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Penniman to return to faculty
By SUE WUETCHER
Reporter Editor
W. David Penniman, dean of the School of Informatics, has agreed to return to the faculty, effective Aug. 1, to resume his responsibilities as teacher and scholar.
Lucinda Finley, professor of law and vice provost for faculty affairs, will serve as interim dean of the school.
The announcement was made on Tuesday by Satish K. Tripathi, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs.
"Throughout Dr. Penniman's service as dean, he has been an exemplary university citizen, eager to contribute to the realization of the University at Buffalo's mission," Tripathi said. "As the inaugural dean of the School of Informatics, Dr. Penniman was instrumental in assisting in the introduction to our campus, region and academia at-large a new and burgeoning field known as informatics.
"President Simpson and I would like to extend our thanks and appreciation for Dr. Penniman's service to the School of Informatics and wish him well as he returns to the important duties of university faculty," he said.
Penniman assumed the position of dean in September 2001, becoming the first permanent dean of the School of Informatics. The school had been founded in 1999 as the result of the merger of the former School of Information and Library Studies and the Department of Communication, which at the time was part of the College of Arts and Sciences.
His scholarly work centers around the design and management of information systems, including strategic planning for systems, resources and services. He has published articles and papers in the areas of information systems research, development, and operation, and has conducted studies on knowledge management systems and cost/benefit analysis of information services.
More recent publications include an annual market survey of library systems, an article on strategic positioning of information services, and an article on educating the sci/tech information professional.
A current project involves communication patterns among medical professionals seeking to reach consensus on treatment protocols.