AE Newsletter - Spring/Summer 2003

“Diversity” in higher education is the subject of considerable attention these days.  The June 2003 Supreme Court decision to uphold the constitutionality of race-conscious admissions at the University of Michigan has been a topic of lively debate – both inside and outside of academia.  One argument in favor of race-conscious admissions is that increased diversity in a given student population enhances the overall educational environment for that population.  I happen to agree with that argument.  Others do not.

 Diversity can take many forms in an academic department, including gender, race, religion, national origin, cultural group, etc.  The Penn State AE Department has a healthy representation of women in its undergraduate and graduate programs.  The first two women AE faculty members (Drs. Hanagan and Srebric) were hired in the past five years.  We have a strong representation of international students in our graduate program.  Amongst our fifteen full-time AE faculty members, we now have international representation and resulting perspectives from Australia (Dr. Horman), Germany (Dr. Moeck), Hong Kong (Professor Ling), Iran (Dr. Memari) and Serbia (Dr. Srebric).  We are also trying to increase the racial diversity in our undergraduate and graduate student populations, and we continue to search for highly qualified AE faculty candidates from under-represented minority groups. 

We must, of course, remain focused on our primary AE academic missions, but we should also create an educational environment wherein we may enrich our professional and personal perspectives.  Broadened perspectives are particularly important during these days of tense international affairs, and in an economy that is truly worldwide.

Best wishes to you and your families.

Yours truly,

Richard A. Behr, Ph.D., P.E.
Department Head