Dean Chosen for School of Industrial and Engineering Technologies

Dr. Lawrence J. Fryda has been named dean of the School of Industrial and Engineering Technologies at Pennsylvania College of Technology.

Fryda, who will begin his duties at Penn College in January, was selected after a nationwide search. He comes to Penn College after eight years at Central Michigan University, where he was chairperson and a professor in the Department of Industrial and Engineering Technology.

Previously, Fryda was an associate professor and sequence coordinator in the Industrial Technology Department at Illinois State University for nine years. He spent approximately 12 years teaching electronics at Central Community College, Hastings, Neb., and other institutions.

Fryda has published articles and papers in numerous national and international journals, and he has been a presenter at the Intertech 2000 Conference, the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, the American Vocational Conference, the National Association of Industrial Technology Conference and the Midwest Education and Technology Conference.

At Central Michigan University, Fryda was instrumental in two international exchanges with Monterrey Institute of Technology, Toluca, Mexico, and with a Russian university. He also obtained approximately $700,000 in federal, state and industrial grants.

Fryda earned his Ph.D. in vocational administration from Colorado State University. He earned a master's degree in master teacher, a bachelor's degree in vocational education and an associate's degree in industrial electronics from the University of South Dakota.

Fryda succeeds Dr. Eric K. Albert, who decided to return to a teaching position at Penn College. Albert is an associate professor of machine tool technology/automated manufacturing in the School of Industrial and Engineering Technologies.