UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Francis K. Achampong, currently the chancellor at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, has been named the next chancellor of Penn State Mont Alto, effective Aug. 1, 2013. Achampong succeeds David Gnage, who announced last fall that he would retire at the end of the 2012-13 academic year following more than 10 years in the position.
Achampong has served as chancellor at Fayette since November 2010 after being appointed interim chancellor in March of the same year following the unexpected death of former chancellor Emmanuel Osagie. From 2002-10, he was director of academic affairs at Mont Alto, where he also held the rank of tenured professor of business law.
"It has been an honor to serve Penn State Fayette,” Achampong said. "It is a difficult decision to leave this campus and the wonderful students, faculty, staff and local community. We have accomplished many great things here. But I am excited to return to Penn State Mont Alto, where I spent eight years working with so many others to strengthen the campus' academic profile. Dr. Gnage has set Mont Alto on a great course, and I look forward to leading the campus community through new opportunities and challenges. This is truly a joyous homecoming."
An interim chancellor for Penn State Fayette will be announced in the near future.
During Achampong's time at Fayette, the campus made significant progress towards its $3.5 million goal in For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students, with $3 million raised to date.To tackle enrollment challenges facing western Pennsylvania campuses, Fayette adopted a strategic approach under his leadership by focusing and increasing recruitment efforts, enhancing its web presences, strengthening student support services and partnering with database vendors.
Fayette increased its profile as a community resource under Achampong's direction, hosting numerous large events drawing thousands of visitors to campus and the region. The campus also served as a forum for discussion of pressing societal issues such as crime and child abuse.
In his previous role at Mont Alto, Achampong was the Franklin County campus' chief academic officer, overseeing programming, including program planning, development, assessment and accreditation, faculty recruitment, mentoring, evaluation, promotion and tenure and other wide-ranging areas of academic responsibilities.
"Dr. Achampong is an outstanding leader with broad knowledge of the University and the Commonwealth Campuses," said Madlyn Hanes, vice president for Commonwealth Campuses. "His experience in higher education and strategic planning has been critical in guiding Penn State Fayette during the past several years. He is successful at building external relationships and has been well received by the broader community. His proven leadership and deep familiarity with Penn State Mont Alto make him an excellent choice to oversee the campus and lead it into the future."
Before his position at Mont Alto, Achampong served as interim dean of the School of Business at Norfolk State University from 2001-02. For three years from 1998 to 2001, he was head of the Department of Entrepreneurship, Finance and Marketing at Norfolk State and from 1992 to 2002 was professor of business law and insurance at that institution. Before 1992, he was an associate professor at Norfolk State for seven years.
Achampong holds a doctorate in law from the University of London and a master of laws degree from Georgetown University.
He was admitted to the New York Bar in 1986 and the Virginia Bar in 1988, and was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court in 1990. He completed Harvard Graduate School of Education's program in Management and Leadership in Education in 2008 and was selected as an American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow in 2008-09.
At Fayette he has been actively involved in the local community as a member of the Westmoreland-Fayette Workforce Investment Board, the Fay-Penn Economic Development Council Board and the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce Board. He serves on multiple University-wide committees, including the Campus Academic Review Coordinating Committee, University Budget Planning Task Force, Middle States Steering Committee, Standing Joint Committee on Tenure and the University Access Committee.
One of his final duties as Fayette chancellor will be to host the Penn State Board of Trustees' meeting July 11-12.