Life Sciences Consortium names
graduate education co-director

Melvin L. Billingsley, professor and vice chairman of pharmacology in the College of Medicine, was recently named co-director of graduate education for the Life Sciences Consortium (LSC).

The LSC at Penn State represents more than 190 faculty members from 26 departments in six colleges on the University Park campus and departments within the College of Medicine.

Billingsley will work with C. Robert Matthews, professor of chemistry at University Park and co-director of the LSC. Billingsley is replacing Judith Bond, professor and chairwoman of biochemistry and molecular biology and assistant dean for graduate education and the MD/PhD Program.

Billingsley earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. degree from George Washington University and then did postdoctoral work at Yale University. He came to the College of Medicine in 1984.

Research assistant is new head of Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health

Lisa A. Davis, a research assistant in the College of Health and Human Development, has been named director of the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health, part of the Department of Health Policy and Administration in the College of Health and Human Development. In addition to Davis being named its director, the office was recently relocated to the campus' Beecher Dock House, on the east end of campus.

The Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health is a joint effort of the College of Health and Human Development and Penn State Cooperative Extension. Its mission is to improve the health of rural communities and their residents throughout the state. The office compiles, analyzes and disseminates information to policy makers, health providers, health educators and health administrators.

Davis also works as research and program development specialist in the college's Department of Health Policy and Administration. In addition to her duties in the college, she is a member of the Committee on Community Partnerships for the State Health Improvement Plan of the Pennsylvania Department of Health. Davis is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Public Health Association and editor of Pennsylvania Public Health News.

Penn State Beaver
appoints new librarian

Heather Lyle has been named a librarian at Penn State Beaver. In this new position Lyle will provide research and reference assistance as well as instruction, collection development and other library activities to assist head librarian Martin Goldberg.

Lyle worked since 1991 as the access services and reference librarian at West Virginia University, where she earned a master's degree in public history. She also holds a master's degree in library science from the University of Kentucky and a bachelor's degree in English from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Before her tenure at WVU, she held professional positions as a bibliographic services coordinator at Saint Francis College and as acquisitions/reference librarian at West Liberty State College (West Virginia).

She has published in professional journals and is a member of the American Library Association and the West Virginia Library Association.

Librarian promoted to head of
two libraries at University Park

Amanda Maple has been appointed head of the Architecture Library and Arts and Humanities Library in the University Libraries. A Penn State Libraries faculty member since 1994, Maple brings more than seven years of experience in librarianship to the position, in which she promotes and integrates the subject libraries' reference, instruction and collection development services.

Maple has been the University's music librarian since 1994. Before coming to Penn State, she spent two years as the music librarian at St. Olaf College (Minnesota), where she administered the branch music library and its music and dance collections. From 1987 to 1992, Maple was a library technical assistant in the New York Public Library's Music Division, where she assisted the curator of rare books and manuscripts.

Maple has presented numerous papers at the Music Library Association's (MLA) annual meetings. She has been a member of this association since 1990, and currently is assistant editor of its journal, Notes. In 1995, she was one of 10 MLA members chosen to draft a five-year strategic plan for the association. Maple also is a member of the American Library Association.

She won the Ida Rosen Prize in Music Librarianship from Columbia University in 1992. Maple holds a bachelor of science degree from the Medical College of Georgia, a bachelor of music degree from Augusta College, a master of music degree from Florida State University, and a master of library science degree from Columbia University.

Penn State Shenango welcomes academic adviser/career counselor

Steven Navarra has been hired as an academic adviser/career counselor at Penn State Shenango. In this position, Navarra will be responsible for helping students with course selection and assisting in their academic progress toward degree completion; meeting with students individually and in groups to assist them with issues and choices; setting up student workshops; and arranging visits for students to go to career fairs as well as conducting a Penn State Shenango career fair in spring 2000.

Navarra received his bachelor of arts degree in psychology from Penn State in 1988; a master of arts degree in student personnel from Slippery Rock University in 1992; and a Pennsylvania secondary school counselor certification from Slippery Rock University in 1995.

Before coming to the Shenango campus, Navarra was employed by the Career Assessment Center Inc. as a vocational counselor and assistant operations coordinator.

College of Medicine names
graduate education assistant dean

D. Eugene Rannels, distinguished professor and vice chairman of cellular and molecular physiology in the College of Medicine, has been named assistant dean for graduate education.

In his new role, Rannels will oversee operations of the Office of Graduate Education, including those focused on recruitment, selection and support of graduate students. In addition, he will continue to represent the College of Medicine on relevant committees of The Graduate School at University Park. The position was formerly held by Judith S. Bond, who remains professor and chairwoman of biochemistry and molecular biology and assistant dean for the M.D./Ph.D. Program.

Rannels is also a senior scientist in pulmonary biology in the Department of Anesthesia and director of the Program in Cell and Molecular Biology. He joined the College of Medicine faculty in 1971 and has participated in the Cell and Molecular Biology Program since 1985.

His research interest has been in the physiological regulation of lung growth, both at the tissue and cellular levels. His research has received broad national and international recognition and has resulted in more than 100 publications. He is involved in numerous professional organizations, including the American Heart Association and the American Physiological Society.