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Juniata College

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Juniata College

(Posted June 16, 2014)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- Two Juniata College faculty members who retired at the end of the 2013-2014 academic year were honored recently at the faculty retirement dinner in April. The retirees are: Jeffery Demarest, professor emeritus of biology, and Judy Katz, professor emerita of English.

Jeffery Demarest joined the Juniata faculty in 1994 and was chair of the biology department from 1994 to 2004. His research has focused on cell biology and the physiology of osmoregulation and electroreception in fish. He also studied epithelial transport in the renal and gastrointestinal systems.

His research has been funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health and the Marine Biological Laboratory.

At Juniata, he has taught a variety of biology courses, including courses on microscopy, cell biology and physiology. In addition, he has taught Juniata's popular beer-making course for the past few years.

Demarest began his academic career in 1979 at the University of California Bodega Marine Laboratory, where he worked as a biophysicist and guest lecturer until 1982. He served another postdoctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina's Department of Medicine from 1981 to 1984.

He was a visiting scientist at Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory in Massachusetts for one year in 1985-1986 and served as adjunct faculty at the University of California, Berkeley and as a consulting scientist at UCLA's Wadsworth VA Medical Center from 1986 to 1988.

He worked as a guest lecturer at the University of California, Davis in 1988 and taught as an assistant research physiologist at the University of California, Berkeley from 1984 to 1988. He was an assistant professor of biology at the University of Arkansas from 1998 to 1994.

Demarest earned a bachelor's degree in biology in 1973 from Monmouth College, in West Longbranch, N.J. and went on to earn a doctoral degree in physiology in 1980 from the University of California, Berkeley.

He has published many scholarly papers and has made countless presentations of professional scientific meetings. He also contributed a chapter in "The Handbook of Physiology," published by the American Physiological Society. He has served as a referee for several scientific journals and has reviewed grant proposals for the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health.

He is a member of a number of professional societies, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Physiological Society, the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Council on Undergraduate Research and the Society for General Physiologists. He also is a life member in the Sierra Club.

Judy Katz came to Juniata in 1988 and was appointed to the full-time faculty in 1991. She has been instrumental in acting as an advocate at the college for women's programs. She created the college's first "Women in Literature" course, and in 1994 established "Unlock Your Voice," a program of readings from women's literature. This celebrated program, along with "Lift Ev'ry Voice," a program centering on readings from African-American literature, are among the most popular public programs at the college.

Katz earned a bachelor's degree in English from the City College of New York (CCNY) in 1966 and earned master's and doctoral degrees in English from Penn State in 1968 and 1972, respectively. Katz began her academic career by teaching freshman English at Penn State Altoona from 1971 to 1980.

Katz also took a break from her academic career in 1982, working at the Centre County Women's Resource Center, a social service agency dedicated to counseling women who are the victims of violence or sexual assault. She returned to teaching at Juniata in 1988.

She is a member of the Modern Language Association and the National Council of Teachers of English. She also has edited, books, catalogues and newsletters. In the early 1980s, she served as a press secretary and speechwriter to a U.S Congressional candidate.

She was promoted to associate professor in 1997. She teaches such courses as World Literatures, Women and Literature, The Contemporary Novel and College Writing Seminar. In 1994 she taught at Humberside University in Hull, England as part of a faculty exchange program. She has served as adviser for the club JC Women's Connection.

She is active in her State College community, remaining active with the Centre County Women's Resource Center and serving as a member of the executive committee of the Centre County Chapter of PFLAG.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.

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