A few short weeks ago UVM held its 215th commencement exercises. In the College we recognized the achievements of many of our graduating seniors at our annual senior awards ceremony and celebrated the awarding of over 800 bachelors’ degrees across our 26 majors and programs. It was an outstanding weekend filled with joy and hope for the future.
As we celebrated our students and the faculty who helped them achieve their academic goals, we also took time to honor a member of the Dean’s office who has served students, staff, and faculty as associate dean and interim dean over the last twelve years. This fall, Professor Joel Goldberg will return to the faculty in Chemistry and pursue his first love of teaching and research. Joel has brought stability and direction to the College and his leadership has been nothing short of extraordinary. We are very thankful for his service.
As we ease into the summer, we are already looking toward the next academic year with excitement. We will welcome another excellent first-year class and continue our efforts to strengthen the College. This year we will explore a new first-year experience that seeks to better engage students in the academic culture in the College. We will expand our internship, research and service learning opportunities, explore new study abroad programs, and new undergraduate and graduate programs. We will also welcome new faculty to the College, adding to the ranks of our scholar-teacher-mentors. Following highly competitive national searches, we succeeded in hiring eight very talented new faculty: Peter Henne, scholar in the areas of Middle East and International Politics, will join the faculty in Political Science; Madsen Minax, a scholar and artist in time-based media, will join the faculty of Art and Art History and Film and Television Studies; Emily Beam, scholar in econometrics, will join our faculty in Economics; Maria Hummel, a well-published author and scholar in creative writing, will join the faculty in English; and Juan Vanegas, scholar in theoretical biological physics, will join the faculty in Physics. In addition, I’m pleased to report that Mary Mendoza, currently a Harris Fellow in History whose scholarship explores migration, public health, and U.S.-Mexico relations, will be joining the faculty in History, and Brandon Ogbunugafor, currently a Henderson Fellow in Biology whose research explores the intersection of evolutionary biology, epidemiology, and systems biology, will join the faculty in Biology. Lastly, I’m pleased to report that following a national search, Helen Parmett, UVM alumnus and student of Alfred “Tuna” Snider, will be joining the faculty this fall to oversee the Lawrence Debate Union. These are extraordinary scholars who will contribute immensely to our excellent research, teaching, and creative work in the College.
Thank you for taking the time to read the newsletter and to get caught up on the goings-on in the College. The College is moving forward, and if you are in a position to help us, please let me know.
Be well.
Bill Falls
Dean of Arts and Sciences