Appointments

College of Medicine dean, CEO of medical center named

Dr. Darrell G. Kirch has been named senior vice president for health affairs, dean of the College of Medicine and chief executive officer of The Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, effective July 1.

Kirch currently is senior vice president for clinical activities and dean of the School of Medicine of the Medical College of Georgia. He succeeds Dr. C. McCollister Evarts, who announced in September that he would retire June 30. Evarts has led the College of Medicine since 1987.

Kirch, who has an M.D. from the University of Colorado, completed a residency in psychiatry in 1982 at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. He then joined the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, Md. He eventually became deputy scientific director and then acting scientific director, with responsibility for the 22 laboratories of the intramural research program. While at NIMH, Kirch received both the Commendation Medal and the Outstanding Service Medal of the United States Public Health Service.

In 1994 he assumed the position of dean of the School of Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia. Kirch was instrumental in the development of several research initiatives including establishment of an Institute for Molecular Medicine and Genetics, a Vascular Biology Center and a Center for Health Care Improvement.

Under his leadership from 1994 to 1999, sponsored research support to the School of Medicine at MCG increased by 66 percent. During that same period, 16 endowed chairs were created in the school.

Kirch is widely recognized for his work on the neurobiology of mental disorders. He also has been active in a number of leadership positions for academic medicine nationally, and currently is immediate past chair of the Governing Council of the Section on Medical Schools of the American Medical Association.

New CEO to begin at Worthington Scranton on July 1

Mary-Beth Krogh-Jespersen, associate vice president for academic affairs at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey since 1996, will become campus executive officer at Penn State Worthington Scranton effective July 1. She will succeed James D. Gallagher, who will retire June 30 following a 40-year career with Penn State, including 21 years as Worthington Scranton CEO on June 30.

In her current position, Krogh-Jespersen oversees the budgets of Stockton's Arts and Humanities, General Studies, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Professional Studies, and Social and Behavioral Sciences divisions. She also oversees the summer school, library, instructional technology center and academic advising budgets. During her tenure, she instituted and became interim director of the M.A. in instructional technology, which has become the college's largest graduate program. She also shared responsibilities as the graduate dean.

Working with the college's president and vice president, Krogh-Jespersen designed a state-level mission change that encompassed 10 graduate programs with an eight-year academic and budget planning horizon for the state of New Jersey and the board of trustees. She also established the Stockton Graduate Studies Award Fund, coordinated the Governor's School on the Environment and revitalized the college's mentor-scholar program.

From 1995 to 1996, Krogh-Jespersen served as vice provost and professor at Rowan College of New Jersey. She also has served as dean and professor of Rochester Institute of Technology's College of Science, 1992-95; chair and professor in the Department of Chemistry and Physical Sciences at Pace University, 1990-92; and founding director and professor of Pace University's Honors Program, 1982-87. In addition, she has taught or conducted research at Rutgers University, the University of Maine at Orono and Universitat Erlangen-Nurnberg (Erlangen, West Germany).

Krogh-Jespersen has received numerous awards and authored or co-authored nearly two dozen scholarly publications.

World Campus has new director of academic affairs

Peter A. Rubba, professor and head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education, is the new director of academic affairs for the Penn State World Campus. As director of academic affairs, he is a senior director in the World Campus and second-in-charge of the Department of Distance Education. He reports to the associate vice president for distance education.

Rubba will work with academic departments across the University to develop certificate and degree programs for the World Campus, as well as for Independent Learning and other distance education programs. In addition, he will coordinate with University academic units and is responsible for faculty development.

Before joining the World Campus and Department of Distance Education, Rubba served as head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education from 1994 to present. He joined the faculty of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in 1984. From 1985 to 1988, he was the first director of the Center for Education in Science, Technology and Society. He was professor-in-charge of science education from 1988 to 1992 and a Continuing Education Fellow in the College of Education from 1993 to 1995.

Rubba's research has focused on K­12 implementation of science, technology and society (STS) education and science teacher development in STS. His research instruments on the nature of science and technology are widely used.

IST appoints academic director for Governor's School

The School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) has named Virginia Chapman Belser to serve as the academic director of the Pennsylvania Governor's School for Information Technology. In this new position, she will develop the school's curriculum.

Now in its second year, the Governor's School for IT is a five-week residential program for academically gifted high school students in the state. The program is jointly offered through Penn State and Drexel University. The program exposes students to outstanding faculty members, industry experts and the information systems of tomorrow.

Belser joins Penn State with more than 11 years of experience in educational technology and faculty development. Most recently, she served as assistant director for teaching/learning technology at Juniata College.

In this role she was responsible for promoting the development of technology skills in Juniata's faculty and staff members to improve their teaching capabilities.

Belser earned a master of science degree in educational media from Radford University, and bachelor's degrees in painting and French literature, both from the University of Connecticut.

Eberly appoints Paul Berg Professor of Biochemistry

Jerry L. Workman, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and associate investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, has been named the Paul Berg Professor of Biochemistry.

Workman, who joined the Penn State faculty in 1992, conducts research about the central process in gene regulation -- how teams of molecules function as chromosome-remodeling machines that unlock the cell's genetic codes. He and his colleagues expect their work to render new insights into the development of cancers and other human diseases that result from aberrant gene expression.

The Paul Berg professorship was created in 1995 by an anonymous donor in honor of Paul Berg, a 1948 Penn State graduate who was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 1974 and earned the Nobel Prize in 1980 for developing a method to map the structure and function of DNA.

Workman was named Penn State's first associate investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in 1997. He remains the only University faculty member to be so honored. As an associate investigator for the institute, he maintains his faculty appointment at Penn State while his laboratory serves as part of the institute.

Workman earned a bachelor of science degree, magna cum laude, in biological sciences at Northern Illinois University in 1979 and a doctoral degree in cell and molecular biology at the University of Michigan in 1985.

The Dickinson School of Law announces first Noll professor

Louis F. Del Duca, professor of law at The Dickinson School of Law, has been named the first A. Robert Noll Professor at the school.

The Noll professorship was created from a testamentary gift to Penn State from the widow of the late A. Robert Noll, a 1929 Penn State graduate who for many years was an advocate of the idea that Penn State should have a law school.

Dickinson Dean Peter G. Glenn said that Del Duca, senior member of the law school faculty, is honored for his "energy, enthusiasm and dedication to the law, especially to the law of commercial transactions in international trade."

Del Duca is one of the nation's leading proponents of the study of law from an international and comparative perspective. He was a pioneer in the establishment of United States graduate programs for lawyers from other countries and in the creation of summer programs in Europe for U.S. law students.