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September 13, 2002

Trustees approve four dean appointments at Purdue Calumet

HAMMOND, Ind. – The Purdue Board of Trustees today (Friday, 9/13) approved the appointment of four new deans at Purdue University Calumet.

The new deans are Daniel M. Dunn, of Munster, dean of the School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences; Peggy Gerard, of Plainfield, Ill., dean of the School of Nursing; Robert H. Rivers, of Dyer, dean of the School of Education; and Shomir Sil, of Tinley Park, Ill., dean of the School of Management.

"I am very pleased that these four individuals have been named deans of our schools of Education, Nursing, Management, and Liberal Arts and Social Sciences," Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Sandra Singer said. "Their appointments finalize what I consider to be an exceptionally strong and knowledgeable leadership group for academic affairs at Purdue University Calumet."

Daniel M. Dunn

Dunn became a Purdue Calumet faculty member in 1976. He has served as executive dean of Purdue Calumet's Graduate School, assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs, and acting dean of the School of Engineering, Mathematics and Science.

His teaching areas include political, interpersonal, family and small group communication and communication education. His research area is political communication. He has received numerous teaching awards, and wrote the book "Building Confidence in Communication," for students enrolled in introductory communication courses.

The school headed by Dunn includes five departments – behavioral sciences, communication and creative arts, English and philosophy, foreign languages and literatures, and history and political science.

Dunn earned bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees in speech communication from Wayne (Mich.) State University.

Gerard has been a Purdue Calumet faculty member since 1982. Her research interests include health promotion and health care decision making. She teaches critical care and nursing research.

Peggy Gerard

Gerard has served as coordinator of Purdue Calumet's master's program in nursing, which has been ranked among the top 100 graduate nursing programs in the country by US News and World Report magazine. Purdue Calumet's master's in nursing program was the first such offering in northern Indiana, as well as within the Purdue University system.

Gerard has served as a consultant in the areas of cardiovascular and critical care nursing. Her doctoral dissertation is entitled, "Factors Related to Long-Term Physical Actually in Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Patients." She and Purdue Calumet Professor Jane Walker obtained a grant to study the relationship between a physically active lifestyle and risk factors for osteoporosis and heart disease among 18- to 25-year-old women.

Gerard earned bachelor's and doctoral degrees in nursing from Rush (Ill.) University and a master's degree in medical-surgical nursing from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Robert H. Rivers

Rivers became a Purdue Calumet faculty member in 1975. Under his recent direction as acting dean, the School of Education received continuing accreditation from the National Council for the Accreditation for Teacher Education and the Indiana Professional Standards Board. Also, the School of Education received grants totaling nearly $240,000 from the Indiana Professional Standards Board (Title II Improving Student Achievement Through More Effective Teachers) and a Wallace Reader's Digest Foundation grant to establish the northwest Indiana Center for Education Leadership.

He has directed Purdue Calumet's Elementary Science Support Center, a center for the support of activity-based science.

His research and curriculum development projects have focused on the application of technology to elementary and secondary science teaching and learning. He has been co-author of 10 simulations in biology for high school students that were used nationally in the 1980s. He is a board member and executive director (2001-2003) of the Indiana Science Olympiad and a board member for the Challenger Learning Center of Northwest Indiana, based at Purdue Calumet.

Rivers earned bachelor's and doctoral degrees in science education from Florida State University and a master's degree in biological science from the University of Georgia.

Shomir Sil

Sil became a Purdue Calumet faculty member in 1983. Under his recent direction as head, the School of Management enjoyed the largest enrollment increase last spring of any Purdue Calumet undergraduate academic discipline and graduate program. Enrollment continues to be up this fall for undergraduate and graduate management students.

His areas of teaching and research interests include corporate finance, investments and the management of financial institutions. Sil consults extensively for privately held firms in the areas of business valuation and financial analysis.

He has presented numerous scholarly papers and was awarded a Purdue Research Foundation International Travel Grant in 2000 to study at Cyprus College in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Before coming to Purdue Calumet, he owned and managed his own business for several years.

He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Osmania University (Hyderabad, India), an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (Calcutta, India) and a doctorate in finance from Texas Tech University.

Contacts:

Wes Lukoshus, (219) 989-2217

Kathy Pucalik, (219) 989-2579


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