OAK RIDGE, Tenn. - Eva J. Pell, vice president for research and dean of The Graduate School at Penn State, was elected to the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) Board of Directors at the 59th annual meeting of the ORAU Council of Sponsoring Institutions held in March in Washington, D.C. The board provides policy and fiduciary oversight of ORAU operations for its membership.
Named the Steimer professor of agricultural sciences at Penn State in 1995, Pell holds a doctorate in plant biology from Rutgers University and a bachelor's degree in biology from the City College of the City University of New York. She joined Penn State as an assistant professor of plant pathology in 1973.
Under Pell's guidance, research expenditures at Penn State climbed to $545 million in fiscal year 2003. In 2001, according to the most recent data available from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Penn State ranked 11th among all U.S. universities in research and development expenditures. During fiscal year 2003, expenditures at Penn State from NSF funds were up 20 percent, to $42 million.
Pell's research into the effects of pollution, especially ozone, on vegetation is internationally recognized. Her research emphasizes mechanistic studies of the effects of air pollution on vegetation at the biochemical, molecular, physiological and whole-plant levels.
Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a university consortium leveraging the scientific strength of 91 major research institutions to advance science and education by partnering with national laboratories, government agencies and private industry. ORAU manages the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education for the U.S. Department of Energy.