Dean of LAS accepts position at Utah
The University announced Friday that LAS Dean Ruth Watkins has accepted the position of senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Utah, and will be leaving the University at the end of July. Watkins has been the head of the University’s largest college since 2009.
In the interim
Provost Ilesanmi Adesida said he will announce an interim dean in the next couple of weeks. LAS will join Engineering and Media as colleges with non-permanent deans. Engineering has been without a dean since Adesida took over as Provost in August, while Media has not had a permanent dean since 2009. Campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler said in March the Provost office’s limited resources prevented it from conducting a search for a permanent Media dean.
Searches continue
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The Office of the Provost will have to conduct a search for a dean of LAS. The office currently has three dean searches underway in the Colleges of Engineering and Veterinary Medicine and for the Library. Campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler said in March the University expects to finish these searches by early summer.
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