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CORVALLIS - Margaret Leinen, a former graduate student at Oregon State University, has been named the new head of the Geosciences Directorate at the National Science Foundation.

Leinen, an expert in paleoceanography and paleoclimatology, will begin the position in January, 2000. Managing a $470 million budget, she will coordinate environmental science and engineering programs within the NSF, and develop environmental cooperation and collaborations between NSF and other federal agencies.

Leinen received her bachelor's degree in geology from the University of Illinois, her masters degree in geological oceanography from OSU in 1975, and doctorate in 1980 from the University of Rhode Island.

"Margaret is an excellent scientist and administrator, and a person with uncommon good sense and intelligence," said Brent Dalrymple, dean of the OSU College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences. "She is highly respected and widely known by the scientific community. NSF couldn't have selected a better person to fill this position."

Leinen is a past president of The Oceanography Society, on the Board of Governors of the Joint Oceanographic Institutions, and the Ocean Research Advisory Council. Leinen also has served as vice chair of the International Geosphere Biosphere Program and on the Board on Global Change of the National Research Council-National Academy of Sciences.

Leinen has spent her entire academic career at the University of Rhode Island, where she spearheaded that university's efforts to build a cohesive interdisciplinary marine and environmental focus.