At Penn State Altoona, faculty members are doing phenomenal work both in and out of the classroom. Since we became a college in July 1997, our faculty has established a long and impressive tradition of pursuing research and teaching excellence. Indeed, the numbers speak for themselves: since 1997, our faculty have generated nearly $20 million in grants and external funding, published 244 books, 1,123 refereed journal articles, and 531 book chapters. During this same period, our creative artists have shared their work across the globe in more than 500 exhibitions and competitions. In terms of coveted University-wide teaching awards, our faculty has garnered four Alumni Teaching Fellow Awards, six Milton S. Eisenhower Awards for Distinguished Teaching, 11 George W. Atherton Awards for Excellence in Teaching, and one Penn State Laureate. Needless to say, Penn State Altoona has had its share of accolades. But as our newly minted research and teaching magazine shows, our story is far richer and more compelling than a collection of mere numbers could ever truly demonstrate.
In this inaugural issue of Research and Teaching at Penn State Altoona, you will read about what the faculty is accomplishing in and out of the classroom. Associate professor Peter Hopsicker has been researching the unique history of the Adirondack Mountains and its place in Olympic history. In her latest book associate professor Laura Rotunno explores the societal changes brought about in Victorian England by a simple reduction in postage rates.
The outcomes of research can allow us to preserve history and to live better. In this issue, Robert E. Eiche Library director Bonnie Imler describes the deacidification process being used to preserve scrapbooks that hold the history of Penn State Altoona as seen through newspaper clippings. The books were started by Mr. Eiche himself when he was the first director of the Altoona Undergraduate Center in 1939. In addition, the “Green Team” administrative assistants discuss their efforts to conserve energy and resources as part of the University’s 12% Energy Challenge, which won them first place in the Commonwealth Campus division.
Future issues of Research and Teaching at Penn State Altoona will feature faculty, staff, students, and alumni as they explore subjects as varied as solar cells, reforestation at the Flight 93 Memorial, new teaching methods in an ever-changing electronic world, and the unexpected intersection of poetry and environmental studies.
We are very proud of our college’s research and teaching tradition, especially in terms of the numerous internal resources that we provide in order to invest in our faculty and students’ success. But as this inaugural issue of Research and Teaching at Penn State Altoona reveals, this is only just the beginning.
Lori J. Bechtel-Wherry, Ph.D.
Chancellor and Dean