Mark Ballora, a devoted and dynamic professor of music technology in the Penn State School of Music, affiliate faculty in the School of Theatre, and newly appointed director of the Arts & Design Research Incubator, unexpectedly passed on Thursday, July 18, 2019. He was 57 years old.
Hester Blum, Penn State associate professor of English and a 2019 Guggenheim Fellow, will be tracking climate change in the Arctic Ocean as part of the Northwest Passage Project research expedition. The nautical expedition launched from Thule Air Base in Thule, Greenland, on July 18 and will return Aug. 4, sailing approximately 2,000 nautical miles through the Arctic on the Swedish Icebreaker Oden.
Jacqueline O’Connor, associate professor of mechanical engineering at Penn State, recently delivered an invited presentation at the Gordon Research Conference on Laser Diagnostics in Energy and Combustion Science, highlighting her work in laser diagnostics in engine technologies.
Jonathan Kukta, instructor of business administration and director of Housing and Food Services for Penn State Schuylkill and Penn State Berks, has been appointed to serve a three-year term as a member of the National Association of College Auxiliary Services Board of Directors for the East Region as membership coordinator.
Amy Greenberg, George Winfree Professor of American History and Women’s Studies at Penn State, recently conducted a week-long seminar on the history of early U.S. diplomacy at Fujian Normal University in China. She was one of only three U.S. historians selected to participate in the 2019 residency program sponsored by the Organization of American Historians and the American History Research Association of China with support from the Ford Foundation.
Allan Lehman has been named the first full-time director of The Graham Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Studies (The Graham Center) at Penn State York. He began his duties June 24.
A research paper submitted by faculty and students in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State has been honored with the 2019 Outstanding Article Award by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Journal of Advances in Civil Engineering Materials.
The objective of the new position of professor of practice in education and engineering is for Penn State to be a thought leader in preK-12 engineering education by creating research-based and classroom-tested resources for students and teachers that enable high-quality engineering experiences.
Penn State Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer Michael Kubit has announced that Greg Madden will serve as associate chief information officer for research for Penn State Information Technology, effective immediately.
Kurt Lundeen, a former foreman in the commercial construction industry and an expert in new construction technology, joined Penn State’s Department of Architectural Engineering on July 1 as assistant professor.
Robin Havens Tate has joined the School of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional Programs (SEDTAPP) as its new director of professional programs outreach.
Alexandra Staub, a professor in the Department of Architecture, has been elected to the 2019-20 Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC) board of directors.
Ron McConnell has joined the Department of Health Policy ad Administration faculty as an assistant teaching professor in the Master of Health Administration program.
When prevention educator Elaine Berrena reflects on her 28-year Penn State career, she thinks of other people first. “I’ve made lifelong friends all over the world,” she said. “It’s amazing to think of how many people I’ve worked with to develop their skills.”
The following is a list of Penn State nontenure-line faculty promotions, effective July 1.
