Schreyer Honors College names new dean

Penn State announced Friday the appointment of Peggy Johnson as the new dean of the Schreyer Honors College.

Johnson is a tenured professor of civil engineering at Penn State, where she had been a faculty member since 1996. She headed the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering from 2006 to 2015.

She will take the reins at Schreyer in July, pending official approval of her new job by the university trustees at the May board meeting.

“We are thrilled to have a professional of Peggy’s caliber lead the Schreyer Honors College into a bright and promising future,” said Nick Jones, university executive vice president and provost. “Throughout her career, Peggy has demonstrated a degree of enthusiasm and innovation that aligns with the college’s mission and goals to promote academic excellence and integrity, while lifting the entire institution to new levels of achievement. With her people-first approach, I am confident Peggy will help our honors students surpass their already impressive academic, civic and professional accomplishments.”

Johnson got her Bachelor’s degree in geology from New Mexico State. Her graduate degrees came from the University of Maryland, where she was a faculty member. She also served as a graduate research fellow at the Federal Highway Administration in Virginia.

“I am very honored and excited to have the opportunity to serve as the dean of the Schreyer Honors College,” Johnson said. “There are so many exciting possibilities associated with this position. 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.”

The move puts Johnson in charge of 5 percent of Penn State’s undergraduate population, about 1,800 students across all campuses. Schreyer offers more than 200 honors classes and was one of just 11 honors programs ranked by the Public University Honors Press.

Kathleen Bieschke has served as interim dean since Christian Brady stepped down in May 2016.

This story was originally published April 28, 2017 at 6:50 PM with the headline "Schreyer Honors College names new dean."