Appointments, honors and activities

• Appointments and promotions:

- John Nasukaluk Clare has been named music director of WBAA, Purdue's public radio station. The appointment, announced by Mike Savage, general manager of WBAA, is effective Feb. 1. Clare also will be the new host for the Morning Classics program on WBAA Classical 101.3 FM, replacing longtime host Jan Simon who retired in December. A former NPR broadcaster, Clare has previously worked with Voice of America, the Canadian Broadcast Corp. and public radio stations in Texas, Kansas, Nevada, California, and Pennsylvania.  His most recent position was content director at classical music station KMFA in Austin, Texas.

- Venetria K. Patton has been appointed the head of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies in the College of Liberal Arts. Patton has been director of African American Studies and Research Center at Purdue for 12 years, and Provost Fellow for Diversity and Inclusion. Patton's teaching and research focus is on African American and diasporic women's literature. She has written and edited several books in the field. Patton is a former chair of the Purdue Black Caucus of Faculty and Staff, and a former board member of the National Council for Black Studies and the Hanna Community Center. The School of Interdisciplinary Studies was founded in 2014 and is the home of 14 programs.