Media Contacts:
Sally Ramey, 919/513-0300 or sally_ramey@ncsu.edu

Sept. 25, 2002

NC State Names Three New Department Heads

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences at North Carolina State University has appointed three new department heads. They will lead the mathematics, statistics, and marine, earth & atmospheric science departments, according to Dr. Daniel L. Solomon, dean of the college.

Dr. Bernard Mair has joined NC State as head of the Mathematics Department, after serving in faculty positions at Texas Tech, Penn State, Emory, and Dartmouth universities. As a faculty member at the University of Florida, he was associate chair, graduate coordinator and director of the university's Center for Applied Mathematics. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of the West Indies and his Ph.D. at McGill University.

Dr. Sastry Pantula has been named head of the Statistics Department, where he's been a faculty member since 1982 and served as director of graduate programs as well as assistant department head. Recently named a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the Indian Statistical Institute in Calcutta, India, and his Ph.D. at Iowa State University.

Dr. John Fountain will head the Department of Marine, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences at NC State, after serving as chairman of the geology department at The University at Buffalo (formerly the State University of New York at Buffalo). He earned his bachelor's degree at California Polytechnic State University, and his master's and Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

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