News & Events
Pamela Brown Appointed Dean of School of Arts & Sciences
Dr. Pamela Brown, a chemical engineer with extensive academic and professional experience, has been named dean of the School of Arts & Sciences following a nationwide search. She reports to Provost Bonne August and is a member of President Russell K. Hotzler's cabinet.
Brown had been acting dean since September 2005. In that capacity, she obtained and oversees a $991,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to improve retention and recruitment of students interested in careers in science, technology, engineering and math fields. This initiative has catalyzed an expansion of student internship and research opportunities at the College.
Other accomplishments during her watch include a significant upgrade of the science laboratories, the hiring of more than 25 tenure-track faculty and the addition of courses in astronomy, biochemistry, bioinformatics, engineering ethics and sign language, as well as new sequences in the Arabic and Mandarin Chinese languages.
"Pam has demonstrated her dedication to providing quality education to City Tech students, both inside and outside of the classroom," said Provost August, in announcing the appointment. "Her strong credentials are enhanced by the energy and spirit of collaboration she brings to her work. She is a solid addition to our leadership team."
Brown earned a PhD in chemical engineering from Polytechnic University, returning to college after several years in industry and raising a family. She has the distinction of being the first woman to earn that degree from Polytechnic. She holds a BS in chemistry from SUNY Albany and an MS in chemical engineering practice from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"My priorities are to align the curriculum to promote student success in the classroom and to provide clearer pathways to higher education and careers," she says. "Expanding current programs and developing new ones are at the top of my to-do list. I hope to encourage more extracurricular educational experiences, including poster sessions and other special events, and create new opportunities for students to conduct research and work with faculty in other scholarly pursuits, including publications."
Before entering academia, Brown, a licensed professional engineer in New York State, was employed at American Cyanamid, where she helped develop catalysts to remove sulfur from crude oil. She then moved to Pall Corporation, a manufacturer of industrial filters, assisting clients such as Avon and Dow Chemical with their filtration needs.
Brown began teaching at City Tech in 1998 as an assistant professor of chemistry and was the chemical technology program coordinator for the 2004-05 academic year. During her time as coordinator, the program became one of the few in the country to be approved by the American Chemical Society's (ACS) Chemical/Environmental Laboratory Technology Program Approval Service, signifying to industry that it met quality standards similar to those of the most effective chemistry-based programs in the U.S. She also developed a new course in chemical safety.
As a City Tech faculty member, Brown was awarded ACS Project SEED grants five consecutive summers to provide stipends to deserving underprivileged high school students to conduct research at City Tech. She served as a volunteer mentor and was honored by the ACS in 2003 for service to this program.
With support from a previous NSF grant, she introduced peer-led team learning into her chemistry classes. In addition, she was the City Tech faculty liaison to a Department of Education FIPSE grant to prepare science teachers and helped team-teach an education course using videoconferencing to reach students at City Tech and three sister CUNY institutions. She has been the faculty mentor to more than 20 undergraduate researchers while at City Tech.
Her previous teaching experience includes five years as visiting assistant professor at Stevens Institute of Technology and adjunct positions at Barnard College, Nassau Community College and Queensborough Community College.
Brown explains her passion for the sciences this way: "I grew up in the sixties during the space race. It was a time of exciting developments in science and technology and I wanted to be a part of it. I was in college during the oil crisis of the early seventies and chose to major in chemistry because I wanted to discover ways to make oil cleaner and its use more efficient."
Her most recent research involved using microwave-induced heating to develop "greener" chemical reactions in which less reactants are needed and less waste is produced. She also compared reaction rates to those using traditional heating methods. She has published in such peer-reviewed publications as Journal of Chemical Education, American Laboratory, Chemical Engineering Education, Industrial Engineering and Chemistry Research, and American Institute of Chemical Engineering Journal, among others.
Another passion is genealogy. "I discovered that my eight-times great grandfather fought with General George Washington and was present when Cornwallis' army surrendered at Yorktown," she explains. "I am now a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and help the organization raise scholarship money for high school students excelling in history and funds for veterans organizations."
Brown lives with her husband, Harvey, a demolition contractor, in Baldwin, Long Island. They have three grown children.
10/12/07
