Achterberg Named Acting Director Of University Scholars Program

6-2-97
University Park, Pa. -- Cheryl Achterberg, professor of nutrition at Penn State, has been named acting director of the University Scholars Program. The appointment is effective July 1.

The University Scholars Program, instituted in 1980, is a University-wide honors program that provides students of ability and motivation with a broad set of opportunities for study and research in the arts, humanities and sciences. The program fosters extensive interaction between University Scholars and faculty through honors classes, individual study and research, and seminars and discussions.

Achterberg is an award-winning teacher and researcher whose work is known worldwide. Earlier this year she was one of five Penn State faculty members named fellows to the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) Academic Leadership Program. Through the program, the CIC -- the academic consortium of the Big Ten universities plus the University of Chicago -- helps develop the leadership and managerial skills of faculty who have demonstrated exceptional ability and administrative promise.

"I'm delighted that Cheryl Achterberg has agreed to this major leadership position," said John Cahir, Penn State's vice provost and dean for undergraduate education. "Her wide range of recognized achievement, including research, teaching and innovation, will be invaluable to the University Scholars Program."

Achterberg joined the Penn State faculty in 1985. Her many awards include Penn State's Milton S. Eisenhower Award for Distinguished Teaching (1995), the American Dietetic Association's Ruth M. Leverton Award for nutrition education (1995), and the American Institute of Nutrition's Mead Johnson Research Award (1993.

She has been principal investigator on numerous competitively funded research projects and has published more than 60 peer-reviewed papers many book chapters and monographs. She has been active in international service, with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, and has served on many national and international advisory boards, panels, and workshops.

She has also advised and supervised many graduate students and honors students, and has taught four different honors courses in the College of Health and Human Development.

A graduate of California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, Achterberg earned her Ph.D. degree at Cornell University. In her new position, Achterberg will replace James Rambeau, associate professor of English and American studies, who is returning to full-time teaching and research after directing the University Scholars program for five years.

During Rambeau's leadership, the University Scholars Program was recognized as one of the strongest honors programs among public universities in the country. In 1995, the program was named one of the nine top "three-star" programs in the United States in "Ivy League Programs at State School Prices: The 55 Best Honors Programs at State Universities Nationwide," by CUNY political scientist Robert R. Sullivan.

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Contacts:
Alan Janesch (814) 865-7517 (office) (814) 867-3621 (home) axj12@psu.edu
Christy Rambeau (814) 865-7517 (office) (814) 237-9046 (home) cmr7@psu.edu