PHILADELPHIA-- Larry M. Starr has been appointed executive director of the Center for Organizational Dynamics and director of the Organizational Dynamics degree programs at the University of Pennsylvania. He was previously director of the Organizational Development and Leadership program at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the Organizational Dynamics program offers graduate degrees to working professionals through the School of Arts and Sciences.

Starr said the Center and degree program will provide important but often missing competencies to managers and leaders: the strategies to understand and apply knowledge from the humanities, social sciences and professional disciplines to organizational challenges.

"My vision for this program concerns creating and communicating knowledge about the art and science of organizations particularly within the workplace," Starr said.

"This goes beyond traditional skills gained from technical schools, courses or job responsibilities; rather it's about how to blend and apply a wide range of intellectual resources in creative solution-oriented ways," he said.

Starr is the recipient of the 2002 Meritorious Service Award from the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, an international medical society of more than 6,000 occupational and environmental physicians. He is also the lead author of ACOEM's guideline on "Automated External Defibrillation in the Occupational Setting."

EDITORS NOTE: Starr will deliver the keynote address at the Center's 25th anniversary brunch Saturday, Sept. 14, 2002, from 10 a.m. to noon in the Woodlands Room at The Inn at Penn, 3600 Sansom St. Members of the media are invited to attend. Those wishing to attend should send a message to dynamics@grad.upenn.edu or call 215-898-1859.