College of General Studies
Graduation 2008
Guest Speaker:
David P. Balamuth, Ph.D.
David P. Balamuth, Ph.D., Associate Dean for Natural Sciences and Professor of Physics of the School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, will address the College of General Studies Class of 2008 at their graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 18.
Dr. Balamuth earned his B.A. from Harvard University and his Ph.D. from Columbia University. He is an experimental nuclear physicist whose research interests focus on atomic nuclei of unusual composition. He has served in several capacities as an adviser to the federal government, including a year as program officer for nuclear physics at the National Science Foundation and most recently as a member of the Long Range Plan Working Group of the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Dr. Balamuth came to Penn in 1968 and has served the University as graduate chair in physics, chair of the Faculty Senate, and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
As Associate Dean for the Natural Sciences in the School of Arts and Sciences he is responsible to the Dean for the departments of Biology, Chemistry, Earth and Environmental Studies, Linguistics, Mathematics, Psychology, and Physics and Astronomy.
“David has been a driving force for the development of SAS science policy under four deans,” notes Rebecca Bushnell, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. “He has been instrumental in strengthening the faculty and championing several important facilities projects, most notably the two-phase life sciences complex. His wisdom has also extended beyond science, to a wide range of faculty personnel and other issues.”