Appointments
Penn State Intercom......April
3, 2003
4 named distinguished
professors in Engineering
Four faculty members in the College of Engineering have been awarded the title of distinguished professor.
The honor recognizes outstanding professors for exceptional instruction, research and service as demonstrated by evaluation of teaching, research support, graduate student supervision, refereed journal publication, professional society activities and service to the university community.
Soundar Kumara, distinguished professor of industrial and manufacturing engineering, is known for his expertise in distributed intelligent systems, sensor data fusion and complexity analysis of large-scale networks. He pioneered the study of sensor-based manufacturing process monitoring and diagnostics and was among the first to use pattern recognition, artificial intelligence, wavelets and chaos theory in the field of manufacturing. He earned his doctoral degree in industrial engineering at Purdue University.
Arthur C. Miller, distinguished professor of civil and environmental engineering, focuses on water resources, including hydrologic modeling using distributed models with GIS databases, numerical modeling of open channels, sediment transport, unsteady flow and hydraulic design techniques for bridges. His outstanding record as a teacher and adviser has earned him many awards, including the Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Penn State Engineering Society Premier Teaching Award and the Penn State Engineering Society Outstanding Advising Award. He holds a doctoral degree in hydraulics and water resources from Colorado State University.
Asok Ray, distinguished professor of mechanical engineering, is known for his cutting-edge work in improving performance and reliability of aerospace and electromechanical systems through innovation in instrumentation, control and information sciences. His contributions have resulted in the development of new methods for the enhancement of structural durability and performance of aircraft and rocket engines, and he has been a strong advocate of integrating modern mathematics and information sciences into engineering education. He earned his doctoral degree in mechanical engineering at Northeastern University.
Vigor Yang, distinguished professor of mechanical engineering, focuses his research on fluid dynamic and combustion problems that arise in both air-breathing and rocket propulsion systems. He has developed new theories and numerical analyses in several key areas, including combustion instabilities in propulsion systems, chemically reacting flows in air-breathing engines and rocket motors, combustion of energetic materials, high-pressure transport phenomena and combustion, and active control of gas-turbine combustion dynamics. He holds a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering and jet propulsion from the California Institute of Technology.
Banavar named
distinguished physics professor 
Jayanth Banavar, professor and head of the Department of Physics, has been named distinguished professor of physics. The honor, which recognizes exceptional teaching, research, creativity and service to the University community, is designated by the Office of the President based on the recommendations of colleagues and the dean.
Banavar is a condensed-matter theorist who has authored or co-authored more than 200 journal articles. The focus of his research is application of statistical physics techniques on interdisciplinary problems including such diverse topics as protein folding, fluids in confined geometries, ecology, river-network formation and spin glasses.
Banavar joined the University faculty as a professor of physics in 1988 and became department head in 1998. Before coming to Penn State, he was a member of the professional staff at Schlumberger-Doll Research from 1983 to 1988. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Chicago from 1978 to 1981 and continued as a postdoctoral member of the technical staff at Bell Laboratories from 1981 to 1983. He earned his doctoral degree in physics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1978 after earning bachelor's and master's degrees in physics at Bangalore University in India in 1972 and 1974. Banavar was awarded a Faculty Scholar Medal from the University in 1997 and a Fulbright Fellowship in 1995. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the Association for the Advancement of Science.
Jackson named associate
director of Cooperative Extension 
Daney G. Jackson, associate professor and personnel leader for The Ohio State University Extension, has been named associate director of Penn State Cooperative Extension, effective immediately.
Jackson will provide leadership for the day-to-day operations of Penn State Cooperative Extension and will be a key member of the College of Agricultural Sciences administrative team. He will assist the director of Cooperative Extension in facilitating collaboration across the College of Agricultural Sciences and with other colleges and outreach units of the university.
Cooperative Extension, with offices in each of Pennsylvania's 67 counties, transfers research-based information to individuals, families, businesses and communities through nonformal educational programs designed to meet locally identified needs.
Jackson began his extension career in 1985 with Mississippi State University, serving as a 4-H youth agent in Hancock County, Miss. From 1987 to 1991, he was an agriculture and natural resources extension agent in Lauderdale County, Miss.
After a year as a graduate associate at The Ohio State University Extension's Ohio Center for Action on Coalition Development, Jackson returned to Mississippi Cooperative Extension, serving Lauderdale and Kemper counties as an area extension agent for forestry and horticulture from 1992 to 1994.
Jackson joined The Ohio State University Extension as director of the 16-county South District in 1995. After being named statewide personnel leader in 2000, he directed the organization's human resources functions, including needs assessment, job analysis, job design, performance management, recruitment, hiring, compensation and benefits.
Jackson received dual bachelor's degrees (forestry, banking and finance) and a master's degree (extension education) from Mississippi State University in 1984 and 1990, respectively. He earned his doctorate in agricultural education from The Ohio State University in 1994.
Brantley appointed director
of Environment Institute
Susan Brantley, professor of geosciences and director of the Center for Environmental Chemistry and Geochemistry, was appointed director of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences' Environment Institute.
As director of the Environment Institute, Brantley will continue to focus on initiatives that promote interdisciplinary research.
Brantley is interested in expanding the Environment Institute's research efforts to include the biological aspects of environmental science.
Brantley's own research focuses upon investigations of bacteria-enhanced mobilization of trace metals and organics from weathering minerals. She collaborates with faculty in soil science, biochemistry and molecular biology, materials science and civil engineering.
Brantley anticipates facilitating interdisciplinary graduate education and training programs through the Environment Institute. The Biogeochemical Research Initiative for Education, funded by the National Science Foundation, is one such program that she and Kate Freeman, professor of geosciences, spearheaded in 1999.
Additional information about Brantley is available at http://www.geosc.psu.edu/People/Faculty/FacultyPages/Brantley.