Dean Peggy Johnson
Penn State announced in late April that Peggy Johnson, a professor and former head of the Department of Civi and Environmental Engineering, has been named dean of Schreyer Honors College.
Johnson, who holds a doctoral degree in civil engineering from the University of Maryland, joined the Penn State faculty in 1996. Her work has focused on hydraulic engineering, bridge scour, resilient infrastructure, stream restoration, reliability analyses, and river mechanics according to the university website. She is heavily involved in her field, and has accumulated numerous honors over the course of her career —the most recent being the 2016 Hans Albert Einstein Award, presented by the American Society of Civil Engineers.
In 2006 Johnson was appointed department head of Penn State’s civil and environmental engineering program, a position she occupied for until going on sabbatical 2015. She returned in January 2016 to teach undergraduate and graduate-level engineering courses while remaining active in the world of engineering research, according to the university website.
Johnson will replace Kathy Bieschke, who served as interim dean of the college for almost 10 months after former dean Christian Brady stepped down as dean last spring.
Johnson was selected after a nearly year-long search conducted by the administration, and was one of four candidates to be evaluated in part by an interview that involved current Schreyer students.
“There are so many exciting possibilities associated with this position,” Johnson said in a statement. “The commitment of Penn State and the Schreyer Honors College to outstanding scholarly activity is clearly very strong. I am looking forward to working with an exceptional group of students and alumni, and collaborating with colleagues across the university to strengthen and advance an already strong reputation in honors education at Penn State.”
More than 1,800 students are currently enrolled in the Schreyer Honors College, which was founded in 1980 and renamed in 1997.
