Appointed dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics for the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, George Langford will be leaving Dartmouth to assume his new post in September.
Langford, the Ernest Everett Just Professor of Natural Sciences, served as a professor of biological sciences at Dartmouth since 1991, as well as adjunct professor of physiology at the Dartmouth Medical Center.
Professor Langford's departure brings into question the future of his wife, Upperclass Dean Sylvia Langford. Langford, also the dean for the Class of 2008, serves on a number of campus committees and leads an extensive network of personnel within the Dean of the College area.
Like her husband, Dean Langford came to Dartmouth in 1991. Langford was hesitant to answer questions regarding the future of her tenure at the College.
"Since my plans are not definite, there is nothing to say at this time about me," she said.
Although Professor Langford was traveling and unavailable for comment, he said he was "delighted to join the faculty at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. It is indeed an honor and a privilege to serve as dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics," in a recent press release.
Langford was selected over several other candidates, including Kevin Bedell of Boston College, Eric Friedlander of Northwestern University and Shaw Ling Hsu, professor and head of the department of polymer science and engineering at UMass Amherst.
"I think he's a very strong candidate. He has an excellent research record and excellent track record in higher education," Gordon Wyse, associate dean at the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics said. "I've talked to several people who know him professionally, and everyone I talked to is extremely impressed with him and extremely pleased that we've gotten him to come here."
During Langford's tenure at Dartmouth, President Bill Clinton nominated him for the National Science Board, and he served from 1998 through 2004. Despite the demands of the appointment, Langford continued to teach students.
The National Science Board, created in 1950 as the policy body of the National Science Foundation, is responsible for billions of dollars' worth of research grants through the National Science Foundation and helps advise the President and Congress on national science policy.
As one of the five members on the board, Langford helped represent all scientific fields.
Langford's primary research interest is intracellular motility, especially the movement of axoplasmic organelles. He has also been a strong advocate of minorities in the sciences and established the E. E. Just program at Dartmouth to provide internships to minority students within the sciences.
Prior to his time at Dartmouth, Langford taught physiology at the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1988 to 1991. Prior to that appointment, he served as an associate professor since 1979.
Langford has also worked as an assistant professor in the anatomy department at the College of Medicine of Howard University in Washington, D.C., and worked for three years as an assistant professor in the department of biology at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.
Langford received his B.S. degree from Fayetteville State University, N.C., in 1966. He earned his Ph.D. in cellular biology from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, in 1971. He was a graduate research fellow at the Argonne National Laboratory in Argonne, Ill., from 1969 to 1971 and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania from 1971 to 1973.
Charlena Seymour, provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at UMass Amherst, announced the appointment earlier this month.
