Purdue dean will lead EWU at Riverpoint

A Purdue University administrator will lead Eastern Washington University’s business school and oversee the Spokane campus.

Martine Duchatelet, who since 2006 has been dean of the School of Management at Purdue University, Calumet in Hammond, Ind., has been named dean of EWU’s College of Business and Public Administration and executive dean of EWU Spokane on the Riverpoint Campus. She will begin June 1.

The business school’s interim dean, Niel Zimmerman, will retire March 31. Elizabeth Tipton (Murff) will serve as interim dean until Duchatelet takes over.

Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Rex Fuller, who served as dean from 2006-’10, said in a statement, “I am thrilled to have an experienced dean succeed me in this role. I am confident that Dr. Duchatelet will quickly become comfortable in her new position and that she will become a well-known ambassador for EWU.”

Duchatelet received her doctorate in economics from Stanford University and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from Brussels University.

Staff report

Gas price highest ever for this time of year

NEW YORK – After a brief respite, the price of gasoline is climbing again.

The average price for a gallon of gas rose a nickel over the weekend and is now $3.80 per gallon. That more than wiped out the penny decline seen last Tuesday through Thursday.

That’s the highest price ever for this time of year. The average pump price has risen 52 cents a gallon this year as refineries and wholesalers pass along the higher cost of crude oil. Oil is up about 8 percent since Jan. 1.

Experts say the nationwide average could rise as high as $4.25 by late April. Besides high oil prices, a switch to summer blends of gasoline will drive the price higher.

Associated Press

Boeing employment in state best in years

Boeing’s Washington payroll, propelled by production pace increases and new aircraft development projects, grew by nearly 9,000 workers since the end of 2010, hitting a level that hasn’t been equaled in more than a dozen years.

The company reported it employed 82,325 workers in Washington at the end of last month. That compares with 73,617 Washington employees the company reported just 14 months ago.

(Tacoma) News Tribune