Intercollege Research Programs
director
began career at Penn State in 1963
William D. Taylor has retired after having served Penn State since 1963, most recently as director of the Intercollege Research Programs (IRP).
Over the past 36 years, Taylor has held a number of administrative positions and served on more than a dozen University committees. He began his career at Penn State teaching biophysics after conducting post-doctoral studies at Penn State while on a fellowship from the National Science Foundation. Just eight years after coming to Penn State, Taylor was named a full professor and head of his department. For more than three decades Taylor, along with the more than 20 graduate students he mentored, studied the cancer-causing and mutation-generating effects that chemicals and ultraviolet light have on viruses and mammalian DNA. Taylor received funding for his research from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the National Cancer Institute and NASA.
During his tenure, he helped to establish the undergraduate curriculum for the biophysics department and spent a great deal of time advising undergraduates. He was instrumental in developing seven courses, including "Environmental Biophysics," "Introduction to Molecular Biology" and "Physical Chemistry of Biological Molecules," and in the early 1970s, was elected to the University Faculty Senate, where he soon became chair. Taylor continued to teach until 1989, when he was named associate dean.
Before becoming IRP director, Taylor took on the role of acting dean of The Graduate School. From 1993-96, he also was acting director of the Intercollege Materials Research Institute, and from 1990-92, served as acting director of the Biotechnology Institute. From 1989-91, Taylor held the position of associate dean for research and graduate education for the Eberly College of Science. In the previous year, Taylor directed the cooperative program in biotechnology; and chaired the molecular and cell biology programs from 1983 to 1989.
He obtained both his bachelor of science and doctor of philosophy degrees in chemistry from Manchester University in England.
Penn State Berks-Lehigh Valley
dean announces his retirement
Frederick Gaige, dean of Penn State 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. He 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 tailored to meet the needs of the Berks and Lehigh communities.
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.
Before coming to Penn State, Gaige was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, N.J.
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.