Government Professor Michael Mastanduno has been appointed Dean of the Faculty, according to an e-mail sent by College President Jim Yong Kim Thursday afternoon.
Mastanduno, who has worked as the associate dean of the faculty since 2003, will begin his five-year term on August 1, according to the e-mail. Former Dean of the Faculty Carol Folt was appointed provost in May but agreed to serve as dean of the faculty until a replacement was named.
Mastanduno will oversee approximately 40 academic departments --including interdisciplinary programs and graduate studies -- and over 400 faculty members.
"Mike Mastanduno epitomizes the Dartmouth scholar teacher model -- he is a preeminent academic who has mentored countless Dartmouth students," Kim said in the e-mail.
Mastanduno served as the director of the John Sloan Dickey Center for International Understanding from 1997 to 2003, according to the government department's website.
"I have great respect for the Dartmouth community of scholars," Mastanduno said in the e-mail. "And I look forward to working with [Kim] and my faculty colleagues at all levels and in every department to maintain and strengthen Dartmouth's place as the premier institution for exceptional research and teaching."
English professor Jonathan Crewe chaired the search committee. The committee began the process of evaluating applicants in May.
The committee considered the candidates' academic interests during the evaluation process, Crewe said in a previous interview with The Dartmouth. Since Kim and Folt both have backgrounds in the natural sciences, some professors previously interviewed by The Dartmouth said they believed that the dean of the faculty should add diversity in academic interest.
"It should be someone who has had administrative experience at the College in one way or another," Crewe said. "You want preferably a dean who has intellectual vision. The dean doesn't just do bureaucratic administration. It's good if the dean continues to do research."
Mastanduno -- who came to the College in 1987 -- teaches and researches American foreign policy, international relations theory and economic competition, according to the government department's website.
Native American studies and history professor Colin Calloway, religion and women's and gender studies professor Nancy Frankenberry, computer science professor Prasad Jayanti, chemistry professor Jon Kull and anthropology professor Deborah Nichols also served on the committee, which received nominations and solicited input from faculty members throughout the search process, The Dartmouth previously reported.
