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Dr. King The coordinator of Penn State's University Scholars Program, Dr. Max King, has been named Assistant to the Vice Provost for University Life at Penn, where he will serve as staff officer for the the VPUL's Director's Group and Core Resource Management Team; coordinate research and assessment activities in collaboration with the Provost's Research Office, faculty, staff, and students; and participate in policy development, planning, and the development of divisional reports and communications. "Max will work actively as a partner with graduate, professional, and undergraduate students on focus areas of high priority to Penn students," said the VPUL, Dr. Valarie Swain-Cade McCoullum.
Dr. King holds three degrees from Penn State: a B.S. in Biological Health, M.S. in Health Education, and Ph.D. from the Interdisciplinary Program in Educational Theory and Policy. His research focus is the multidimensional Methodology of Q-Analysis, or Polyhedral Dynamics, a higher-level structural analysis approach derived from algebraic topology. He provided the first practical demonstration of the British mathematician Jeff Johnson's Theory of Stars.
Although his appointment there was primarily administrative, Dr. King also held an appointment as an Affiliate Assistant Professor and a member of the graduate faculty in the Department of Administration, Policy, Foundations, and Comparative/International Education. He taught educational foundations, comparative education, British education, research methods, and international education. He also has extensive experience in computer systems, developing mainframe and microcomputer research and thesis applications.
His program at Penn State is "consistently cited as one of the top honors programs in the country," Dr. McCoullum said. "Under his stewardship, the number of applicants to the 300-member Scholars Program more than doubled to 1600, and SAT averages of the incoming freshman group rose to 1470." Dr. King also directed a London Study Tour, in which University Scholars pursued university/archival research or theatre study options, and he had broad responsibilities in fostering undergraduate research including the development of Honors Thesis writing workshops and research methods workshops. He is a member o f the Board of Governors of the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research, serving on the Development and Finance Standing Committees.