Penn Staters
Penn State Intercom......August 9, 2001

Dinesh Agrawal, professor of materials and director of Microwave Processing and Engineering Center in the Materials Research Institute, gave invited talks on "Microwave Processing of Ceramics, Composites and Metallic Materials" at Forschungzentrum Karlsruhe, Germany, and University at Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. He also gave a talk on "Microstructural Examination by TEM of WC/Co Composites Prepared by Conventional and Microwave Processes" at the 15th International Plansee Seminar, held at Reutte/Tyrol, Austria.

Deanna Behring, director for international programs, was named to the board of directors of the U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Foundation by Carmel Vernia, chief scientist of the Israel Ministry of Industry and Trade. The foundation, the administrative arm of the U.S.-Israel Science and Technology Commission, implements the policies and programs determined by the commission to fulfill its mission of fostering collaboration in science and technology between American and Israeli industry.

Refik Culpan, professor of management at Penn State Harrisburg, presented a paper, "Consolidations and Alliances in Global Automobile Manufacturing," at the Managing in a Global Economy IX Conference of Eastern Academy of Management in San Jose, Costa Rica. The paper is included in the conference proceeding CD-ROM.

WPSU-FM Producer Cindi Deutschman, won an honorable mention in the Gracie Allen Awards from the Foundation for American Women in Radio and Television for the hourlong documentary "Pam's Story." The documentary relates the experience of Deutschman's sister Pam, going through a pregnancy following a stillbirth. This documentary was produced for the national program series "The Infinite Mind." It also aired on WPSU-FM. The foundation seeks to acknowledge programming by and about women via the annual Gracie Allen Awards, which recognize programming that portrays women in a positive and realistic way and addresses issues of concern to women.

Dolores Fidishun, head librarian of the Penn State Great Valley Library, was recently elected to the Women's Studies Section of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Libraries Association. Fidishun will spend her first year as vice chair, her second year as chair and her third year as past chair, which includes chairing the section's Awards Committee.

Lee Samuel Finn, associate professor of physics, presented an invited paper titled "Perspectives on Detector Networks and Noise" at the Fourth Edoardo Amaldi Conference on Gravitational Waves at the University of Western Australia in Perth.

Garo Goodrow, exhibits designer in information and communication technologies, received a Gold Award from the Agricultural Communicators in Education. His exhibit, "When Smoking is Not a Choice," received first prize out of 440 entries in this year's program. Goodrow will receive the award at group's international meeting in Toronto.

David L. Hall, associate dean for research and graduate programs in the School of Information Sciences and Technology, has received the Joe Mignogna Data Fusion Award, a national honor. The award was presented at the recent National Symposium on Sensor and Data Fusion Conference held in San Diego, Calif.

Carol Hodes, senior project associate in agricultural and extension education, was elected vice president of the national Graduate Women in Science organization, headquartered in Minnesota. The three-year term begins this month.

Jim Kerlin, director of education outreach in the Center for Education Technology Services, served as panel chair for the Computer Science-Engineering-and Mathematics Scholarship Program Review held in Washington, D.C. The National Science Foundation invited Kerlin to serve.

Darlene Jury Kim, staff assistant to the regional director for the South Central region, received the Communicator's Award of Distinction from The Communicator Awards' 2001 Print Media Competition for The State College Jaycees Monthly Newsletter. Entries are judged by industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose excellent work can serve as a benchmark for the industry.

George Makhatadze, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology in the College of Medicine, was invited to serve on the editorial board of the Journal of Biological Chemistry, published by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Jacqueline S. McLaughlin was recently selected as the recipient of the 2001 Four-Year College and University Outstanding Teaching Award by the National Association of Biology Teachers and Benjamin Cummings Publishers. The association is composed of more than 9,000 biology educators and administrators from the United States and abroad.

Andrew McNitt, assistant professor of soil science, received the 2000 Dr. William H. Daniel Award from the Sports Turf Managers Association at their annual conference in Tampa, Fla.

Kenneth L. Miller, professor of radiology and director of the Division of Health Physics in the College of Medicine, recently was elected to a second six-year term with the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements. The council is a nonprofit corporation chartered by Congress in 1964 to serve the public interest regarding radiation and to encourage cooperation among organizations concerned with the scientific and related aspects of radiation. The council currently has 90 members.

Joe Paterno, football coach and philanthropist, has received the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission's 2001 "Pennsylvania Founder's Award." The award recognizes Paterno's lifelong contributions to the Commonwealth and the nation through his teaching, coaching and philanthropy. The Pennsylvania Founder's Award was created in 1997 to recognize annually an outstanding citizen who has made significant contributions to Pennsylvania in the spirit of William Penn, whose principles included respect for individual rights, religious toleration, representative government, public support for education and free enterprise. Paterno was selected through a formal nomination process, followed by an independent panel review.

The National Council for Marketing and Public Relations honored Pennsylvania College of Technology with three Paragon Awards for its television programming and quarterly magazine. The awards recognize outstanding achievement by communications professionals at two-year and technical colleges. "You're the Chef," Penn College's cooking series on PBS, won a Gold Award in the College Video Program category for the episode "Derby Dinner." Paul Mach, assistant professor of food and hospitality management/culinary arts in Penn College's School of Hospitality, and Tom Speicher, broadcast media specialist at the college, are hosts for the nationally distributed public television series. "Penn College & You," the college's public affairs program, won a Bronze Award in the College Video Program category for the episode "Digital Video Editing." The program featured the expertise of guest Bruce Huffman, coordinator of digital media production at Penn College. Huffman also created the digital media for the show and edited the episode. Speicher serves as host and executive producer of the series. One College Avenue, the college's quarterly magazine, won a Bronze Award in the Newsletter Category. The magazine is edited by Tom Wilson, college editor/assistant director of college information and community relations.

For the 12th time in the 15 years it has been eligible, the University has received honorable mention recognition by the American Football Coaches Association in the organization's Academic Achievement Award tabulation. Penn State was one of 30 Division I-A institutions to be recognized for having a graduation rate of 70 percent or better for student-athletes who were freshmen during the 1995-96 academic year. In the 2000 NCAA Graduation Rate Report, the University's football players had a four-year graduation rate of 75 percent, significantly above the national four-year average of 50 percent. The Nittany Lions have had 69 Academic All-Big Ten selections in football from 1996-2000, the most of any conference institution.

Sherry Robinson, assistant professor of business administration, received the John Jack Best Paper Award given by The Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship at the U.S. Association for Small Business Entrepreneurship 2001 annual conference. The topic of Robinson's paper was "The Influence of Entrepreneurial Moves on the Way Rural Women Small Business Owners Manage Their Employees."

Sandra J. Savignon, professor of applied linguistics in the Program in Linguistics and Applied Language Studies gave the plenary address at the 18th Annual Taiwan Conference on English held in Taipei. She also was a featured speaker at an International Conference on English Language Learning and Teaching, held by Ming Chuan University, Taipei.

John S. Shenk, professor emeritus, gave an invited lecture at a joint meeting sponsored by the National Center for Quality Supervision and Test of Feed and the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture Feed Industry Center in Beijing. He also participated in the 10th International Near Infrared Conference in Kyongju, South Korea. Shenk was named a Fellow by the Committee for Near Infrared Spectroscopy, an award given for excellence in research mentorship to the NIRS community and a continuing distinguished career.

Bonj Szczygiel, assistant professor of landscape architecture and associate director of the Center for Studies in Landscape History, received the 2001 Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture Award of Recognition. The award is given annually to two young scholars for significant contributions to landscape architecture through excellence in teaching, research and service.

Dennis R. Williams, associate professor of business administration at Pennsylvania College of Technology, has been named a Sam M. Walton Free Enterprise Fellow for the Students in Free Enterprise team at the college. The Fellowship, created in 1990 by the Wal-Mart Foundation, is named for Samuel More Walton, founder and chairman of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

WPSU-FM, the University's public radio station, has been recognized for outstanding performance at the recent Public Radio Development and Marketing Conference in Phoenix, Ariz. It was named the top small market radio station in two of five categories in public radio development. WPSU's Web site and overall membership efforts were cited as No. 1 in the nation for stations with weekly audiences of 50,000 and fewer.

Back