Distingquished Professors Named

(L-R) Terry Etherton and Harvey Manbeck, who have been named distinguished professors, receive congratulations from Theodore Alder, interim dean of the college.

Terry Etherton, professor of animal nutrition, and Harvey Manbeck, professor and interim head of the agricultural and biological engineering department, have been named distinguished professors by Penn State President Graham Spanier. The title of distinguished professor was established by the Office of the President to recognize a select group of professors with exceptional accomplishments in teaching, research, and service. The College of Agricultural Sciences now has four distinguished professors, including Channa Reddy, distinguished professor of veterinary science, and Ralph Mumma, distinguished professor of environmental quality.

Terry Etherton is an internationally recognized authority on growth hormones and agricultural biotechnology. His studies were the first to establish that treating pigs with recombinantly derived porcine growth hormone (pGH) improves growth rate and productive efficiency, increases muscle mass, and decreases carcass fat. His work has played an important role in the development of a pGH-based product for the swine industry. Etherton also is a leading authority in public discussion about the safety, efficacy, and benefits of agricultural biotechnology. He teaches graduate courses in nutrition and animal growth as well as an undergraduate course in animal growth and development.

Etherton was raised on a grain and livestock farm near Mason City, Illinois. After receiving his Ph.D. in animal science from the University of Minnesota he was a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Medicine at Stanford University from 1978 to 1979, when he joined Penn State's dairy and animal science department. In 1986-87 he took a sabbatical leave to work at Children's Hospital at the University of California, San Francisco.

Etherton has received national recognition for his research. In 1991, he was awarded the University Faculty Scholar Medal in Life and Health Sciences, Penn State's highest honor for excellence in research. In 1993, he received the Alex and Jessie C. Black Award for Excellence in Research from the College of Agricultural Sciences. He is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute of Nutrition, the American Society of Animal Science, and the Endocrine Society.

Etherton also chaired the National Research Council subcommittee on the effect of metabolism modifiers on nutrient requirements of food-producing animals. He currently serves on the editorial board of the American Journal of Physiology, the International Food Information Council's expert panel, and the American Council on Science and Health's board of scientific advisers.

Harvey Manbeck is a leader in wood engineering research and design. He has contributed significantly to advancing the design of post-frame buildings and hardwood timber bridges and to developing structural and wood production systems. He leads the structural system effort in Penn State's Housing Research Center and served as the center's interim director in 1995. With coinvestigators in the School of Forest Resources and the Department of Civil Engineering, Manbeck initiated research to develop structural glued-laminated products from undervalued and underutilized Pennsylvania hardwoods. The research team developed design standards for hardwood glued-laminated highway bridges. Several full-scale timber bridges have been built based on the research results and design specifications.

Manbeck helped establish Penn State's Particulate Materials Center and contributes to a cooperative Penn State research effort to define the mechanical behavior of powders, granules, and other particulates. His work has provided a clearer understanding of the interaction between bin walls and stored grains and powders. Manbeck also is a recognized authority on poultry housing and currently is editing a national extension publication on poultry housing and equipment

In recognition of his undergraduate and graduate teaching, Manbeck received the Penn State Engineering Society's Premier Teaching Award in 1990 and Penn State's George Atherton Excellence in Teaching Award in 1991. He serves as faculty adviser to about 25 undergraduate students and 7 graduate students per year, and also has served as adviser to several student organizations.

Manbeck has received national and international research awards, including the Henry Geise Structures and Environment Award in 1990 and the National Frame Builder's Association Bernon Perkins Award in 1990. A member of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, he was named a Fellow of the society in 1992. He also is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Forest Products Research Society, Sigma Xi, and Gamma Sigma Delta, the national honorary agriculture fraternity.

Manbeck was an assistant and associate professor of agricultural engineering at the University of Georgia prior to joining the Penn State faculty as professor in 1980. He has served on the Faculty Senate at Penn State for many years, and chaired the Senate Committee on Research for the past three years.

–Eston Martz