Updates from Eberly

Ron Markle Retirement

Ron Markle is retiring at the end of June after serving as director of the Premedicine program for the past 15 years. He shared that his proudest career moments have included conducting research at four medical schools, teaching physiology at Penn State, copublishing a 50-year retrospective of the Premedical-Medical program, and creating early assured admissions programs at the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine and Salus University, Pennsylvania College of Optometry. He received three degrees from Penn State: a bachelor of science in biology in 1973, a master of science in physiology in 1974, and a doctorate in physiology in 1976. He was also a member of the Penn State Men's Gymnastics Team.

Miguel Mostafá, Associate Dean for Research and Innovation

I’m the new associate dean for research and innovation. My main goal is to help the college reach even higher levels of excellence and accomplishment across all areas of education, research, and service. In the Eberly College of Science, I supervise the Research Administration Office (which is responsible for grant administration and funding opportunities for faculty, staff, and graduate students) and the Office for Innovation, which works together with Penn State's Office of Technology Management and Office for Industrial Partnerships to assist inventors in capturing intellectual property, to provide academic resources and support to entrepreneurs, and to enlarge the societal impact of innovations developed in the college.

Among other responsibilities, I am a member of the executive board of the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at the McDonald Observatory. I recently participated in the annual meeting at the observatory site in Fort Davis, Texas. 

Read more about Miguel.

Allara Awarded 2022 Kavli Prize for Nanoscience

David L. Allara, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Chemistry and Materials Science and Engineering at Penn State, has been named a 2022 Kavli Prize Laureate in the field of nanoscience by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters. Allara was recognized for his research with colleague Ralph Nuzzo, G.L. Clark Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, which demonstrated how self-assembled monolayers can bond to metal surfaces. The resulting thin-film coatings have applications in areas ranging from microelectronics to biomedicine. Read the full article.

Seth Bordenstein Named Director of the Penn State Microbiome Center

Seth Bordenstein, Centennial Endowed Professor of Biological Sciences; professor of biological sciences and pathology, microbiology and immunology; associate director of the Vanderbilt Institute of Infection, Immunology and Inflammation; and director of the Vanderbilt Microbiome Innovation Center, Vanderbilt University, will join the faculty of the Department of Biology and take the reins of the Penn State Microbiome Center in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences in the fall of 2022. 
 
The goal of the Penn State Microbiome Center is to support transformative, interdisciplinary research in microbiomes. Read the full article.

New Director of Corporate Engagement

In this newly established role, Ashley Chan will be a core staff member of Penn State’s Corporate Engagement Center within the Eberly College of Science. She will lead a corporate engagement strategy to support college and University goals in student training, research, and philanthropy. If you are interested in helping your company build strategic connections with the Eberly College of Science, please contact Ashley at alc39@psu.edu.