College of Liberal Arts and Sciences announces administrative changes

July 17, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has announced some top-level administrative changes.

Dean Paul D’Anieri has named three new associate deans: Alan Dorsey, Debra Walker King, and Milagros Peña. In addition, current Associate Dean David Richardson has been named senior associate dean. The new deans will start Aug. 17.

These hires complete a restructuring of the dean’s office to reduce the number of associate deans and to appoint an associate dean for each of the college’s three academic divisions.

“We’re fortunate to be able to tap such a talented group of leaders,” D’Anieri said. “This new structure will provide chairs, faculty and staff better access to the dean’s office, and help us manage our work more efficiently.”

Dorsey will be associate dean for natural sciences and mathematics. A former chair of physics, Dorsey studies novel phases of matter produced under extreme conditions. He is co-founder and co-director of UFTeach, a program dedicated to filling the need for middle and high school science teachers. Dorsey joined UF in 1997.

King will serve as associate dean for humanities. A professor of English, King’s most recent book is “African Americans and the Culture of Pain.” King previously served as associate provost of faculty development at UF, and last year held a prestigious ACE Fellowship at Louisiana State University. King joined UF in 1994.

Peña will be associate dean for social and behavioral sciences. Currently the director of the Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research and a faculty member in sociology & criminology and law, Peña’s book “Latina Activists Across Borders” won the 2008 American Sociological Association Section on Latino/a Sociology Distinguished Book Award. Peña joined UF in 1999.

Richardson, a former chair of chemistry, has served as associate dean for research since 2007. He is a physical inorganic chemist who studies the rates and mechanisms of reactions of biological and commercial importance. As associate dean he promoted research and scholarship in CLAS and worked to develop interdisciplinary programs with other units at UF colleges and centers. He joined UF in 1983.

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is the largest college at the University of Florida, with 700 faculty members teaching the majority of UF’s core curriculum to 35,000 students each year. As the intellectual core of the university, its principal mission is to lead the academic quest to understand our place in the universe, and to help shape our society and environment.