Photo: Dave Shelly, Penn State

Dear friends of the college,

As you know, especially those of you who return to campus from time to time, a substantial number of changes are occurring at Penn State and in the Eberly College of Science. Some of those changes are evident as you walk around campus.

The Peace Garden, the gift of the Class of 1997, is a beautiful spot between the HUB and Old Main; the wonderfully renovated and expanded HUB and Hintz Alumni Center provide greatly improved gathering spaces for students and alumni; and our dedication to academic excellence mandates the addition of buildings with state-of-the-art laboratory and classroom spaces.

Site and utility work will begin this summer and construction of the new chemistry and life sciences buildings is scheduled to begin in the fall. These buildings will greatly improve research and teaching facilities and provide a gateway to the sciences at Penn State.

The last couple of years have also seen changes in programs and policies. A revised and improved policy on academic integrity is bringing renewed attention to this essential value of our community. The College is implementing a new kind of degree program, professional master’s degrees, with initial offerings in biotechnology, applied statistics, and bioanalytical chemistry.

New courses and new methods of teaching and learning, often involving the use of information technology, are being developed, tested, and implemented. Faculty and students move quickly and enthusiastically to new research opportunities. And recent events have reinforced our commitment to improvements in climate and diversity in the College and around the University.

Of course, despite the changes, the University remains very familiar. Our commitment to excellence in the creation, preservation, dissemination, and application of knowledge through teaching, research, and service remains our core motivation, and the sights and sounds around campus during the summer—students in shorts moving between classes or blustery thunderstorms rustling the leaves of the elms—provide a familiar backdrop.

This issue of Science Journal focuses on materials science. The remarkable evolution of this discipline at Penn State in recent years builds on long-standing strengths of the College and University and illustrates the advancement and growth of the Eberly College of Science.

The essential element in our progress has been an increasingly accomplished and ambitious faculty. Another key to our advances in recent years has been a commitment to collaboration and interdisciplinary research. Collaborations across departmental and college lines have helped the University attract several important research grants, among them funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to initiate the Center for Collective Phenomena in Restricted Geometries.

Headed by Evan Pugh Professor of Physics Moses Chan and housed in Davey Laboratory, the Center is supported by a multi-year grant from the NSF through its Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) program. The collective efforts of outstanding faculty members from five departments and three colleges created this center, the first MRSEC center at Penn State. The Center is a vibrant addition to the research activity and environment in the College and the University.

Increasingly, collaboration and interdisciplinary approaches facilitate progress in the sciences. Thanks in part to consortia like the Materials Research Institute, departmental and college boundaries have become much smaller barriers to collaboration for those who work in materials science or other fields of study at Penn State.

An added benefit of the collaboration and interdisciplinary work has been in the atmosphere of the College. Collaboration and interaction lead to a collegial approach that encourages existing faculty members and attracts prospective faculty members.

As our reputation and strength in the field of materials science continues to grow, we must continue to seek new faculty members who will be truly exceptional in research, in sharing knowledge with students, and in training scientists of the future who will one day further advance our understanding of the field. Finding outstanding faculty members who want to do that here at Penn State is made easier by our growing success. New faculty, including distinguished senior faculty like Gerald Mahan, a National Academy of Sciences member who will join us in the fall as Distinguished Professor of Physics, are attracted by existing strengths and opportunities to collaborate with present faculty members.

We have a critical mass of people and programs in materials science that provide an appealing opportunity for potential faculty members. In addition, the University’s growing reputation and our commitment to make the Eberly College of Science the best possible place for faculty members to work will help us continue to strengthen this very important area of science.

Daniel J. Larson
Dean, Eberly College of Science

To Science Journal Summer 2001 Index

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This page was last updated on 18 July 2001

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