ITHACA, N.Y. -- Walter R. Lynn, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Cornell University, has been named director of the university's Center for the Environment (CfE). A specialist in water-resources planning and a Senior Fellow in the center, Lynn follows James P. Lassoie, director of CfE since 1993. Lynn will serve as director while a national search is conducted for his successor. The universitywide center coordinates interdisciplinary education, research and outreach in seeking new approaches to environmental challenges that are both economically and environmentally sustainable.

Announcing the appointment, University Provost Don M. Randel said, "The Center for the Environment excels at what Cornell does best -- mustering the resources of the traditional disciplines and building strong linkages between science and technology, education and outreach to address real-world problems and issues. That's why the university is more committed than ever to ensuring the continued success of the center.

"We are pleased that Professor Lynn has agreed to provide leadership for the center during this interim period," Randel said. "We acknowledge and want to express our thanks for Professor Lassoie's numerous contributions and hard work as director, and know that he will continue to serve with distinction his department, college and university." Daryl B. Lund, the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, called environmental studies "one of the six pillars of the college" and said the center has great potential for harnessing the interdisciplinary strengths of the university. "Professor Lynn understands the opportunity this center has to bring all the elements of the university to bear on the study and academic programs focused on the environment," Lund said.

CfE incorporates four institutionally based programs (the Cornell Laboratory for Environmental Applications of Remote Sensing, the Institute for Comparative and Environmental Toxicology, Cornell Waste Management Institute and the Water Resources Institute) as well as several initiatives, including the Program in Biogeochemistry, the Work and Environment Initiative, and the Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors in New York State.