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_ North Texas (UNT) - starting a thing you pass up.”
m g">£2k ll V 1 new campus. The positions that those two
V* UNT has launched an effort candidates have taken, Parente
to create a Dallas campus and says, speaks to the quality of
announced that they have se- the candidate pool as a whole,
continued from front page lected Beehler as the new cam- “We have had, and have right
pus’s inaugural provost and now, fantastic candidates for
“The job was very similar to v j ce president for academic ex- this position,” she said. “The
Behrend’s,” Parente said. “It ce llence and student success. fact that two of these candi
was a great opportunity for “That’s the opportunity of a dates ended up taking such
him, because he felt that it was lifetime,” Parente said. “To be high positions elsewhere
good to be closer to home.” ab i e t 0 ’ start a university and speaks to the quality of the job
Beehler accepted a unique mo id , t you rself, decide how to at this university. The final four
position with the University of start things - that’s not some- candidates, too, were all on the
CHANCELLOR CANDIDATE PROFILE
Vice-President of Research, University of Houston
■pw>-v- '
Education:
B.S. in engineering, University of California, Berkeley
MBA and M.S. in bio-physics, Miami University in Ohio
Ph.D. in electrical engineering, University of Dayton
Ciinent Position:
Vice Chancellor / Vice President of Research, University of Houston
Notable Past positions:
1977-1996: Senior Systems Engineer, Vice President and Team Leader of Technology
and New Ventures, Systems Research Laboratories, Dayton, Ohio
1996-2006: Director of the Phys
ical Science Laboratory (1996-
2005), Interim Vice Provost and
then Vice President for Research at
New Mexico State University
(2004-2006)
2006-Present: Current position
-diversity of Houston . immunisations. jpai
Dr. Donald Birx, Vice President for Research at the
University of Houston.
• Birx said that his first priority after coming to Behrend would be to talk and listen.
“When I went to the University of Houston, I spent probably the first three months in
constant communication. Outside the community, inside each department, meeting
with faculty and students; I worked at understanding where the direction should be.”
Then, he said, he wants to work with faculty and students to begin to lay the framework
for five-year goals.
What durileiiges does he see in the position?
“I think .the interaction with University Park is a big issue,” he said. “I think the issues
there with building a report, allowing Behrend to grow and become what it should be,
is going to be tough.”
“It’s not something which I dislike; I think there’s a lot of advantages and opportunities
in being part of the Penn State program. I think Jack [Burke] has done a superb job.”
Birx drew upon his experience in working as a vice president at a “large central” cam
pus as giving him the viewpoint from the other side.
“One advantage I have is getting to see both sides of the issues - the ideas that sell and
work, and the ideas that failed, and why
they didn’t work.”
What does he plan regarding his inter
action withstudents?
“Behrend is a school of a size where a
direct connection is possible,” he said.
"It's only partially possible, to be honest,
where I am right now with 37,000 stu
dents at the main campus.”
Bint said that Jack Burke’s model of di
rect connection with students is some
thing drat he will continue.
“I also tend to use multimedia and
other approaches, putting them on the
Web so that students can see what’s
going on if they want to,” he said.
“If you want to see what’s up, you can
go to the Web and see it. There’s a lot
of transparency in what’s going on.”
Dr. Donald Birx
Accolades:
• 2002, New Mexico “Top 25”
Tech Leader
• Davidson Memorial Award
(2002), Distinguished Service
Award (2001) and President’s
Award for Vision (2000), NMSU
What does he want to do here?
• Expand diversity. Build sup
ported programs, celebrate it, cre
ate the environment, incentive and
JXperience. work
ing with diversity programs at the
University of Houston, Birx says he
had “doubled the number of grad
uates in science and engineering
that are minority female students.”
• Birx put a high emphasis on
bringing together studies in the lib
eral arts and humanities with stud
ies in technology and engineering.
“That’s the way of the future,” he
said. “Being able to pull all of
those elements together is what
will make U.S. universities
stronger.”
Daniel Smith / The Behrend Beacon
During the two open forums held over the last 10 days, many Behrend community members came to hear ideas
from the chancellor candidates. Above, in foreground, many employees of the Admissions Office came to watch.
same level, so that makes Dr. University-Purdue. indication that the search is
[Donald] Birx and Dr [Allen] Beehler, prior to accepting "going badly." Rather, she says,
Soyster, the two remaining can- his position with North Texas, it proves how well the seaich
didates, that much more im- was the Associate Provost tor has gone,
pressive." Economic Initiatives and Dean , “It’s an exciting time," she
Voland, before taking his po- of the Haile/US Bank College of said. It s a sad time, too, be
sition with the University of Business at Northern Kentucky cause we will all miss Jack
Michigan-Flint, was Dean ot University. His appointment Buike. But, seeing what oui
the College of Engineering, with UNT was announced on candidates for this position
Technology and Computer Sci- Feb. 4. have in mind tot the Univeisitv,
ence, director of the Center for Parente says that the seaich it s a very exciting time with all
Industrial Innovation and De- committee does not consider that we have ahead of us.
sign, and professor of mechan- the two candidates accepting
ical engineering at Indiana positions elsewhere any type ot
CHANCELLOR CANDIDATE PROFILE
Dr. Allen Soyster
Dean, College of Engineering, Northeastern University
Education:
B.S. in industrial engineering, Pennsylvania State University
M.S. in industrial engineering and operations research, Cornell University
Ph.D. in operations research, Carnegie Mellon University
Current Position:
Professor and Dean, College of Engineering, Northeastern University
Notable Past positions:
1981-1996: Professor, head of Industrial Engineering Department, Pennsylvania State
University
1997-Present: Current position
Accolades:
• 1988, Fellow of the Institute of
Industrial Engineers (HE)
• 1992, Technical Innovation
Award, lEE
• 1993, Outstanding Faculty
Mentoring, Penn State
• 1997, Fellow of the World Con
federation of Productivity Science
What does he want to do here?
• Strengthen and expand aca
demic programming. Academia
should include more experiential
learning, and more globalization
elements, he said. “The entire
world marketplace is changing dra
matically,” he said. “It would be
nice if Behrend could have a par
ticular niche in which a global ex
perience could be made.”
• Have Behrend ranked in U.S
News - America’s Best Colleges. A
five-year goal, he said, is to expect
a #3 ranking in the North/Masters
category of U.S. News.
• Develop MS/MA programs in
all schools. “You have one notable
deficiency,” he said. “People who
are [stimulating local economies]
have graduate students. 1 can’t
imagine that most faculty wouldn’t
want to have graduate students as
part of the work they do.”
• Develop a Pine Arts Center, the idea for which is already under consideration and
on Penn State Behrend’s strategic plan. “You have to have something on the table. Some
thing you can show people when you go out on the road to try to generate enthusiasm.”
What challenges does he see in the position?
The biggest challenge, Soyster said in the open forum on Tuesday, is the relation be
tween Penn State Behrend and University Park.
“The one point I’m mostly concerned about is the first threat in the stragetic plan,” he
said, “lire greatest advantage at Behrend is having the Penn State moniker. But this is
always the joke, is that the biggest problem at Behrend is the Penn State moniker.”
Soyster says that his experience at University Park, including 15 years as the head of
the Industrial Engineering Department, will help him in figuring it out.
“Being a product of University Park, I can deal with that,” he said. “There’s no one at
University Park with more experience in my field than 1 do, so there’s not going to be
anyone intimidating me and telling me
I don’t know what the business is.”
Behrend Beacon
February 26,2010
www.thebehrendbeacon.com
Daniel Smith / The Behrend Beacon
Dr. Allen Soyster, Dean of the College of Engineering at
Northeastern University in Boston, Mass.
What does he plan regarding his inter
action with students?
Soyster draws upon his experience as
a dean, during which time he “reli
giously brought students together” in an
engineering student council. He said
that he took notes and assembled a
monthly meeting where students could
voice concerns about their curricula.
However, in the chancellor position,
he sees a different role.
“If I were here, all the [School] direc
tors would be meeting with the students
on a regular basis, and maybe I would
be on some kind of selective basis,” he
said. “My role would not be as visible as
the directors, but some contact shows
students that the highest levels are con-
cerned.”