Dr. Chunshan Song, professor of fuel science, department of energy and geo-environmental engineering, has been appointed director of Penn State's Energy Institute effective immediately.

"I am confident that Dr. Song will provide excellent leadership for the Institute, which will position it and the College to be at the forefront of energy research at Penn State," said Robert Crane, interim dean of Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences.

Song is currently the leader of the Clean Fuels and Catalysis Program at the Energy Institute. He holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Dalian University of Technology in Dalian, China, and a master's and a Ph.D. in applied chemistry from Osaka University in Japan. He worked for the Research Center of Osaka Gas Company in 1989 prior to joining Penn State as a research associate. He was appointed an assistant professor in 1994, an associate professor in 1997, and a full professor in 2003.

The Energy Institute, formed in 1993, began as the Penn State Combustion Laboratory in 1949. Located within the university's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, the institute is committed to research and development to diversify the nation's energy production, improve energy use and generation efficiencies and expand the use of limited domestic resources while relying less on foreign sources of energy.

In November 2006, the Energy Institute became affiliated with the Penn State Institutes of Energy and the Environment which unites the areas of energy and environmental science and engineering across campus.

For more information, visit the Penn State Energy Institute website.

5/18/2007