(Posted September 4, 2019)

From the left, Steven J. Hess, John L. Batchelor, and Dr. Michael J. Klag, have been appointed as members of Juniata College's board of trustees. 

From the left, Steven J. Hess, John L. Batchelor, and Dr. Michael J. Klag, have been appointed as members of Juniata College's board of trustees. 

HUNTINGDON, Pa.— The Juniata College board of trustees has added three new members to begin the 2019-2020 academic year. The newly appointed trustees began their service Sept. 1, 2019, for three-year terms. The new trustees are John L. Batchelor, retired in 2015 as the director of field placements and student teaching at Gwynedd Mercy University in Gwynedd Valley; Steven J. Hess, senior director of snacks research and development at The Hershey Co.; and Dr. Michael J. Klag, Second Century Distinguished Professor and dean emeritus of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Md. 

John L. Batchelor, of Rehoboth Beach, De., earned a bachelor’s degree in French from Juniata College in 1969 and began his career at Gwynedd Mercy University in 1999 after serving as a French teacher, school counselor and director of pupil services for the Colonial School District in Montgomery County, Pa., for over 30 years.  Prior to his retirement, Batchelor coordinated placements for student teachers at Gwynedd. Batchelor was previously an assistant professor of school counseling and a dissertation committee chair for numerous doctoral students. He is a member of CAMP Rehoboth in Rehoboth Beach, De. 

Batchelor earned a master’s degree at Villanova University in 1973 and a doctorate in educational administration at Temple University in 1993. 

Steven J. Hess, of Landisville, came to The Hershey Co. in 2002 as an associate staff scientist and has held positions in research and development over the course of his 17-year career. Prior to joining The Hershey Co., Hess worked as a research scientist at Germantown International in West Chester, Pa., for nearly five years, and as a research scientist and lab manager at Vivolac Cultures Corp. in Indianapolis, In., for almost three years. 

Hess earned his bachelor’s degree in biology in 1991. He also holds a master’s degree in food science from Penn State University, which he earned in 1994. Hess completed a Ph.D. in food process engineering at ETH Zürich in Switzerland 

Dr. Michael J. Klag, of Timonium, Md., served as the 10th dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health from 2005 to 2017 and guided the school to unprecedented growth across a range of categories. He held numerous leadership positions, including board chair of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health and chair of the NIH Advisory Board on Clinical Research. Dr. Klag also serves on the board of a number of not-for-profit organizations, including the David and Lucille Packard Foundation and the Johns Hopkins Hospital. His scientific contributions have been in the prevention and epidemiology of kidney disease, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. From 1988-2011, Dr. Klag directed one of the longest running longitudinal studies in existence, the Precursors Study, which began in 1946. He is the author of over 200 publications and was the editor-in-chief of the Johns Hopkins Family Health Book. 

Dr. Klag earned a bachelor’s degree in biology, graduating magna cum laude, in 1974. He completed his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania in 1978 and his master’s degree in public health at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1987. Dr. Klag has received numerous awards, including an honorary doctorate from Juniata College in 2008 and the James D. Bruce Memorial Award for Distinguished Contributions in Preventative Medicine from the American College of Physicians in 2012. 

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