Patsy Brannon named dean of the college of Human Ecology

Patsy M. Brannon, Cornell Ph.D. '79 and chair and professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Maryland, will be dean of the College of Human Ecology, effective June 1999. A specialist in the nutritional regulation of gene expression, Brannon will succeed Francille M. Firebaugh, who is retiring June 1,1999, after holding the post for 11 years.

As dean, Brannon will take over leadership of a college with a $40 million budget, more than 1,300 undergraduate and 250 graduate students, 90 tenured faculty, and a $7.6 million-a-year research program in five areas: design and environmental analysis, human development, nutritional sciences, policy analysis and management, and textiles and apparel.

"Patsy Brannon combines the high level of academic accomplishment, the...