Emeritus Status Approved for Longtime Business Professor

Published 04.26.2012

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Phillip D. LandersPennsylvania College of Technology's Board of Directors has approved "professor emeritus" status for Phillip D. Landers, retired professor of business administration/management.

Landers retired in August after 43 years as a faculty member at Penn College and its predecessor institution, Williamsport Area Community College. He earned a bachelor's degree in education from Bloomsburg University and a master's degree in business administration from Michigan State University.

He began his Penn College employment as an instructor of business management in September 1968. He was promoted to assistant professor in 1970, associate professor in 1983 and professor in 1994. He had also served as a department head.

During his tenure, Landers was involved with writing and implementing the initial bargaining agreement between the college and Penn College Education Association. He researched, created and wrote the original bachelor's degree in accounting and was involved in all subsequent revisions to it and the associate degree in accounting.

Landers served on, and led, many Internal Governance System committees at Penn College, and he played important roles in many regional (the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools) and programmatic (the International Assembly for Collegiate Business Education and the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs) accreditation and re-accreditation self-studies.

More recently, Landers worked with the Salvation Army of Williamsport and the Internal Revenue Service to bring a chapter of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program to Penn College to serve residents in Williamsport and surrounding communities.

Paul L. Starkey, vice president for academic affairs/provost, said Landers was, and continues to be, heavily involved in philanthropic activities.

"These activities, usually with community-development focused nonprofit organizations, often led to opportunities for student involvement," Starkey said. "Phil's community-based work always provided networks that benefited his students and experiences he translated to his classes."

To be eligible for the "professor emeritus" designation, nominees must have served the college for a minimum of 10 years and demonstrated a record of distinguished service to students, their department, their academic school and the college.

Nominations are reviewed and approved by the Promotion and Sabbatical Review Committee and are recommended by the president and the vice president for academic affairs/provost for board consideration.

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