What Makes Penn State Berks Special
It is easy to brag about your place of employment, and through loyalty, assume that it is the best. It is not until outside interests begin making the same claims as you that you realize just how accurate your assessment of your place of employment truly is.
I have long felt that our faculty and staff are the best and the kinds of research that take place here are outstanding. When you consider that there are no graduate students doing the research and lab work and that undergraduate students have the opportunity to work side-by-side with our outstanding faculty, you begin to see the commitment to excellence that is Penn State Berks.
On November 9, I received an e-mail from a person whom I have never met, but whose workplace I know well. The e-mail was from Dr. Allan E. Goodman, President and CEO of the Institute of International Education in New York City. For those of you who do not know, the Institute of International Education, along with the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, sponsors the Fulbright Program.
Dr. Goodman was writing to congratulate us for the Fulbright Scholars we have. Let me share a portion of his email: “Congratulations on having two of Pennsylvania State University-Berks’ faculty selected as Fulbright Scholars for the 2009-10 academic year. Pennsylvania State University-Berks was among those with the highest number of faculty to receive Fulbright U.S. Scholar grants within your institution’s Carnegie classification–as featured in the October 23 edition of The Chronicle of Higher Education.”
Dr.s Randall Newnham and Malika Richards both were awarded Fulbright grants to pursue their research. Needless to say, we are very proud of their accomplishments, and we also know that they reflect the quality and depth of research that takes place throughout our college.
To receive the accolades from Dr. Goodman was affirming, but knowing that the quality of research that takes place at Penn State Berks is worthy of national note is even better. In our third edition of Research at Penn State Berks magazine, I invite you to learn even more about what is happening at Penn State Berks.
Susan Phillips Speece,
Ed.D. Chancellor
Penn State Berks