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Wednesday Aug 20, 2008 : News @ A&S

Anthropology professor named to Trinity Post

Lee D. Baker is the new dean of academic affairs, assuming the duties of Robert J. Thompson Jr., who is returning to teaching.

An associate professor of cultural anthropology and African and African American studies, Baker is former chair of the Arts & Sciences Council and current director of the Duke in Ghana program.

Thompson, dean of Trinity College since 1999, announced last October that he was returning to teaching. He holds appointments in the Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Pediatrics.

A graduate of Portland State University (BS, 1989) and Temple University (Ph.D., 1994), Baker came to Duke in 1995 as an assistant professor of cultural anthropology. From 1997 to 2000, he taught at Columbia University, and returned to Duke in 2000. He was the 2007 recipient of the Richard K. Lublin Distinguished Award for Teaching Excellence.

Baker has a certificate in Africana Studies from the University of Ghana-Legon. He received a National Humanities Center Fellowship in 2003, a John Hope Franklin Institute Fellowship in 2001, and a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship in 1998. Baker's research explores the history of anthropology and its role regarding race and culture in the United States. He is the author of “From Savage to Negro: Anthropology and the Construction of Race, 1896-1954” (University of California Press, 1998) and editor of “Life in America: Identity in Everyday Experience” (Blackwell Publishing, 2003).

Baker chaired the Arts & Sciences Council from 2005 to 2007, and has served on the DukeEngage Steering Committee, the Athletics Council Review Committee, and the Provost's Standing Committee on Diversity.

UNCG research dean joins A&S administration

Kevin Moore.Kevin W. Moore, associate dean for research at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, was named Arts & Sciences senior associate dean for faculty affairs, succeeding Charles W. Byrd, who is retiring.

A political science graduate of the University of California at Berkeley (BA, Ph.D.), Moore has been associate dean for research at UNCG since 2004, supervising leave policies, searches, departmental reviews, and other administrative processes.

He worked previously at the Social Science Research Council in New York; the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; California State University, Hayward; and the Transnational Institute, Amsterdam. He has been a freelance journalist, covering European politics for The Nation magazine and Pacifica Radio Network.

An adjunct associate professor of Romance languages, Byrd has been associate dean for faculty affairs since 1987.

Trustees honor Thompson

Robert J. Thompson.The Duke University Board of Trustees has voted to name the University Writing Program (UWP) in honor of outgoing Trinity College Dean Robert J. Thompson, Jr., it was announced by George L. McLendon, dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences.

Thompson stepped down as of June 30 to return to teaching after nine years as dean. He was previously vice provost for under-graduate education, dean of undergraduate affairs, director of the Undergraduate Program in Human Development, and co-director of the Faculty Associates Program. He holds appointments in the Departments of Psy-chology and Neuroscience, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Pediatrics.

In a resolution, the trustees recognized Thompson's role in securing a $2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation that led to the establishment in 2000 of the University Writing Program, which helps Duke undergraduates develop as writers from their first through senior years.

All Duke students take Writing 20, a first-year course in academic writing taught by postdoctoral Mellon Writing Fellows, specialists from a wide range of disciplines who have been trained as teachers of writing. Students develop the skills learned in Writing 20 in at least two upper-level Writing in the Disciplines courses, designed and taught by faculty with a special emphasis on written communication within a particular specialty.

The UWP also offers individual tutoring its in Writing Studio with trained professionals who help with every stage of the writing process, from developing ideas to proofreading.

The UWP was honored in 2005-2006 with a certificate of excellence from the Conference on College Composition and Communication, a division of the National Council of Teachers of English.

Associate Professor of English Joseph Harris, director of the UWP, said “Bob Thompson is the perfect person for whom to name the writing program. He made the program possible. I'm proud to continue the work for which he laid the foundation.”

In his announcement, Dean McLendon said “Bob Thompson spearheaded a significant reformation in the teaching of writing that was part of the revision of Duke's curriculum in 2000. Graduate student writing instructors were replaced by more experienced and committed postdoctoral fellows who focus on shared student interests in intimate classes with no more than 12 students.

“Thanks to Bob Thompson, Duke has become a national exemplar of teaching writing as part of the process of creative thinking. Because the Mellon Fellows serve renewable three-year terms, the program is also a source for such writing teachers at other universities throughout the country.”

New emergency management post

Penny Sanders.Penny Sanders was named Arts & Sciences associate dean for communications and emergency management.

A graduate of Barnard College (BA, 1990), Sanders was senior producer at CBS News in Washington until September 2006, when she left to pursue a master's degree in clinical community counseling at The Johns Hopkins University.

She was previously senior producer of ABC's “This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts” and Managing Editor of ABC's “Good Morning America.” Prior to that, she supervised the launch of CNBC programming in Asia and Europe, and reported on financial markets at Reuters in New York and London.

Sanders is married to Seth G. Sanders, professor of economics and public policy studies, who is coming to Duke from the University of Maryland.

Nijhout named senior associate dean

Mary Nijhout.Mary Nijhout, adjunct associate professor of biology, has been named Trinity College senior associate dean, it was announced July 31 by Lee D. Baker, dean of academic affairs of Trinity College.

Nijhout is also director of the Undergraduate Research Support Office. She is the academic dean for students majoring in biology, computer science, and statistics, and advisor for students interested in graduate school.

"Mary Nijhout is an experienced leader who has earned the respect of students, faculty, and staff,” Baker said. “She brings to this position broad experience, deep institutional knowledge, and years of dedicated service. She will serve Trinity College well in this new capacity.”  

“It is always energizing to take up new and varied responsibilities,” Nijhout said. “I look forward to working with colleagues in new capacities as well as strengthening the undergraduate research culture at Duke.”

A graduate of Wells College, Aurora, NY, Nijhout has M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University. She did postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

A&S plans Web redesign

Arts & Sciences has begun a two-year project to redesign the Web environment for Trinity College and Arts & Sciences (TCAS). The end result will be the creation of a sustainable and scalable web infrastructure with an associated support model to maintain the services and a high level of customer support. The project was announced by George L. McLendon, dean of the faculty of Arts & Sciences and dean of Trinity College, and Edward Gomes, associate dean for Arts & Sciences Information Science and Technology.

All current TCAS Web sites will be reviewed as part of the redesign project. Once completed, TCAS will have an interactive Web environment that aligns with its strategic mission. Web sites will provide information that aligns with a communication strategy developed at the institutional level, highlighting the goals and mission of TCAS while emphasizing the strengths of the individual programs, departments, centers, and units.

The Web sites will present a consistent navigation and design, without completely losing the capacity for local variations. The Duke Identity would carry throughout the environment, and Web sites will be built to integrate data from enterprise services (calendar, enterprise directory, news feeds, and faculty and student portals) for both administrative and academic data.

In addition to adding one full-time Web developer to support the project, TCAS has contracted with P'unk Avenue, a Philadelphia Web-design firm. P'unk Avenue designed the Web sites for Duke's Baldwin Scholars program, DukeEngage, and the Howard Hughes Undergraduate Programs.

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