FACULTY & STAFF
 

     Tamara L. Burk, formerly a faculty member at the College of William and Mary in Virginia and at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y., has taken over as head of the University's Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. 
     An alumna of the University of Maine, where she was a graduate teaching assistant, Burk earned an Ed.S. in higher education from the College of William and Mary in 1995. She received a Ph.D. in educational policy, planning, and leadership in 1997.
     Burk has more than ten years' teaching and administrative experience in a variety of public and private college environments. Her most recent faculty position was at William and Mary, where she taught in the Department of Theatre and Speech. Burk also directed the oral communication program.
     In 1998, Burk took a leave of absence from William and Mary to serve as Hamilton College's Emerson Visiting Distinguished Scholar for Faculty Development and as a visiting associate professor of communication studies. At Hamilton, she was also involved with curricular reform. In addition, Burk served as an external consultant at Mount Holyoke College, Brown University, Missouri State University, and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
     As CETL director, Burk succeeds program founder, Lilian B. Brannon, who left Albany last year to take a teaching position at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Kathy Turek filled the director's position on an interim basis following Brannon's departure.

     In other CETL news, Project Renaissance's Pen Pal Program at School 2 in Troy has been named a regional winner of the JC Penney Golden Rule Award for voluntarism. School 2 teacher Kathy Amazon and Project Renaissance coordinator Jennifer Mitchell were presented with a trophy and a check for $1,000 at an awards reception at the Albany Marriott.
     The Golden Rule Award recognizes outstanding volunteers serving arts, health and human service organizations in the Capital Region and provides financial support to the organizations served.
     As a regional winner, the Project Renaissance Pen Pal program is eligible to compete for the $10,000 national JC Penney Golden Rule Award to be announced later this month.
 

Professor Gordon G. Gallup, Jr. of the Department of Psychology attended the third annual meeting of the Association for the Scientific Study of Consciousness, held in London, Ontario, during the first week of June. The association is made up of psychologists, philosophers and neuroscientists from all over the world who are interested in studying consciousness from a scientific perspective. Gallup gave an invited plenary symposium address on the evolution of self-awareness, consciousness and mind.

Professor Paulette McCormick of the Department of Biological Sciences has been appointed as a member of the Pathology B Study Section, Center for Scientific Review of the National Institutes of Health.

 Dina Al-Kassim,  English
Kenneth Beauchemin,  Economics
 Mark Blum,  East Asian Studies
 Maia Boswell,  Women's Studies
 Mark Dalton,  Theatre
 Sharon Danoff-Burg,  Psychology
 Robert F. Erbacher,  ComputerScience
 Joanne Feeney, Economics
 Danny Goodwin,  Art 
 Dana Haynie,  Sociology
 Donald J. Hernandez,  Sociology
 Mike Hill,   English
 Sharon P. Holland,  English
 Mengbing Huang,   Physics
 Cristian-Paul Lenart,  Mathematics, Statistics
 William A. Maniatty,  Computer  Science
Jaume Marti-Olivella,   Languages,  Literatures and Cultures 
Brian Massumi,   English
Andrea B. R. Mayer,  Chemistry
Charles A. Micchelli,  Mathematics, Statistics
 Anita Pomerantz,  Communication
 Hazel M. Prelow,  Psychology
 Jennifer Rudolph,  History
 Joana Sabadel-Nieto,  Languages,  Literatures and Cultures
 Kirk E. Smith,   Music
 Eszter Szalczer,  Theatre
 Jennifer Taback,  Mathematics, Statistics
 Alexandre B. Tchernev,  Mathematics,      Statistics 
 Adam Zonder,  Theatre
Rockefeller College
 Hal Lawson,   School of  Social Welfare
 Terrence A. Maxwell,  School of  Information Science and  Policy
 Brenda D. Smith,  School of  Social Welfare
 Rong Tang,   School of  Information Science and Policy
School of Business
 Kinsun Tam,  Accounting
School of Education
 Denise M. DeZolt,  Educational & Counseling Psychology
 Istvan Kecskes,  Educational  Theory & Practice
 La Rae M. Jome,  Educational & Counseling  Psychology
 Mark Jury,  Reading
 David N. Miller,  Educational & Counseling       Psychology
 Marcia J. Moody,  Educational & Counseling       Psychology
 Carol Richardson Rogers,   Educational  Theory & Practice
 Donna Scanlon,  Educational & Counseling Psychology
School of Public Health
 Timothy J. Hoff,  Health Policy,  Management & Behavior

    Thomas A. Constantine, who left office as administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration July 1, joined the faculty Sept. 1 as a public service professor. Constantine, 60, a University at Albany alumnus who has been the nation's top drug cop since 1994, is working on the development of a continuous learning initiative for those involved in the criminal justice system. He is affiliated with the Nelson A. Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy. Constantine earned a master's degree in criminal justice from the University at Albany in 1971.
     “We are pleased to be working with Mr. Constantine, whose impeccable credentials in law enforcement and executive leadership, vast professional experience, and integrity fit well with our top-notch programs,” said Rockefeller College Interim Provost Frank Thompson. 
Constantine said, “I owe a great deal to the University and specifically to the School of Criminal Justice. This opportunity affords me a chance to repay a debt to all of those who were so kind to me when I was a young lieutenant with the New York State Police, enrolled in the master's and doctoral programs.” He did not complete the doctoral program due to continued promotions.
     When Constantine announced his retirement, he said he wanted to return to New York and spend more time with his family. He lived in Schenectady for about 25 years before taking the DEA job in Washington, D.C. He was in law enforcement for 39 years.
Under Constantine's watch, the drug agency helped the Colombian police battle the Cali drug cartel. He is also credited with refocusing the drug agency to give more assistance to police agencies at the local and county levels. Under his tenure, more than 1,100 agents were added to the DEA.
     Constantine, while retiring from DEA for personal reasons, has disagreed in the past with the Clinton administration's acceptance of Mexico as an ally in stemming the flow of drugs to the U.S. He testified before the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control Feb. 24, saying that Mexican drug trafficking organizations posed the worst criminal threat to the nation that he had seen in his entire career.
     Prior to joining the DEA in March 1994, Constantine was the superintendent of the New York State Police. 
As a public service professor, he will also have the opportunity to lecture, mentor graduate students, help with internships, and serve on thesis committees.
     Earlier this year Constantine was named an honorary FBI special agent. In conferring the honor, FBI Director Louis Freeh noted that only 20 people had been so named since the title was created in 1957. 

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