SUBJECT:

Appointment of Dean, Division of Arts and Humanities

It gives us great pleasure to announce that Dr. Seth Lerer has been appointed Dean of the Division of Arts and Humanities and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Literature, effective January 1, 2009.

Dr. Lerer is the Avalon Foundation Professor in the Humanities and a Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Stanford University, where he has been a faculty member since 1990 and Director of the Stanford Humanities Fellows Program since 2001. Prior to joining Stanford University, he was a Professor of English at Princeton University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. Dr. Lerer is highly recognized and respected for his research in the area of medieval and renaissance studies, comparative philology, the history of scholarship, and children's literature. He has published 10 books, including Chaucer and His Readers and Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language. He is also the author of more than 100 scholarly articles and reviews.

Included among the many awards Dr. Lerer has received for his scholarship and teaching are fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Guggenheim Foundation, the Beatrice White Prize of the English Association of Great Britain (for Chaucer and His Readers), the Hoagland Prize for Undergraduate Teaching at Stanford, and the Harry Levin Prize of the American Comparative Literature Association.

Professor Lerer also has strong administrative and leadership experience. He served as Director of Undergraduate Studies in English at Princeton from 1986 - 1989. At Stanford, he served as Chair of the Department of Comparative Literature from 1997 - 2000 and as Vice Chair of the Department of English from 2003 - 2005. In these positions, he demonstrated extraordinary interpersonal skills, initiative and imagination. He will bring to UCSD an excellent reputation in the humanities and a vision regarding the opportunities, challenges, and priorities in the arts and humanities. Dr. Lerer's academic accomplishments, values, energy, vision, and strong leadership experience make him an exceptional choice as UCSD's new Dean of the Division of Arts and Humanities.

We are delighted with Dr. Lerer's decision to join the UC San Diego community and invite you to join us in welcoming him to our campus. Please also join us in thanking Professor of History Eric Van Young for his outstanding service as Interim Dean of the Division of Arts and Humanities throughout this past year. He has agreed to extend his service through the fall quarter until Professor Lerer's appointment begins.

Marye Anne Fox Chancellor Paul W. Drake Senior Vice Chancellor