Don’t call him the new guy.

Richard Kriegbaum returned to FPU as interim dean of the School of Business June 16 while the university seeks a replacement for departing dean Dennis Langhofer.

Kriegbaum, Ph.D., who was university president from 1985 until 1997, is enthusiastic about coming back. “In one sense, one never really leaves,” he said. After so many years as an administrator it was hard to leave the school completely behind, and Kriegbaum has continued to be involved in the Fresno Pacific community.

More than 60 young adults will gather at FPU to take part in the Global Anabaptist Peacebuilders (GAP) Institute of West Coast Mennonite Central Committee from June 17-25, 2011.

By Emily Stednick

The Arizona Diamondbacks made Fresno Pacific pitcher Jesse Darrah the team's eighth round pick on Tuesday, making him the Valley's first four-year college player to go off the board in the MLB Amateur Draft.
 

FPU groups of all kinds—students, faculty and staff—will benefit from two buses delivered June 2. The matched pair of white 2000 tour buses have 110 power outlets, new video screens and Wi-Fi so each vehicle’s 55 passengers can view videos, work on their laptops and surf the Internet. Facilities staff spearheaded the process, and several people made significant financial contributions.

After leading Fresno Pacific University during nine years resulting in academic growth and financial security, D. Merrill Ewert announced today he will retire as president, effective July 31, 2012.

The Board of Trustees has selected the Dingman Company, a worldwide search firm based in California, to lead the search process, and appointed a search committee including board members, alumni, faculty and staff.

Shrinking government budgets have put college and university financial aid under the political microscope. While there is general agreement that the system needs fixing, one segment of higher education has been either misunderstood or ignored: the independent non-profit. Hear more from D. Merrill Ewert, President of Fresno Pacific University, in this edition of Scholars Speak.

Special attention and structure can give struggling students the edge they need to be successful in the classroom, educators were told at a conference hosted by FPU. Nearly 250 teachers and administrators attended “Putting RtI2 into Practice: Response to Instruction and Intervention with a Focus on Writing” May 12 -13 in Steinert Campus Center on the main campus.

The May 11 Teacher Education Celebration honored 128 FPU students who earned teacher credentials in 2010-2011. Speakers included Teacher Education Program Director Linda Hoff, pictured, and Provost Steve Varvis.

Family and friends gathered May 6 to honor two deceased students with the dedication of a bench and garden.

Katie Friesen and Jeanette Mathews were members of the class of 2011. In 2009 Mathews died of natural causes and Friesen was killed in an automobile accident during a class field trip.

Among the speakers were Friesen’s father, Dr. Brian Friesen, classmates Aly Shackelford and Mariah Mandelbaum and alumnus Kelly Nachtigall, who designed the memorial. The bench and garden are between East Hall and Strasbourg Quad on the main campus.

Follow God and lead others, graduates were told at commencement May 7.

“God wants to be your leader,” Gary Wall told 426 graduates, their friends and families on the East Hall Green of the main campus. “There are many choices to be made, but this is by far the most important, to follow or not, to live for God or for yourself, to serve or be served.”