Dempsey named new associate director of PSIE
October 19, 2005
University Park, Pa. -- Brian Dempsey, professor of environmental engineering, has been appointed the new associate director of the Penn State Institutes of the Environment (PSIE). Dempsey will work in partnership with PSIE’s director, William Easterling, on program management and the daily management of PSIE. He also will assist Easterling in developing new research initiatives, representing the PSIE on and off campus, and overseeing the staff of the PSIE.
“The PSIE is extremely fortunate to have a person of Brian’s caliber as its associate director,” says Easterling. “He is an outstanding researcher and teacher and has a tremendous range of environmental interests and connections across the University, the Commonwealth, and the Nation. I look forward to working with Brian to chart new strategic directions for the PSIE.”
Dempsey has been a faculty member in the College of Engineering since 1986. Before coming to Penn State, he was an assistant professor of civil engineering at the University of Missouri-Rolla (1982-1986). He also has been a post-doctoral fellow (1981) and Visiting Assistant Professor (1983) in the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering at Johns Hopkins University; a Sanitary Engineer I and II for the City of Durham, N.C. (1974-1976); and an instructor of chemistry at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras (1969-1971).
Dempsey received bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and in interdisciplinary science from the State University of New York-Brockport, and his master’s and doctoral degrees in environmental chemistry from the University of North Carolina.
Dempsey’s area of expertise is aquatic chemistry, with an emphasis on solid-liquid interfacial phenomena. He is involved with Center for Environmental Kinetics Analysis and the College of Engineering’s Environmental Institute. In his new position, Dempsey will continue to teach, conduct research, and serve the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
“I’m enthusiastic about my new role as associate director at PSIE and I look forward to working with Bill and the rest of the PSIE family. It’s an excellent organization with a lot of momentum, thanks to Bill’s and Dave DeWalle’s vision and their execution of a plan to bring Penn State into the top echelon of research universities in the environmental area. The associate director position will give me the opportunity to work with people across the campus as well as with commonwealth and national organizations that share our interests,” relates Dempsey.
Dempsey originally hails from Minnesota and attended St. Thomas University for his first three years of college. He met his wife Helen during Peace Corps training at SUNY Brockport. Following graduation, they lived and worked for two years in Honduras. Their three daughters were born during academic tenures at UNC, Johns Hopkins, and University of Missouri. All three daughters attended Penn State. Dempsey has been active in the community; he has been on the Board of the University Area Joint Authority for 13 years, founded and was president of the Centre Region Bicycle Coalition, and has served on the State College Transportation Commission.
PSIE was established in January 2003 by a merger and expansion of the former Environmental Consortium and Environmental Resources Research Institute. PSIE is the central coordinating structure for environmental research at Penn State with the objective of promoting interdisciplinary collaboration across Penn State. It is affiliated with eight colleges and various institutes and centers.
Dempsey succeeds David DeWalle as associate director.
Contact:
Patricia Craig
plc103@psu.edu
(814) 863-0037
Brian Dempsey
bad5@psu.edu
(814)865-1226