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NEWS RELEASE

09-24-03

Contacts:
Jerry Thomas, College of Education, (515) 294-8009
Cathy Curtis, College of Education, (515) 294-8175
Kevin Brown, News Service, (515) 294-8986

THOMAS NAMED INTERIM ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR GRADUATE EDUCATION AND RESEARCH FOR ISU'S COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

AMES, Iowa -- Jerry Thomas, professor and chair of the department of health and human performance in Iowa State University's College of Education, has been named interim associate dean for graduate education and research. He will continue to lead his department.

As associate dean, Thomas oversees the college's grants and contracts programs, works with the Research Institute for Studies in Education to enhance services to graduate students and supports recruitment and retention of PhD-level students.

Thomas came to Iowa State in 1998 after spending 11 years as a professor of exercise science and physical education at Arizona State University, Tempe. While at Arizona State, Thomas served as department chair from 1988 to1992 and as associate dean of that university's Graduate College from 1992 to1995.

In 1999, Thomas was elected to the 15-member Iowa Academy of Education, part of First in the Nation in Education, a Des Moines-based educational research foundation. Academy members are prominent Iowa education researchers.

Thomas is a Fellow of the American Academy of Kinesiology and Physical Education. The North American Society named him a Distinguished Scholar for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity in June.

Thomas' research interests include changes across childhood and adolescence related to development of motor/sport exercise, control of fine hand-eye coordination, gender differences in physical activity, and cognitive factors in motor performance and learning.

He replaces Jackie Blount, associate professor of curriculum and instruction, who has returned to the faculty after serving as associate dean since August 2000.

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