Purdue News

September 21, 1990 San Francisco Administrator Named V.P. for Human Relations Westville, Ind. -- A San Francisco State University administrator has been named vice president for human relations at Purdue University. Judith M. Gappa, associate vice president for faculty affairs and dean of faculty at the West Coast institution, will assume the newly created position at Purdue Jan. 1. Gappa's appointment was confirmed Friday (9/21) by the Purdue Board of Trustees during its meeting at the Purdue North Central campus in Westville. "I am delighted to welcome Judith Gappa into the Purdue family," President Steven C. Beering said. "She will be filling an extremely important senior administrative position that will deal with the full range of human relations, including the special concerns of minorities and women." Last fall, Beering authorized the creation of the new position and appointed a 10-member university committee to develop a proposal to define the responsibilities of the vice presidency and to undertake a national search for a qualified candidate. Varro E. Tyler, executive vice president for academic affairs, said Gappa will report directly to Beering, and will oversee the university's Women's Resource Office, Affirmative Action, a new Office of Minority Affairs and related activities, including faculty affairs. "With her leadership, we expect the university to define further, to develop and to implement policies and programs related to the quality of life of members of the Purdue community," Tyler said. "Issues such as benefits equity, ageism, cultural diversity, and recruitment and retention of women and minorities will be her special concerns." Margaret M. Rowe, chair of the Purdue search committee and head of the Department of English, said, "Judith Gappa is a splendid choice for this exciting new position. She has truly demonstrated wide-ranging knowledge of the tasks she will undertake and has the imaginative ability to deal with some of the unknowns she may face." Gappa has been associate vice president for faculty affairs/dean of faculty and professor at San Francisco State since 1980. Her responsibilities have included all personnel actions affecting faculty, including hiring, retention, tenure and post-tenure reviews. She also has administered faculty collective-bargaining contracts, maintained the university's Faculty Records Office, and published the university's Faculty Manual. Among earlier professional positions, Gappa served as director of Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Programs at Utah State University, and was that institution's first coordinator of its Affirmative Action Program. She also has been a senior staff associate at the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems Inc., Boulder, Colo. Gappa holds a bachelor's degree in music and a master's degree in musicology from George Washington University, a doctorate in educational administration with a higher-education specialization from Utah State University, and a certificate from the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard University. She has published numerous articles and other works, engaged in research and consulting, and presented papers and participated in a range of workshops on such issues as part-time faculty, sex and gender, women in academia, and equity. Among her professional affiliations are memberships in the American Association for Higher Education, Association for the Study of Higher Education and Academy for Academic Personnel Administrators. She also has served as Northern California state coordinator of the National Identification Program sponsored by the American Council on Education. Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page