Penn Staters
Penn State Intercom......March 29, 2001

Alberto F. Cabrera, associate professor of education policy and research associate in the Center for the Study of Higher Education, was an invited respondent to the Congressional Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance in Washington D.C. Cabrera's research findings, published as "On the Path to College: Three Critical Tasks Facing America's Disadvantaged," were the foundation for his remarks.

A Penn State extension and research program developed in response to an outbreak of plum pox -- a viral disease of peaches and other stone fruits -- has been recognized with Awards of Excellence from both the Northeast Extension Directors and the Northeast Experiment Station Directors. Members of the project team include plant pathologist Herbert Cole, professor of agricultural sciences; Thomas Garretson, fruit integrated pest management extension agent in Adams County; Frederick Gildow, professor of plant pathology; John Halbrendt, associate professor of plant pathology; Jayson Harper, associate professor of agricultural economics; Larry Hull, professor of entomology and scientist in charge of the University's Fruit Research and Extension Center in Biglerville; Lynn Kime, ag economic development extension agent in Adams County; William Kleiner, county extension director and fruit extension agent in Adams County; Greg Krawczyk, entomology research associate; and James Travis, professor of plant pathology extension.

Gabriela Gonzalez, assistant professor of physics, has been awarded a 2001 career enhancement fellowship for junior faculty in underrepresented groups from the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. The award, designed to assist talented junior faculty to pursue scholarly research and writing over a period of one year so they can attain tenure, includes a monetary stipend as well as a stipend for research, travel and publication.

Iam-Choon Khoo, distinguished professor of electrical engineering, presented an invited paper at the sixth International Conference on Frontiers of Polymers and Advanced Materials in Recife, Brazil. His talk was on "Nonlinear nematic liquid crystals and phototunable 2-and 3-D photonic crystal for visible ­ 1.55 micron spectral region."

Soundar Kumara, professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering and computer science and engineering, is the principal investigator of a $1.9 million research grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Information Systems Office under the UltraLog program. The grant will be used to study scalability, robustness and control of the cognitive agent architecture developed by the agency over a four-year period.

Beverly Lindsay, dean of the University Office of International Programs, was recently elected to the Council on Foreign Relations. She is the first professional from Penn State to be selected for membership. A policy organization, the Council on Foreign Relations is dedicated to strengthening U.S. foreign policy by promoting understanding of global trends, and by providing new analysis of challenges in world affairs.

Andrew McNitt, assistant professor of soil science, was the recipient of the 2000 Dr. William H. Daniel Award presented by the Sports Turf Managers Association. The presentation took place during the association's annual conference in Tampa, Fla.

Raj Mittra, professor of electrical engineering in the Communication and Space Sciences Laboratory of the Department of Electrical Engineering, was an invited speaker at the Advanced Institute of Aeronautics in Toulouse, France.

Chauncey "Dewey" Morehouse, professor emeritus of physical education, has received the William F. Hulse Memorial Award from the American Society for Testing and Materials. The award recognizes Morehouse's contributions to the development, promotion and use of voluntary full consensus standards that enhance safety in sports and recreation. The society is one of the largest voluntary standards organizations in the world.

Robert E. Newnham, professor emeritus of solid state science, was honored at the 25th Annual International Conference on Advanced Ceramics and Composites held at Cocoa Beach, Fla. A special session titled, "The Robert Newnham International Symposium on Piezocomposite Devices: Design and Utilization," was attended by more than 100 transducer engineers from all over the world.

Daniel Perkins, associate professor of agricultural and extension education, was invited to serve on the editorial board for the National Council For Family Relation's journal Family Relation from November 2000-01.

Arvind Rangaswamy, Jonas H. Anchel professor of marketing in The Smeal College of Business Administration, has been named Fellow of the IC² Institute at the University of Texas at Austin. Rangaswamy is the research director of the eBusiness Research Center and research director of the e-Incubator Laboratory. The IC² Institute works with public and private sectors in the United States and abroad to foster technology-based, regional economic development and job creation.

Peter Romaine, professor of plant pathology, presented the talk "Molecular Genetics and Pathogenicity of Biocontrol and Mushroom Trichoderma" at the IOBC/WPRS International Congress on Biocontrol of Fungal and Bacterial Pathogens in Sevilla, Spain.

Robert Secor, vice provost for Academic Affairs, has been appointed to a three-year term as coordinator of the CIC-Academic Leadership Program, which is a program designed to develop the leadership and managerial skills of faculty on CIC campuses.

Don Thompson, professor of food science, gave invited presentations at the University of Hong Kong and the East China University of Science and Technology. He and Ramaswamy Anantheswaran, associate professor of food science, both presented talks at the Fourth International Conference of Food Science and Technology in Wuxi, China.

Jerome D. Williams, associate professor of marketing in The Smeal College of Business Administration, was a co-presenter of a paper at the Society for Consumer Psychology Winter Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz. The paper, "The Role of Gender in Determining Strength and Nature of Marketing Relationships," was co-authored with Parimal S. Bhagat of William Paterson University.

Steven H. Zarit, professor of human development and assistant director of the Gerontology Center in the College of Health and Human Development, received this year's Sen. John Heinz Memorial Award from the National Adult Day Services Association of the National Council on the Aging. Zarit received his award during the annual meeting of the National Council on the Aging and the American Society of Aging in New Orleans.

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