Letter from Dr. Richard Behr, Department Head
Dear Alumni and Friends,If you scan the range of topics covered in this and previous AE Newsletters, you will see clear evidence of what makes the Penn State Architectural Engineering Department truly outstanding in the academic world. Penn State AE has rich interactions with students, rich interactions with alumni, rich interactions with industry, a topflight and continually improving B.A.E. professional degree program, a rapidly developing graduate program driven by relevant, externally funded research projects, and rich outreach/service to Penn State, the AE profession, and society.
One of the greatest challenges now facing the AE Department is how to sustain these rich activities and continue building excellence into our programs with a relatively flat departmental budget. In the next issue of this newsletter, we will be introducing to you a bold endowment building campaign for the PSU AE Department called the AE Practitioner Instructor (π) Program. Annual proceeds from this endowment will provide a permanent enhancement to our already outstanding B.A.E. instructional program by enabling me to appoint experienced AE practitioners each year to teach selected B.A.E. courses. The AE π Program will enhance the quality of the B.A.E. curriculum and produce even better PSU AE graduates. It will also enable us here at University Park to sustain our core business and our strategic initiatives. I look forward to working with many of you and/or your companies to make the AE π Program into reality within the next few years. More details are coming soon.
As always, thank you for your continued interest and support of the AE Department.
Yours truly,
Richard A. Behr, Ph.D., P.E.
Department Head