Victor Sparrow, professor of acoustics at Penn State, will take the position of interim chair of the Intercollege Graduate Program in Acoustics beginning Jan. 1, 2010.
He joined Penn State in 1990 and has served as a College of Engineering representative on the University Hearing Board and chair of Graduate Council Committee on Student and Faculty Issues.
Sparrow is recognized both nationally and internationally as an expert in the fields of computational acoustics, sonic boom research and long-range outdoor sound propagation. Sparrow received a bachelor's degree in engineering from Duke University, a master's degree in electrical engineering and a doctorate from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He also has held elected positions on the board of directors of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering and as vice president of the Acoustical Society of America.
Sparrow will serve as interim chair until a permanent chair is appointed.