January 30, 2009

Appointments, honors and activities

— Alyssa Panitch, an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Purdue, has been named associate head of the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, effective Jan. 1. Panitch has extensive research experience in using polymers to solve key problems in clinical medicine. She has received career development awards from both the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health and serves as a member of the NIH Biomaterials and Biointerfaces Study Section.

— Allan Gray, a professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics, has been named director of the Center for Food and Agricultural Business and the MS-MBA in Food and Agribusiness Management. Gray will provide strategic direction for the center, work with food and agribusiness managers in the center's professional development programs, and conduct research on agribusiness management and decision-making. The MS-MBA in Food and Agribusiness Management is a dual-degree, distance-delivered program offered in partnership by Purdue and Indiana University. Gray joined the Purdue staff in 1998. He has received numerous awards, including the American Agricultural Economics Association's Distinguished Extension/Outreach Program Award, the Purdue University Dean's Team Award and the United States Distance Learning Association's Excellence in Distance Teaching Award.

• Faculty and staff honors:

— John Staver, co-director of the Center for Research and Engagement in Science and Mathematics Education in the College of Education, has been named a fellow in the American Educational Research Association's Fellows Program. The program honors education researchers with substantial research accomplishments and emphasizes the importance of sustained research and excellence in the field. 

• Student honors:

— Ronald Angelo Johnson, a doctoral student in the Department of History, will be awarded an Outstanding Alumni Award from Texas State University in February. Johnson, who is studying early American diplomacy, graduated from Texas State in 1997.

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