LehighNow Volume 01, Issue 11

              LEHIGHNOW
April .11, 2001
Volume 1, Issue 11
El-Aasser named L
RCEASdean Wf     f
IN BRIEF
ACADEMICS
Ed College
moves up 11 in
national survey
Lehigh's College of
Education, which last
year broke into the top 50
of Lf.S. News and World
Report's America's Best
Graduate Schools, has
moved up 11 spots to
39"' in the magazine's
2002 rankings.
Meanwhile, the P.C.
Rossin College of
Engineering and Applied
Science remained among
the top 50 graduate
engineering schools,
placing 41s1 out of 186
programs nationwide.
The education college
faculty brought in $8.1
million in research in
2000, up more than 50
percent from $5.3 million
in 1999. The magazine's
2002 rankings focused
more heavily on research.
Ray Bell, interim dean
of education, praised the
college's faculty.
"What's remarkable is
that this high level of
performance in teaching,
training and research is
accomplished with a
current faculty of 24,
compared to the average
size of 77 faculty in the
top 50 graduate colleges
of education."
Photo by Robert Walch
Mohamed El-Aasser is one of
the world's top researchers in
emulsion polymerization.
Mohamed S. El-Aasser,
chairman of the chemical
engineering department and
internationally renowned
researcher, has been
appointed dean of the P.C.
Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science.
El-Aasser's appointment,
which takes effect July 1,
was announced by Provost
Ron Yoshida on March 28
at a meeting of the
engineering college faculty.
It followed an eight-month
international search by a
committee of faculty, staff
and students.
"In 29 years at Lehigh,"
said Yoshida, "Mohamed
El-Aasser has coupled an
unwavering commitment to
academic excellence with a
proven ability to lead. I am
confident he has the vision,
knowledge and skills
needed to reposition the
Rossin College in the
emerging fields of the new
economy and attract top
engineering students."
El-Aasser succeeds John
C. Chen, the Carl R.
Anderson Professor of
chemical engineering, who
has served for two years as
dean of the Rossin College.
Yoshida praised Chen for
his "strong leadership,
focus and strategic
direction" as dean.
"The core of our mission
remains the same," El-Aasser
said in a brief speech
following his introduction by
Yoshida to the engineering
faculty. "That is to educate
students through the
integration of research and
teaching, and to train them to
be leaders in their fields as
well as inventors of new
technology."
El-Aasser said several times
that he would "work
together" with faculty and
staff to set priorities and to
build on the engineering
college's national and
international reputation.
El-Aasser is a leading
researcher in emulsion
polymerization and polymer
colloids. He is perhaps best-
known for his work in helping
to design a reactor that in
1983, in zero gravity aboard
the Challenger STS-6,
synthesized the first products
ever made in space -
polystyrene latex
microspheres that were
certified as standard
reference materials for
calibrating microscopic
objects.
For his efforts, El-Aasser
was named "NASA Inventor
of the Year in 1984," an honor
he shared with his colleagues,
the late John W. Vanderhoff
and Fortunato J. Micale,
professors emeritus of
chemistry at Lehigh.
Lehigh to host
Governor's
school
Lehigh has been chosen to
become the newest Pennsylvania Governor's School of
Excellence and will offer top
Pennsylvania high-school
students a unique learning
program called the
Governor's School For Global
Entrepreneurship.
The new program becomes
one of eight Governor's
schools in the state, and the
only one focused on global
entrepreneurship. The
Governor's school program,
begun in 1973, aims to
prepare artistically or
academically talented high
school students to serve as
leaders.
"This program is another
example of the university's
ongoing commitment to
academic excellence by
providing the most innovative and distinctive academic
programs," said President
Gregory Farrington.
The new school will run
July 1 to Aug. 4 and
challenge students to become
more aware of cultural and
business practices while
interacting with peers,
faculty, entrepreneurs and
professionals from around
the state, nation and globe.
"The state chose Lehigh
based on the breadth of its
programs, and the ability of
its staff and faculty to offer
a unique look at how
businesses are launched,"
said Marian Sutter, chief of
the Division of School-Based
Improvement in the state
Department of Education.
The Governor's school will
be run by Laurie Gostley-
Hackett, director of Lehigh's
Diamond Center.
Like other Governor's
schools, the Lehigh program
will include a five-week, full-
scholarship, residential
program for outstanding
high school students entering
their senior year. Offered at
no charge to 40 Pennsylvania
students and 10 international
students, the program will
feature expert faculty, an
accelerated curriculum,
hands-on experience in labs
and studios, career information, and leadership training.
-Carolyn Crew