Resume

University Management

Location:

Ambler, PA

Posted:

February 11, 2013

Contact this candidate

Resume:

ACADEMIC RESUME

John A. Sorrentino

Ambler Campus:

ECON-CLA

Temple University Ambler 921-00

*** ************ **.

Ambler, PA 19002

v-mail:267-***-****; FAX: -8355

e-mail: abqq1h@r.postjobfree.com

Main Campus:

Department of Economics

College of Liberal Arts

837 Ritter Hall Annex

Temple University 004-00

Philadelphia, PA 19122

v-mail: 215-***-****; FAX: -8173

e-mail: abqq1h@r.postjobfree.com

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION:

Energy Economics, Environmental Economics, Ecological Economics & Economics of Sustainability

EDUCATION:

B.B.A. Economics, Bernard M. Baruch College,

The City University of New York, 1969

M.S. Economics, Purdue University, 1971

Ph.D. Economics, Purdue University, 1973

FELLOWSHIPS AND HONORS:

Sigma Alpha Honor Society Award for Scholarship, Service and

Personality, Baruch College,

1969

New York State Regents' Teaching Fellowship, 1969-70

Good Teaching Award, Purdue University, 1971

National Science Foundation Traineeship, Purdue

University, Summer 1971-Spring 1972

David Ross Thesis Research Grant, Purdue University,

1972-73

National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Federal Energy Administration/American

Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), Systems Design Post-Doctoral

Fellowship on Energy

Conservation, Summer, 1975

Energy Research and Development Administration/ASEE

Faculty Research Fellowship on

Energy Education and Training for the Future, Summer, 1976

Summer Research Fellowship, Temple University, 1977

Research Leaves, Temple University, Spring 1982; Fall

1991; Spring 2009

Department of Energy/ASEE Faculty Research Fellowship

on Solar Thermal Energy, Summer 1984

Christian R. & Mary F. for

Distinguished Teaching, Temple University, May 1999

Induction into the Temple UniversityTeaching Academy, Greenfield

Conference Center, September 2000

ACADEMIC EMPLOYMENT:

Graduate Student Instructor, Purdue University, 9/69-6/72

Assistant Professor of Economics, Temple University,

9/73-6/79

Associate Professor of Economics with Tenure, Temple University,

7/79-Present

Faculty Member, New Jersey Governor's School on the Environment,

Richard Stockton College, Summer 1989-93; 95-96

Faculty Associate, Temple University Ambler - Center for

Sustainable Communities, Fall 2000 - present

PUBLICATIONS:

"Private Resolution of Production Externalities," Eastern

Economic Journal, April 1975 (with

A. Whinston)

This paper placed a reciprocal externality situation into a two-person

game format with "partial" cooperation. Pre-game strategy restriction was

allowed. Then, each player had the options of controlling its own waste

to avoid full damage to the other, and processing the other's waste to

avoid full damage to itself. The possible orderings of the costs of

control, processing and full damages were specified, and various

strategies shown to be socially efficient. A numerical example was given.

"The Economic Implications of Recycling Exhaustible Natural

Resources: The Case for Crude

Oil,", September

1975

(with A. Whinston)

Using network flow diagrams and a large-scale linear-integer programming

format, this paper modeled a system whereby the costs of achieving fixed

demands for oil products were minimized. Included in the variables were

quantities of re-refined oil, which when collected and re-used, prevented

some of the costs of environmental contamination resulting from

inappropriate discharge. Some policy implications were discussed. The

model was not solved empirically.

"A Publicly-Coordinated Plan for Controlling Interfirm Externalities,"

Proceedings of the

Northeast Conference of the American Institute for Decision Sciences,

Philadelphia, April-May

1976

Following up on dissertation work, this paper examined the problem of

coordinating the decisions of individual agents when the latter may not

conform to social objectives. In particular, it dealt with a government

(center) attempting to achieve social efficiency in the presence of

public-good externalities. Large-scale nonlinear programming provided the

format, and a system of "penalties" was designed to induce correct

behavior. No numerical solution was attempted.

"Externalities in a Regulated Industry: The Aircraft Noise Problem,"

American Economic

Review, Vol. 67, No. 4, September 1977 (reprinted from Papers and

Proceedings, February 1977) (with J.

Muskin)

This paper came from the Muskin Ph.D. dissertation. The IBM 360 Linear

and Separable Programming Package was used to develop shadow prices, which

would become emissions charges attached to aircraft landing fees.

"An 'Effluent' Charge Approach to Aircraft Noise Abatement,"

Journal of Environmental Economics and

Management, Vol. 5, No. 4, December 1978 (with J. Muskin)

Expanding on the previous article, this work recalculated shadow prices

based on data revisions. The program found the cost-minimizing mix of

adoption %s of noise-abatement options, given EPA-promulgated goals for

reduction of populations in particular noise "contours" around airports,

and a limit on service reduction. After national data were used to solve

the overall problem, an example was used to show how the noise charge

would be implemented at a hypothetical airport.

"An Economic Theory of Criminal Externalities," in Crime

Spillover, edited by S. Hakim and G.

Rengert, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA, 1981

The problem of "crime spillover" results from the exportation of criminal

activity from districts that expend relatively more resources in

crime-fighting to those that do not. A mechanism is set up in this paper

similar to that of the 1976 AIDS paper above. A "penalty scheme" is

suggested to reconcile the wishes of the "source" and "sink" districts,

so that a socially efficient level of spillover occurs. No numerical

solution was achieved.

"Modelling Aircraft Noise Abatement: Dealing with a 'Flow' Pollutant,"

in Application of

Ecological Modelling in Environmental Management, Part B,

edited by S.E. Jorgenson and

W.J. Mitsch,

Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co., Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1983 (with C.Fiorentino)

After more detail about biophysical aircraft noise measures, and about

actual legal cases initiated by individuals and municipalities in the US,

a general central-coordination model was proposed. Again, the objective

was to cause decisions made by actors in the airline industry to conform

to social goals. A numerical solution to a linear version of the problem

was presented.

"On the Economics of Toxic Substances Control," in Toxic

and Hazardous Wastes, edited by

M.D. LaGrega and D.A. Long, Technomic Publishing Co., Lancaster, PA, June

1984

This paper set up a blueprint of a three-agent model: a toxic substance

producer, a recipient, and a central authority. The goal was to have the

central authority develop a regulatory scheme to reconcile the needs of

the discharger to those of the victim in the name of social efficiency.

"A Model of 'Social Consciousness' with Applications to Personal

Exchange and Energy/Environment Decisions," in

"Mathematical Modelling in Science and Technology," edited by E.Y. Rodin

and X.J.R. Avula,

published as Volume 11 of Mathematical and Computer

Modelling, Pergamon Press, New

York, 1988

Work in this area had a two-fold mission: to extend the analysis in the

1975 "Private Resolution paper above to explicitly recognize behavior

that involves costs to individuals, but benefits to others; and to

propose a multi-dimensional slate of characteristics similar to those

used in "Pattern Recognition" to classify individuals as socially

benevolent or not. Some discussion was included on the natural and social

environments that individuals function within, and on energy and

environmental choices affecting others that individuals can make.

"Getting Economics Students Plugged In," National Teaching

& Learning, Vol. 4, No.

2, January, 1995

This short article grew out of a "Focus on Faculty" Article for the

Temple

Computer Services Newsletter, Bits'n'PCs. It contains a discussion of

early experiences with students working in a LAN setting to type

open-book essays or to complete spreadsheets based on previous

assignments. It also included student comments on learning to discuss

topics on the class listserv groups.

"The Transition from the LAN Computer Classroom to the Virtual

Classroom: What Trials &

Tradeoffs?" in Teaching in the Community Colleges Electronic

Journal

(TCC-J article), Vol. 1, No. 1, Summer 1996

A paper was presented on what was purported to be the second-of-its-kind

all-online conference. It was stored on the website of the community

college in Hawaii that hosted the conference. The paper adds more detail

& experience to the previous shorter papers on computer-assisted

education.

"Going Virtual: What to Bring Along from the F-2-F Classroom and

LAN Computer Lab?" under "Focus on the Social Sciences" on

Technology Tools for Today's Campuses,

a CD-ROM ed. by James L. Morrison, & produced by Microsoft under the

direction of Jim Ptaszynski, Spring 1997

A variation of the previous paper was solicited by Professor Morrison of

UNC for Horizon, an electronic journal on electronic topics in education.

It was published & freely disseminated on a CD compiled by Microsoft.

Study Manual for Society of Actuaries Course 2 and Casualty

Actuaries Society Exam 2 (Economics), 2002 Edition (ISBN 1-56698-365-7), Revised as Study Manual: CAS

Economics Exam, 2005 (ISBN: 1-56698-509-9)

Actex

Publications, Winsted, CT

This study guide helps prepare would-be actuaries for the economics sections of

their qualifying exams.

"Can a Viable Distance Education Program Stay Behind the Technology 'Wave?'" in The

Distance Education Evolution: Issues and Case Studies, edited by D.

Monolesque, C. Schifter & L. Greenwood, IGI Global Publishing, Hershey, PA

2004 (ISBN: 1-59140-224-7)

The topic of staying "behind the wave" was dealt with in two ways: a difference-of-means test was done on

the author's grades in the face-to-face & "low-tech"-online versions of an MBA economics survey course

(showing no

significant difference), & the results of a survey of MBA students showed that the professor far outweighed

technology in terms of importance to perceived learning & student satisfaction.

"Energy," "Equilibrium, Partial/General," "Game Theory," "John D. Rockefeller," and "OPEC" (with M. Rabbani) in

The Encyclopedia of Capitalism, Syed B. Hussain, ed., produced by Golson Books, Ltd.,

Croton-on-Hudson, NY, published by Infobase Publishing, Inc., NYC,

NY, 2004 (ISBN: 0-8160-5224-7)

"Poverty in the United States," (with Md M. R. Meenar)

in The Encyclopedia of World Poverty, Mehmet Odekon, ed., produced by Golson Books,

Ltd., Croton-on-Hudson, NY,

published by Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, 2006 (ISBN 1-4129-1807-3)

This piece provided a description through text, maps & tables of the occurrence of poverty in the US. Some reasons for its existence,

and policies that have been implemented to combat it, were discussed.

"Suitable Housing Placement: A GIS-Based Approach," (with Md M. R. Meenar & Bradley J. Flamm), Environmental Management, Vol. 42, No. 5, November 2008

This paper uses CommunityViz software to place housing in the Pennypack Creek Watershed projected to be needed as a result of employment forecasts created by the

Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. The location is based on suitability analysis performed with ArcGIS software. The "suitable" scenario out-performed the

"trend"

scenario in all but one indicator of energy use and environmental impact.

"Coupling GPS and GIS" (with Md M. R. Meenar & S. Yesmin) & "Dealing with 3D Surface Models: Raster and TIN," (with Md M. R. Meenar) in

The Handbook of Research on Geoinformatics, IGI Global Publishing,

Hershey, PA, 2009

The first entry discusses the hardware & software interfaces between the Global Positioning

System & Geographic Information Systems as they have evolved over time. The second entry compares the data gathering & processing requirements using raster interpolation

methods and triangulated irregular networks to create 3D digital terrain models.

OTHER RESEARCH:

"Economies of Scale and the Averch-Johnson Effect: Policy Cost

Estimates," for Dr. Gary

Bowman, under contract with Federal Communications

Commission (FCC), Dept. of Economics,

Temple University, 1975

"Theoretical Determinants of Natural Monopoly and Statistical

Methodology for Multiproduct

Production Functions," for Dr. Paul Rappoport, under contract with

FCC, Dept. of Economics,

Temple University, 1976

"Energy Conservation: An Assessment of Systems, Technologies and

Requirements"

(ECASTAR), a report co-authored with the Engineering Systems-Design

Fellows, under

NASA/FEA contract NGT 01-003-004, Marshall Space Flight

Center, Huntsville, AL, Summer

1975, NTIS, 1976

"A Proposed Plan for Education and Training in Nonnuclear and Nuclear

Energy Technologies",

a report co-authored with the Faculty Fellows of ASEE, under

ERDA contract E(48-18) 2432,

Washington, DC, Summer 1976, ERDA 76-133, NTIS, 1977

"Electric Utility Profit," for the Legislative Office for Research

Liaison, Pennsylvania State

Legislature, Harrisburg, PA, 1978 (Unpaid)

Evaluation of Energy/Environment papers of the International Institute

for Applied Systems

Analysis, for Kappa Systems, Inc., under contract with

NSF, Arlington, VA, 1978

"An Evaluation of Models/Methods for Environmental Management," Task

II of "Methods

Development for Assessing Air Pollution Control Benefits," under

EPA contract R805059-01,

University of Wyoming, 1979

"On the Economic Feasibility of a Laboratory-Level Energy Device: The

Hydride/Nafion Cell,"

for Dr. Robert Salomon, under DOE Grant OERI 006213,

Dept. of Chemistry, Temple

University, 1983

"Modeling Fuel Cycles to Incorporate Environmental and Social Costs,"

for Dr. George Lady,

Optima Consulting Services, Mt. Holly, NJ, for the Energy

Information Administration (EIA)/DOE,

1991

"The Economic Impacts of the Regulation of Hazardous Organic NESHAPs

in the 1990 Clean

Air Act: Methodology,"; "Regulating Emissions from Vapor Degreasers:

Methodology," for

JACA Corporation, under contract with the EPA, Fort

Washington, PA, 1991; 1992/3

"Federal Energy Subsidies: Direct and Indirect Interventions in Energy

Markets," (EIA-SR/EMEU/92-02) with Decision Analysis of VA, Vienna, VA,

for EIA/DOE, 1992

"Project Evaluation Index," in the "Economic Development Committee

Report," Lower Delaware National Wild & Scenic Rivers Study, December 1994 (Unpaid)

"A Comparison of Standards for Commercial Electric & Gas Heating

Systems," for Dr. George Lady, Optima Consulting Services, Mt. Holly, NJ,

Fall 1996/Winter 1997

Chair, Decision Processes Group, in "Applying the EPA's Regional Vulnerability Assessment (ReVA) Approach

to the Pennypack Creek Watershed," for the PA Department of Environmental Protection (DEP),

& funded by Grant # CR-83084001-1, Office of Science Policy, Office of Research and Development, US EPA, Fall 2003 to Summer 2006., "Applying the EPA's Regional Vulnerability Assessment (ReVA) Approach to the Pennypack Creek Watershed,"

for the PA DEP, co-editor with Md. M.R. Meenar & J. Featherstone, January 2007

"Preserving the Raytharn Farm as Open Space: A Retrospective Survey,"

unpublished manuscript

"Some Geonomics of Organic Farming: Externality and Land Tax Games,"

work-in-progress, 2004-present

GRANT FUNDING RECEIVED:

"What Price Mother Nature? A Conference on Energy, Ecology & Economy," Environmental Education Grants

Program, EPA Region III, Fall, 1993

ACTIVITIES AT PROFESSIONAL

MEETINGS:

Discussant, Energy Policy Session, Southern Regional Science

Association (SRSA) Meetings,

Richmond, VA, April 1976

"Externalities in a Regulated Industry: The Aircraft Noise

Problem," presented to the American Economic Association (AEA) Meetings, Atlantic City, NJ, September 1976

"Externalities and Information," Presenter and Discussant,

Environmental Economics Session, Eastern Economic Association (EEA) Meetings, Hartford, CT,

April 1977

"An 'Effluent' Charge Approach to Aircraft Noise Abatement," Presenter and Discussant, Topics

in Energy Economics Session, EEA Meetings, Washington,

DC, April 1978

"Energy Conservation: Individual or Social Choice?"

presented to the SRSA Meetings, Richmond,

VA, April 1978

"Coordinating the Effort to Abate Aircraft Noise," presented to the AEA Meetings, Chicago, IL,

August 1978

"Is the Coase Controversy Irrelevant?" Presenter and Discussant, Theoretical Issues in Consumer

Economics Session, EEA Meetings, Boston, MA, May 1979

Discussant, Topics in Applied Price Theory Session, AEA Meetings, Atlanta, GA, December 1979

"On the Applicability of the Theory of Clubs," presented to the AEA Meetings, Washington, DC,

December 1981

Session Organizer, "Changes in Power Industry Regulation: A Mock

Hearing with AudienceVoting," Western Economic Association International (WEAI) Meetings,

Vancouver, BC, Canada, June-July 1994

"The Transition from the LAN Computer Classroom to the Virtual

Classroom: What Trials &

Tradeoffs?" presented to the Teaching in the Community Colleges

Online Conference

(CFORUM-L), April 1996

Local #4531 Representative, "National Higher Education Issues

Conference: Technology & the Changing Nature of Work," American

Federation of Teachers, San Francisco, CA, March 1996

"Environmental Information Systems: Have They Raised or Lowered

Industry Compliance Costs?" presented to the Inaugural Hawaii Conference

on Business (HCB), Honolulu, HI, June 2001

"Environmental Information Systems: Are They Bridging Theory & Policy?"

presented to the Inaugural Conference of the US Society for Ecological

Economics (USSEE), Duluth, MN, July 2001(Abstract)

"Some Economics of Distance Education: The Virtual MBA"

presented to the Second Annual HCB, Honolulu, HI, June 2002

"Willingness to Pay to Preserve the Raytharn Farm: A Retrospective View," presented to the Second

Biennial Conference of the USSEE, Saratoga Springs, NY, May 2003

"Private Incentives for Sustainable Business Practices," presented to the WEAI Meetings, Denver, CO, July 2003

"Sustainable Business Practices: Voluntary or Mandatory?" presented to the conference of the

International Society for Ecological Economics (ISEE)," Montreal, Canada, July 2004

"Can Regional Vulnerability Assessment Methodology Be Applied at the Local Watershed Level?" presented to the conference of the USSEE, Tacoma, WA, July 2005

"Sustainable Housing Placement: A GIS-Based Approach,"presented to the WEAI Meetings, San Diego, CA, July 2006

"Does Scale Matter in Ecosystem Damage Assessment?" presented to the WEAI Meetings, Seattle, WA, July 2007

"A Framework for Energy Conservation Policy" presented to the WEAI Meetings, Honolulu, HI, July 2008

"Back to the Future: the Return of High Density," presented to the EEA Meetings, Philadelphia, PA, February 2010

"Housing Placement in a Philadelphia Suburb: Profitability, Sustainability or Both?" presented to the conference of the USSEE, East Lansing, MI, June 2011

"Food Insecurity and Urban Agriculture: A GIS-Based Approach," presented to the ISEE Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 2012.

SEMINARS:

CONDUCTED:

"Energy Economics," to entering minority engineering students,

University of Alabama -

Huntsville, AL, July 1975

"Energy Conservation," to the Federal Energy

Administration, Washington, DC, March 1977

(with NASA/FEA/ASEE Fellows)

"The Political Economy of Energy," as part of "Energy: The Continuing

Challenge," for the

Philadelphia Area Cultural Consortium, Philadelphia, PA,

March 1979

"Energy Economics," for the Secondary Education

Program, Temple University,

Philadelphia, PA, October 1979

"Saving the Earth - What Can I Do?", Noncredit Adult Education

Program, Temple University

- Ambler, Spring 1990

"The 3 Es: A Workshop on Economy, Energy and the

Environment," in Energy Makes the World

Go Around, Energy Education Advisory Council

(EEAC), Philadelphia Electric Co.

(PECO), Beaver College and Delaware County Community

College, PA, January, 1993

"Economic Issues and Models of Ecosystems and the Environment," in the

Science and Ethics

Series, Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of

Maryland, Solomon's Island, MD,

February 1993

"Moving Externalities into the Market," in Public Utilities and the Environment, given by the

Public Utilities Research and Training Institute, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY, June, 1993

"Economics and the Environment," University of

Scranton Lecture Series, November, 1993

"Putting a Price on Mother Nature," Speakers Program, Jewish

Community Center, Ardmore, PA, December 1997

Panelist representing TAUP in a Roundtable Discussion of

"Literacy, Technology & the Future of Temple," as part of the workshop,

Transforming Our Classrooms/Transforming Our Work, Temple

University,

May 1998

"Microeconomics" for the Casualty Actuaries of the Mid Atlantic

Region (CAMAR) & Temple

University Actuarial Institute (TUAI) Course 2/Exam 2 Seminar,

Philadelphia, PA, April

2000, & "Macro/Microeconomics" for CAMAR/TUAI, Philadelphia, PA,

September 2000, March/April & September 2001; March/April 2002; March & September 2003;

Spring 2004; "Macro/Microeconomics" for ACTEX/Mad River Publishers Course

2/Exam 2 Seminar at

Hartford Life Insurance Co., Simsbury, CT, April & October 2000,

Hartford, CT, April & October 2001, 2002

"For Sale: Rights to Pollute the River?" presented to the Schuylkill Watershed Congress, Temple

University Ambler, March 2002

"Rights to Pollute at the Going Market Price," part of the Sunday Service of

the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Pottstown, September 2002

ATTENDED:

"Energy, Radiation and the Environment," sponsored by the Atomic

Energy Commission, Dept.

of Radiation Biophysics, University of Kansas, Lawrence,

KA, June 1974

"The Use of Computers in Instruction: Natural Resource Problems,"