Purdue News Roundup
Purdue News Roundup
Raphael Kavanaugh, professor and director of the School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration at Oklahoma State University, has been appointed head of Purdue's Department of Restaurant, Hotel, Institutional and Tourism Management. He succeeds Lee Kreul, who will return to teaching and research.
During five years as director at Oklahoma State, his department developed a master's program in hospitality administration and increased undergraduate enrollment from 174 students to 238 students. Previously, he was vice president of product development for the Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Motel Association.
Kavanaugh earned his doctorate from Temple University, a master's degree from Ball State University, and his bachelor's degree from Coe College.
Heikki J. Rinne, president and chief executive officer of the Retail System Division of the Halton Group, will become head of Purdue's Department of Consumer Sciences and Retailing. He succeeds Richard Feinberg, who returns to teaching and working with the Purdue Center for Customer Driven Quality.
Rinne previously was at Brigham Young University from 1984 to 1994. When he left he was director of the Business Management Department in the Marriott School of Management. He also had been director of the BYU Institute of Retail Management and director of the executive MBA program.
He received his doctorate from Purdue's Krannert School of Management. Rinne earned his master's from the University of Oregon and his bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University.
Kepner will step down Oct. 24 to cap a 34-year Purdue career, including more than 30 years as the first director of Purdue Safety and Security.
"Under Grant's direction, our personnel have set high standards for training and professionalism in serving the Purdue community," said Wayne W. Kjonaas, vice president for physical facilities. "He should be proud of the proactive role he has played. We have big shoes to fill."
In the past few years, Kepner also has assumed additional duties as Purdue police chief. Kjonaas said one of the new director's first tasks will be to hire a new chief. He anticipates that a new director will be in place by Kepner's retirement date.
"We took advantage of Grant's background and experience in asking him to serve as police chief as that department reorganized and made a major move to new headquarters," Kjonaas said. "The new director will focus on strategic planning and overall administration of Purdue Safety and Security, while a new chief will build on the solid foundation Grant has put in place."
In addition to the police department, Purdue Safety and Security encompasses such areas as the Purdue Fire Department, Fire Protection and Special Services, Fire and Safety Equipment Service, and Parking Facilities.
Kepner came to Purdue as a fire-protection engineer in 1963 and became director of the reorganized Safety and Security area in 1965. During his tenure, a full-service fire department was established, and the police department took on responsibilities for outreach and service to the campus community, in addition to law enforcement.
The West Lafayette campus today has a nationally imitated emergency telephone system, and all segments of the campus community can play a role in safety and security issues through the Campus Safety Task Force, Student Security Patrol and Parking and Traffic Committee.
When he began his tenure as director, Kepner said, student enrollment was about 18,000, about half of what it is today. Bicycle use was negligible on campus, and drug abuse was not a significant factor in law enforcement. The first campus parking garage was just being built. Police patrol cars did not have two-way radios, and police officers were by state statute considered sheriff's deputies rather than duly sworn officers of a separate university police department.
"We have come a long way in training, technology and outreach to make sure that everyone
on the West Lafayette campus has a better environment in which to work and learn,"
Kepner said.
CONTACTS: Kepner, (765) 494-8221; Kjonaas, (765) 494-8000.
The Midwest Superconductivity Consortium, or MISCON, will hold a three-day meeting Wednesday through Friday (7/23-25) at the University Inn in West Lafayette. The meeting, which includes several technical sessions, is open to the public.
The consortium, based at Purdue, is comprised of more than 30 scientists, engineers and students from six universities who collaborate with industry and federal labs on superconductivity research. The goals of the research are to increase the basic understanding of superconductivity and to develop industrial applications and commercialization of the technology.
When cooled to extremely low temperatures, superconducting materials can conduct electric current with little or no resistance. One purpose of the consortium's work is to develop superconducting materials that operate at higher temperatures. Such materials could be used for more efficient power lines, super-fast computers, and better magnetic shielding to prevent malfunctions in medical equipment.
Some of the research to be discussed at the meeting includes: high-temperature superconducting tubes for magnetic shielding applications; superconducting quantum structures; high-power applications of high-temperature superconducting wire; and high-temperature superconducting composites, arrays and crystals.
The consortium members, in addition to Purdue, are: Indiana University, University
of Missouri-Columbia, University of Nebraska, University of Notre Dame, and The Ohio
State University. The consortium was established in 1989 by the federal government
and receives funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. Information about MISCON can be
found at https://mse.www.ecn.purdue.edu/~miscon/Welcome.html
CONTACT: Arden L. Bement, director, MISCON, (765) 494-5567.
Compiled by J. Michael Willis, (765) 494-0371; e-mail, mike_willis@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
