Patsy M. Brannon, Cornell Ph.D. '79 and chair and professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Maryland, has been nominated as dean of the College of Human Ecology at Cornell University.

The nomination, made by Cornell Provost Don M. Randel, will be effective during the summer of 1999. President Hunter Rawlings enthusiastically supported the nomination and will recommend that it be approved by the Executive Committee of the Cornell Board of Trustees at its meeting Sept. 10. The appointment also must be approved by the State University of New York Board of Trustees, which is expected later this year.

Brannon, a specialist in the nutritional regulation of gene expression, will succeed Francille M. Firebaugh, who is retiring June 1, 1999, after holding the post for 11 years.

As dean, Brannon will take over leadership of a college with a $40 million budget, more than 1,300 undergraduate and 250 graduate students, 86 faculty and a $7.6 million-a-year research program in five areas: design and environmental analysis, human development, nutritional sciences, policy analysis and management, and textiles and apparel. The College of Human Ecology is one of four state-supported units at Cornell's Ithaca campus.

"Patsy Brannon combines the high level of academic accomplishment, the energy and the enthusiasm that makes great deans, and she is an accomplished administrator as well," said Cornell Provost Randel. "The college and the university are very fortunate to have attracted her to Cornell in this role, and I very much look forward to working with her."

Adds John Ford, the Robert W. and Elizabeth C. Staley Dean of Students and professor of policy analysis and management at Cornell, who served on the search committee: "Patsy Brannon brings to Cornell a strong combination of academic administrative experience at the departmental level and outstanding research experience which covers a broad range of basic and applied areas for enhancing the well-being of people through nutritional sciences. She is a very clear thinker and has a great deal of energy and enthusiasm for working with students, faculty and staff."

Said Brannon, "I am really looking forward to coming back to Cornell and am excited about the opportunities for the College of Human Ecology with its outstanding faculty and exceptional programs in undergraduate education, outreach and research, all of which are recognized nationally and internationally."

"I believe the college is well poised to continue its development in the areas of health and development across the life cycle and environmental issues as they relate to individuals and families," she said. "I look forward to helping the college enhance its interdisciplinary activities and its interactions with other programs on campus."

Brannon earned a doctorate in nutritional biochemistry at Cornell in 1979 after completing a B.S. in 1973, magna cum laude, and an M.S. in 1975, both at Florida State University, in food and nutritional sciences. She first worked as a staff fellow in the Section of Developmental Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Neonatal and Pediatric Medicine Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for three years before receiving a teaching and research appointment at the University of Arizona, where she taught and established her research program from 1982 to 1994, becoming a full professor in 1992. Most recently, she served as chair and professor at the University of Maryland since 1994.

Brannon is the author or co-author of more than 30 academic publications. Her area of research concerns the regulation of the exocrine pancreas and its gene expression by diet and during development and aging. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the American Foundation for Aging Research, the American Heart Association and other agencies.

Her major professional appointments recently have included service on the NIH and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases special study section, the National Dairy Council's Scientific Advisory Board and the editorial boards of the Journal of Nutrition and the Journal of Gerontology: Biological Sciences.

Brannon's husband, George (Wes) Buchanan, Jr., also will be joining the Cornell staff as the payroll operations manager in the Office of the University Controller.