College of Arts and Sciences Interim
Dean John Pelesko has announced numerous leadership changes for the current
academic year.
Pelesko was named
to his new position effective Sept. 1, following former
Dean George Watson’s decision to return to the faculty.
Leadership changes in the dean’s
office, all effective Sept. 1, include: David C. Wilson, promoted from
associate dean to senior associate dean for the social sciences; Suzanne L. Burton,
professor of music, named interim associate dean for the arts, following the
retirement of Joann Browning; Murray Johnston, professor of chemistry and
biochemistry, named interim associate dean for the natural sciences, succeeding
Pelesko in that position; and Kathryn Meier, former director of communications,
named chief of staff.
Other dean’s office appointments, and
their effective dates, include: Dee Smith, interim senior business officer,
July 1; Janna Chavis, human resources manager, Aug. 6; and Juan Viera, college
facilities planning director, Sept. 10.
New department chairs beginning Sept.
1 include Kami Silk, who joined the Department of Communication as professor
and chair from Michigan State University where she was a professor of
communication and senior associate dean of research, and Joel Pust, philosophy.
Appointed as interim chairs,
effective Sept. 1, are Paul Head, music, and James Brophy, history.
Returning to their chair positions
after a year’s sabbatical are Lu Ann De Cunzo, anthropology, and Annette
Giesecke, languages, literatures and cultures.
Julie McGee, associate professor of
Africana studies and of art history, has been appointed director of the college’s
Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center.
Donna Woulfe, associate professor of
biological sciences, has been named interim director of educational efforts in the
Patrick T. Harker Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Laboratory.
Another new department chair, Velia
Fowler, currently a professor and associate dean of graduate studies in the
Department of Molecular Medicine at the Scripps Research Institute, will begin
her position in the Department of Biological Sciences in January 2019.
