Currently executive director of DRI's Atmospheric Sciences Center, Dr. Barber's appointment will be for a period of one year or until the successful completion of the Board's ongoing search to find a permanent successor to President James V. Taranik. Taranik is returning June 30 to the classroom as the Arthur Brant Chair of Geology and Geophysics at the University of Nevada, Reno, after leading the Institute for the past 12 years.

"After consultation with the leadership of the faculty, administrative, and technical staff at DRI, I was delighted to recommend Dr. Peter Barber to the Board," said Dr. Jill Derby, Board chair.

"Dr. Barber has the experience of administration at DRI and the confidence of the institution and the Board to help lead DRI through this period of transition," she added.

Prior to joining DRI in 1993, Dr. Barber was a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Clarkson University and was a visiting associate professor in the Department of Engineering and Applied Science at Yale University. He also held various faculty positions at the University of Utah and UCLA.

Dr. Barber earned a B.S.E.E. from Washington State University; a M.S. and a Ph.D. in Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. He was awarded the John R. Park Teachers Fellowship from the University of Utah; the Outstanding Advisor Award from Clarkson University; and a Fulbright Fellowship to Finland.

Dr. Barber's annual salary will be $148,000.

"It was one of my great pleasures to have hired Dr. Barber to direct the Atmospheric Sciences Center and he has done a superior job in reorganizing and leading the center's strategic planning," said Taranik. "His selection to serve as interim president is a testimony to his excellent management skills and effectiveness in working with DRI's faculty. I'm confident he will serve the Regents and System well in this interim assignment."

A nonprofit, statewide division of the University and Community College System of Nevada, DRI pursues a full-time program of basic and applied environmental research on local, national and international scale. DRI's 400 scientists, technicians and support staff conduct some 140 research projects annually.

Comprised of two doctoral-granting universities, four comprehensive community colleges and one environmental research institution, the University and Community College System of Nevada serves the educational and job training needs of the nation's fastest growing state. As Nevada's only system of higher education, the UCCSN provides educational opportunities to more than 78,000 students.