Adewumi
Appointed Director of New African Alliance
 Michael
Adewumi, professor and Quentin E. and Louis L. Wood
Faculty Fellow in petroleum and natural gas engineering,
has been appointed by Dean Eric Barron to direct the
College of Earth and Mineral Sciences' newly formed
Alliance for Earth Sciences, Engineering, and Development
in Africa.
"This is more than just a program for me. It's
a passion," says Adewumi, who was nominated for
the position by the members of a task force he led last
year to explore EMS research and education initiatives
in Africa.
"The African continent has been ravaged by war,
famine, and countless other problems. Its human resources
have been depleted," says Adewumi, a native of
Nigeria. "I could have been one of the people caught
in a cycle of poverty in Africa, but education helped
me escape that."
Adewumi insists that the involvement of higher education
institutions is key to the rebuilding of human capacity
in Africa. "The integration of science, engineering,
and social science in EMS is very powerful," he
says. "Our college is in a unique position to work
with scholars from African universities to address both
the technical and human aspects of issues in Africa."
Under Adewumi's direction, the Alliance aims to develop
and foster interdisciplinary research and education
initiatives on science and engineering issues in the
African environment through working relationships established
among African universities, Penn State, and Historically
Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The goals of
the Alliance are to stimulate a greater institutional
focus on developing and/or adapting earth, engineering,
and materials resources technologies for the African
environment; to develop a new undergraduate minor in
African Earth Resources Science and Engineering;
and to enhance graduate education and interdisciplinary
research in earth sciences and engineering disciplines
and the human dimensions of those disciplines in the
African context.
In October 2003, the college will hold a symposium to
identify key issues of emphasis for the Alliance. Participants
will include international scholars in science, engineering,
and the social sciences, higher education leaders from
Africa, multinational companies with significant operations
in African countries, and leaders of governmental and
non-governmental organizations.
For more information, contact Michael Adewumi at 863-2816
or m2a@psu.edu. Additional
information about the Alliance for Earth Sciences, Engineering,
and Development in Africa is available at www.ems.psu.edu/africa.
Executive Council Drafts New
Format for Annual Faculty Evaluations
The dean and the college executive council have been
reviewing the processes by which faculty in the college
are evaluated. As a result, the council has drafted
a new format for annual faculty evaluations. Before
the new format is adopted, the dean is inviting faculty
to offer comments and suggestions. This open period
for comments will end on Tuesday, March 25, 2003. After
that, the form will be finalized and then distributed.
Draft of new faculty evaluation
form (rtf, 27K)
This is the first part of an EMS effort to develop
a "Handbook on Faculty Evaluation" which includes
sections on promotion and tenure, annual reviews, and
five-year performance evaluations. As such, each part
of the review process includes a preamble on the purpose
of the review as well as the format. The intent is to
make all processes as transparent as possible.
Contact Eric Barron at barron@ems.psu.edu
or 865-6546.
Final Schedule for EMEX Posted
Several hundred high school and college students have
been invited to EMEX on March 29, 2003. Here's how we
plan to "wow" them: www.ems.psu.edu/emex.
Ideas? Comments? Contact Dana Bauer at 863-4667 or bauer@ems.psu.edu.
Weather in Business Seminar Set
for March 27, 2003
EMS, in conjunction with its alumni society, GEMS,
will hold a seminar, "The Value of Meteorology
to Business and Society," from 1 to 6 p.m. on Thursday,
March 27, in The Nittany Lion Inn Ballroom on the University
Park campus.
The seminar will focus on how industry and individuals
use weather information to make business and personal
decisions and to increase efficiency and quality of
life. Alumni who are both producers and consumers of
weather information will give presentations, and a panel
discussion, moderated by dean emeritus of the College
of Earth and Mineral Sciences John Dutton, will follow.
Speakers include: Ray Ban, vice president, The Weather
Channel; Robert Landis, president, Landis Associates;
Joel Myers, president, AccuWeather and member of the
Board of Trustees; Jerry Sandusky, retired Penn State
defensive football coordinator and founder, The Second
Mile; Ed Johnstonbaugh, project coordinator, Allegheny
Energy Inc.; David Donohue, president, IHRDC & Arlington;
and faculty from the department of meteorology.
The seminar will conclude with a reception at 5 p.m.
For a conference agenda and more information, check
http://www.ems.psu.edu/alumni/events/gems_seminar_2003.html
|
