Big Ten Academic Alliance Department Executive Officer Fellows named for 2019-20

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Big Ten Academic Alliance’s Department Executive Officers Program has gained five additional Fellows from the Penn State ranks.

The Big Ten Academic Alliance is the academic consortium of the Big Ten universities and the United States’ pre-eminent model for effective collaboration among research universities. Through its Department Executive Officer leadership program, participants who have demonstrated exceptional ability through University administrative assignments or other significant positions in public, private or professional organizations, are aided in further developing their leadership and managerial skills.

Penn State’s participants for the 2019-20 program were selected based on their significant contributions and potential to achieve even more as University leaders. The participants are:

Sez Atamturktur, head, Department of Architectural Engineering, and Harry and Arlene Schell Professor, College of Engineering.

Elizabeth Mansfield, head, Department of Art History, and professor of art history, College of Arts and Architecture.

Darcy Medica, director of academic affairs and associate professor of biology, Penn State Schuylkill.

K. Sandeep Prabhu, program co-leader, Penn State Cancer Institute, and professor of immunology and molecular toxicology, College of Agricultural Sciences.

Susan Sinnott, head, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and professor of materials science and engineering and chemistry, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.           

The Department Executive Officer Fellows will participate in a seminar from Nov. 14-16 at the Big Ten Conference Center in Chicago. The event will focus on departmental leadership skills, the challenges facing Department Executive Officers, and broader issues.

For more information on the Department Executive Officer Program, visit https://www.btaa.org/leadership/deo/introduction.