Appointments
Penn State Intercom......February 13, 2003
Birch honored as
distinguished professor
Leann
Birch has been named a distinguished professor of human development and
family studies.
This honor recognizes an elite group of University professors for their exceptional teaching, research, creativity and service to the University community. Candidates for appointment are current full-time members of the faculty who have been nominated by their peers, departments and/or dean; hold the rank of professor; and do not currently hold an endowed chair, professorship or faculty fellowship.
For more than two decades, Birch's work has helped to shape the international agenda for nutrition education research aimed at improving eating behaviors and preventing and treating childhood obesity and eating disorders. A great deal of her research focuses on how children acquire food preferences and develop the ability to control the amount of food they consume during the first years of their lives. Her findings have significantly influenced the nutritional education and counseling that pediatricians and dietitians provide to parents and child-care providers on a regular basis.
Birch received her bachelor's degree in psychology from California State University-Long Beach and her master's and doctoral degrees in psychology from the University of Michigan.
Director of Outreach
Program Resources named
Jeri
L. Childers has been appointed director of Outreach Program Resources
in Penn State Outreach and Cooperative Extension.
She is responsible for leading a staff of program resource managers in linking the academic colleges and faculty to Outreach and Cooperative Extension resources. She and her team will support associate deans' and colleges' key outreach initiatives, identify new program opportunities for colleges and outreach units, manage cross-unit programs that span multiple outreach units and colleges, identify opportunities to disseminate faculty research and support outreach scholarship and facilitate the introduction and adoption of innovative approaches to educational experiences made available through outreach.
Childers has served as interim director of Outreach Program Resources since September 2001. She joined the University staff in 1993 as a senior program developer with the Outreach Office of Program Development. In 1998, she was promoted to assistant director of the office. While assistant director, she also served as acting associate dean for continuing and distance education in The Smeal College of Business Administration from July 1999 through December 2000.
Before that, Childers was senior continuing education coordinator with the Missouri Training Institute in the College of Business and Public Administration at the University of Missouri. She served in several roles at the institute from 1986 to 1993.
Childers earned her bachelor of science degree in retailing from the University of Hawaii in 1980 and her master of science in retailing in 1989 and her doctoral degree in continuing higher education administration in 1993, both from the University of Missouri.
Director of University
development appointed
Dale DiSanto will join the University's Division of Development and Alumni Relations as director of University Development.
He replaces Elaine Rhodes, who was named director of planned giving and endowments in September.
DiSanto will serve as the principal liaison between campus college deans and directors of development and will be responsible for the overall management of development programs at 20 of the University's 24 locations.
DiSanto comes to Penn State with nearly 28 years of nonprofit experience. His most recent position was as assistant vice president for corporate and foundation relations at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
DiSanto received his bachelor's degree from Frank University and his master's degree from The Ohio State University.
Hurley named assistant vice president
of Housing and Residence Life
Gail Hurley has been promoted to assistant vice president of Housing and Residence Life.
In 2001, Hurley assumed the role of director of Housing and Residence Life. This position was created to bring central leadership to the two departments with reporting lines directly to the vice president for Student Affairs and the associate vice president for Auxiliary and Business Services.
The new title recognizes Hurley's responsibility for developing a comprehensive vision and strategic plan for on-campus living, which includes the Eastview Terrace project, the expansion to Redifer Commons and renovation of Pollock Commons, all at the University Park campus.
Hurley is responsible for a housing system at University Park of more than 13,000 residents and a residence life program that spans nine campus locations. She will continue to oversee the management of residence buildings, laundry services, special interest housing and resident programs. In addition, she will continue to assist with special projects in Student Affairs and Auxiliary and Business Services.
Hurley has been the director of Residence Life since 1984. In 1997, she was appointed as the assistant to the vice president for student affairs, serving as liaison to student affairs directors at 19 campus locations. From September 1996 through May 1997 she was an intern to the senior vice president for finance and business/treasurer as part of the Administrative Fellow program.
Hurley holds a bachelor's degree in Spanish secondary education from Westminster College and a master's degree in college student personnel from Bowling Green State University.
Associate editor named for
Hemingway Letters Project
LaVerne
Kennevan Maginnis has been appointed associate editor and project coordinator
for the Hemingway Letters Project, assisting general editor Sandra Spanier.
The goal of the long-term project is to publish a multi-volume scholarly
edition of the collected correspondence of Ernest Hemingway. Maginnis
will be responsible for managing daily operations, conducting literature
and library searches, and serving as liaison with volume editors, faculty
and publishers.
Maginnis previously worked as a copy editor for the Penn State Press. She also was a long-time editorial assistant of James L.W. West III, Edwin Erle Sparks professor of English, working variously on indexes, annotations, collations and proofs for a number of scholarly publications.
For six years, Maginnis served as assistant director of Penn State Marketing Communications in Continuing and Distance Education, and for four years was a writer-editor for the College of Agricultural Sciences. Maginnis earned a master's degree in writing and editing from Penn State in 1989.
Poissant is executive
director of MBA program
Paul Poissant has been appointed executive director of career management and corporate relations within the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program.
As part of The Smeal College of Business Administration program, he will spearhead liaison efforts between current MBA students and corporate recruiters, as well as the overall career development and corporate relations initiatives of the MBA program.
Poissant has worked for The Smeal College since 1991. From 1994 through 2000, he was director of career services and corporate relations for the MBA program. With Poissant in this position, the college significantly broadened corporate outreach efforts and ultimately doubled the number of organizations recruiting MBAs on campus. Under Poissant's guidance, placement outcomes improved substantially each year.
Before joining Penn State, Poissant worked in customer service, distribution and supply management for the Quaker Oats Co., which now is a part of Pepsi, and The Franklin Mint Corp. He holds an MBA in marketing and a bachelor of science in business logistics from Penn State.
Poissant's team includes Kathleen Welch, director of corporate relations, and Paul Carozzoni, director of career development. Carol Lockard will continue as manager of career development and corporate relations. Robin Brouse has been promoted to director of student services.