A Message from the Dean
Dear alumni and friends:
2007 is a year of milestones for the College of Health and Human Development. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the establishment of a Department of Home Economics at Penn State. In 1907, the first ten students enrolled in the Department under the direction of Miss Louis Waugh. The Department soon began offering graduate degrees and, by the 1950s, many faculty and students were involved in research in the areas of child development, nutrition, and textiles, among others. To celebrate the 100th anniversary and to acknowledge the important role of Home Economics in the evolution of our College, we hosted a Home Economics Alumni Reunion on April 27 and 28. In addition, we have worked with University Libraries to develop an exhibit that chronicles the history of home economics at Penn State. I am quite certain that you would enjoy visiting the exhibit, which will run until the end of June in the Special Collections Room in Paterno Library.
This year also marks the celebration of another important milestone: the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the College of Human Development. This new College was created in 1967 in response to increased demand for educated workers in both existing and emerging fields related to promoting health and enhancing the quality of life for families and individuals across the entire life span. The College of Human Development was thus built on the foundation created by the College of Home Economics, which had always been grounded in a commitment to healthy families and communities. Although our College has grown and evolved over the years, we maintain our longstanding commitment to improving people’s lives—their diets, their leisure time, their relationships, their well-being, and more. Please join us in recognizing these milestones in our growth and development as a College.
In addition to these historical milestones, I am very pleased to announce several very important developments that bode well for the future of the College. First, Dr. Ann C. Crouter has been appointed dean of the College of Health and Human Development effective June 1. I am confident that Nan (as she is affectionately known by her colleagues) will provide superb leadership to the College in the years to come. Read more about Nan on the next page of this publication. Also in this publication, you can read about the relocations of several departments in our College to new spaces on campus. This significant increase in the space allocated to the College is directly related to continuing vibrant growth in the College’s research funding, undergraduate enrollment, and outreach efforts. I hope that you are as proud as I am of our rich history, our current accomplishments, and the potential that lies ahead of us.
Sincerely,
Fred Vondracek, Ph.D.
Interim Dean, College of Health and Human Development
