OSU Board Approves Personnel Actions; Kensinger named head of Animal Science

Friday, October 26, 2007

(GOODWELL, Okla., Oct. 26, 2007) -- The Oklahoma State University/A&M Board of Regents approved several personnel actions during its Oct. 26 meeting at Oklahoma Panhandle State University in Goodwell.

Ronald S. Kensinger of University Park, Pa., was named professor and head of the Department of Animal Science. He joined the Pennsylvania State University faculty in animal nutrition and physiology in 1982, and attained the rank of professor in 2005. He also served a year as a Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, while on sabbatical.

His professional affiliations include the American Dairy Science Association, the American Society of Animal Science, the American Society for Nutrition, the Endocrine Society, Gamma Sigma Delta and Sigma Xi. In 2003 he received the Purina Teaching Award from the American Dairy Science Association and the PSU Gamma Sigma Delta Teaching Award of Merit.

He received his B.S. degree in animal science and his M.S. degree in dairy science, both from the University of Illinois, Urbana, and his Ph.D. in animal science from the University of Florida.

APPOINTMENTS: Daryoosh Vashaee, assistant professor, electrical and computer engineering; Bradley L. Njaa, associate professor, pathobiology; Antonius G.P. Oomens, assistant professor, pathobiology.

CHANGES: Jonathan V. Edelson, professor of agricultural sciences and natural resources, was appointed assistant director; Thomas C. Hennessey, change in title from professor and head to professor, natural resource ecology and management; Charles R. Davis, change in title from assistant dean, associate professor and director, to associate dean, associate professor and director, Education Student Services, College of Education; Patricia K. Knaub, change of title from professor and dean, Human Environmental Sciences, to professor, human development and family science.

SABBATICALS: Pamela Brown, teaching and curriculum leadership, 100 percent sabbatical to explore the experiences of members of several teacher inquiry communities as they engage in research in their own school settings, from July 1-Dec. 31, 2008; Patricia K. Knaub, human development and family science, 100 percent sabbatical to conduct research and begin development of an OSU Women in Philanthropy Program and to prepare for publication a manuscript on leadership and update the history of the college, from Jan. 1-June 30, 2008.

RETIREMENTS: Larry T. Brewster, educational studies, Jan 4, 2008.

For OSU-Okmulgee, the appointment of Kinya L. Peverley as director of admissions was approved. A title change was approved for Wren E. Hawthorne Jr., from director to vice president, institutional assessment and research; and for Anita F. Gordy Watkins, from associate vice president to vice president, university and external relations.

For the OSU Center for Health Sciences, appointments were approved for Gerwald A. Kohler, assistant professor, biochemistry and microbiology; Laurie A. Duckett, clinical assistant professor, PP-surgery; and C. Michael Ogle, director and adjunct clinical assistant professor, rural health.

Oklahoma’s only university with a statewide presence, Oklahoma State University is a five-campus, public land-grant educational system that improves the lives of people in Oklahoma, the nation, and the world through integrated, high-quality teaching, research and outreach. Established in 1890, the Stillwater campus is the home of the OSU System. The STATE’s university boasts students from all 50 states and nearly 120 nations, and has more than 200,000 alumni throughout the world.