Penn State Names Acting Administrators At Beaver Campus

7-14-97
Monaca, PA -- Dr. Gary B. Keefer, director of academic affairs at Penn State Beaver Campus, has been named acting Beaver Campus Executive Officer, and Dr. Donna J. Kuga, associate professor of kinesiology and athletic director, has been named acting Director of Academic Affairs.

Dr. Robert E. Dunham, senior vice president and dean for the Penn State Commonwealth College, made the announcement, effective July 1. He said a national search for the CEO will begin this fall.

Dr. Keefer replaces Dr. Dennis M. Travis, who resigned effective July 1. Dr. Travis served as the Beaver Campus CEO since July 1995.

Prior to his arrival at Beaver Campus one year ago, Dr. Keefer held the position of interim Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He also served as vice chairman of the Department of Civil Engineering and was an associate professor in civil engineering. Dr. Keefer has also taught at West Virginia University.

Dr. Keefer holds a Ph.D. from West Virginia University, where his major was environmental engineering and minors were chemistry and chemical engineering. He is a registered professional engineer in Nebraska and was awarded graduate faculty fellow status at the University of Nebraska in 1991.

Dr. Keefer is the recipient of the Glen L. Martin Best Paper Award, Civil Engineering Division, American Society for Engineering Education; the Charles B. Dudley Publication Award, ASTM; a West Virginia University Foundation Fellowship Grant for Outstanding Students; and the Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Society Award. He is a member of the Water Environmental Foundation, the American Society for Engineering Education, and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

He has served on numerous committees, including the Nebraska Water Pollution Control Association Committee on Operator Certification, the NWEA Industrial/Hazardous Wastes Committee, and the Nebraska Hazardous Waste Storage Facility Site Review Committee.

Dr. Keefer's research topics over the years have included "Rural Water/Waste Water Issues in Nebraska," "Pollution Prevention in the Commercial Sector," and "Industrial Pollution Prevention Project." Dr. Keefer and his wife, Paula, have two children and live in Chippewa Township.

Dr. Kuga holds a bachelor's degree in health and physical education from Penn State, a master's degree in administration in physical education and athletics from Slippery Rock University, and a doctorate in administration and policy studies in higher education from the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Kuga has been a member of the Beaver Campus faculty since 1981 and was appointed director of athletics, intramurals, and recreational sports in 1996. Dr. Kuga has authored and co-authored more than twenty articles which have appeared in a variety of professional journals and has presented papers at numerous technical and professional meetings throughout the country.

Dr. Kuga has served as editor of the Pennsylvania Journal of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance and as an editorial board member of the Journal of the National Intramural-Recreational Sport Association. In 1995 she received the Outstanding Academic Advisor Award from the Beaver Campus Student Government Association and in 1993 she received the Beaver Campus Advisory Board Research Award.

Dr. Kuga received the All-University Excellence in Advising Award from the Penn State University Undergraduate Student Government Association in 1989 and has been named Volleyball Coach of the Year four times by the Penn State Commonwealth Campus Athletic Conference.

She is a member of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance; the Pennsylvania Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance; the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association; and the North American Society for Sports Management. She also serves as a member of the Beaver Campus Diversity Strategic Planning Committee and the Campus Executive Officer's Council. She is a member of the Exercise and Sports Science/Commonwealth Educational System Advisory Board, and has served on several University search committees.

In addition to her teaching and scholarly pursuits, Dr. Kuga has also coached several women's athletic teams, including volleyball, basketball, and softball. Dr. Kuga

Dr. Kuga is a resident of Beaver.

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Contact: Amy Krebs at (412) 773-3815