gearhart, telecommunications analyst I in Computer and Information Systems-Telecommunications, from Dec. 1, 1975, to June 26.

Robert L. Jones, professor of family and community medicine in the College of Medicine, The Hershey Medical Center, from Sept. 1, 1978, to June 30.

Ellen Kimbel, assistant professor at Penn State Abington, from Aug. 16, 1983, to June 30.

Eleanor M. Kuntz, administrative assistant IV in the College of Medicine, The Hershey Medical Center, from March 11, 1968, to June 30.

Mary F. Musgrave, staff assistant VI in Student Affairs, from Sept. 1, 1975, to June 30.

Nancy G. Parks, staff assistant V in the College of Agricultural Sciences, from Oct. 22, 1979, to June 1.

Anne Smilowitz, administrative assistant I in The Smeal College of Business Administration, from April 1, 1980, to June 30.

Wanda J. Wagner, staff assistant V in University Libraries, from Feb. 25, 1981, to June 30.

Michael A. Wittman, assistant agricultural engineer in the College of Agricultural Sciences, from July 1, 1967, to June 30.

Emeritus rank

The following individuals have earned emeritus rank from the University for their longstanding and productive years of service:

Manfred Kroger, professor emeritus of food science in the College of Agricultural Sciences, from July 1, 1963, to June 30.

James F. Rooney, professor of sociology at Penn State Harrisburg, from Sept. 1, 1982, to July 1.

Richard W. Scholz, professor emeritus of veterinary science in the College of Agricultural Sciences, from Sept. 16, 1968, to June 30.

Frederick M. Williams, associate professor emeritus of biology in the Eberly College of Science, from Sept. 15, 1970, until his retirement April 1.