CLA Dean Search Down To Three Finalists

The search for a dean for the College of Liberal Arts (CLA) is coming to a close as the field narrows to three finalists, recommended by the search committee to Provost Paul Fonteyn.

Dr. Donna Kuizenga (University of Vermont), Dr. Susan Henking (Hobart and William Smith Colleges), and Dr. York Bradshaw (University of Memphis) are in the running to become the next permanent dean for the recently split liberal arts college.

“Negotiations are progressing very well,” according to a one person in Academic Affairs familiar with the search. “The provost is in the process of deciding.”

Professor Robert Crossley, who chaired the search committee, said that any one of the candidates would make an outstanding dean. “We’re very pleased with all of them,” he said.

A decision is expected before spring break.

Even as the search for a CLA dean draws to a close, searches for deans for the College of Management, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies, a vice provost of research, and the director of Trotter Institute continue.

Anti-Violence Activist Wins Quinn Award

UMass Boston is set to honor Isaura Mendes, an anti-violence leader, with the 2004 Robert H. Quinn Award for Outstanding Community Leadership. The award is to be given at a breakfast on Tuesday, March 18, in the Ryan Lounge in McCormack Hall.

“I want to reach out to survivors who have lost family or have had children who are victims of violence,” she said in a university press release. Mendes lost her son to street violence in 1995 and turned to activism.

Among her other awards is the Massachusetts Black Legislative “Profile of Courage” Award, and she is renowned for her work co-organizing Groom/Humphrey’s Resident’s Organization, completion of the Police Academy’s Resident Training Program, and working with the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, which visits family members who have lost loved ones, according to the press release.