On May 27, Virginia Tech professor Jerzy Nowak was named the first director of the new Center for Peace Studies and Violence Prevention, which will replace the renovated second floor classrooms of Norris Hall where the April 16 shootings occurred.
Nowak has worked closely with the creation of the center since his wife Jocelyne Couture-Nowak was killed on April 16 while teaching her French class in Norris Hall.
He wanted to create a program that focused on areas of peace and violence prevention.
He will resign as head of the Department of Horticulture and begin his new position on July 1.
Prior to his arrival at Tech in 2000, he taught and researched in Poland, Germany, Nigeria and Canada. He also worked with the Institute of Sustainable and Renewable Resources in 2003 and has been active in economic diversification programs in Danville, Va.
Nowak's vision for the center connects faculty, students and staff from across the university to form national and international teams to brainstorm solutions to issues preventing peace.
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