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Associate Dean of Faculty and Research position created

Dean Roberts appoints Kathleen Brosnan, associate director of the Center for Public History, to new job

Kathleen Brosnan

Dean John Roberts has created within the leadership team of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences the position of Associate Dean for Faculty and Research and appointed to the job Kathleen Brosnan, associate professor of history and the associate director of the Center for Public History.

“To enhance our profile as a research faculty in line with the expectation of being a Tier One university, we need to increase external research funding, the production of high quality scholarship, and the number of doctoral graduates annually,” Dean Roberts said. “I believe that in order for us to achieve these objectives we must provide faculty with the kind of support that they need to be successful.”

The primary responsibility of the Associate Dean for Faculty and Research is to work with the College’s faculty to promote research excellence.

Prior to Brosnan’s appointment, the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies was tasked with encouraging a rise in the level of scholarly productivity by the faculty, while at the same time working to increase College’s graduate program offerings and graduate student population.

“By separating the current duties of a single associate dean into two positions, we will be able to offer better assistance to faculty who are key to enhancing our research profile,” Roberts said. “We will also be able to provide graduate programs and graduate students with additional services that will insure their successful matriculation and timely graduation.”

Associate Dean for Graduate Studies Cathy Patterson will return to her full-time duties as the chief administrative officer for the College’s graduate programs on August 1.

Art History Associate Professor Rex Koontz, who has been serving as the interim associate dean for graduate studies during Dr. Patterson’s leave to research write a book, will start his new position as Director of the School of Art on August 1.

Dr. Brosnan joined the faculty in the Department of History in 2003 after four years at the University of Tennessee. She received her J.D. from the University of Illinois in 1985 and her Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago in 1999.

A specialist in the environmental, urban and legal history of the American West, Brosnan is the author of Uniting Mountain and Plain: Cities, Law and Environmental Change along the Front Range. She also is the editor of the four-volume Encyclopedia of American Environmental History, the leading reference work in the field with nearly 400 contributors.

Brosnan has been a National Endowment for the Humanities consultant on exhibits at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Newberry Library in Chicago, and conducted research on behalf of the National Park Service and the American Library Association. She has received grants from the National Science Foundation, the American Historical Association, the Government of Canada, and Humanities Texas, among others.

“Kathy brings to the position well-developed skills as an administrator and a record of success as a scholar,” Roberts said. “Of equal importance, she has a proven record of success in securing external funding to support her research and other scholarly activities. Her experience and genuine interest in working with faculty will be tremendous assets in achieving the goals that I have set for this position.”