The University has hired a California sociology professor and administrator as its next College of Arts and Sciences dean, Provost Linda Brady announced Wednesday.
Scott Coltrane, currently associate dean of the University of California, Riverside’s College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, will start his new position July 1. In a campus visit last month, Coltrane emphasized supporting faculty and working in the best interest of their departments.
“Scott has a compelling vision for the liberal arts and sciences that is essential to sustaining academic quality at the University of Oregon,” Brady said in a statement.
University sociology department head Robert O’Brien said Coltrane will bring a good academic background to the University.
“He basically just has a strong national and international scholarly record, which is not always the case for deans,” O’Brien said.
Coltrane’s background is in family-focused areas of sociology. He earned a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in 1988.
O’Brien attended Coltrane’s January presentation and said most College of Arts and Sciences faculty agreed whole-heartedly with the decision to hire him.
“I think there was kind of overwhelming support for him,” O’Brien said.
Coltrane was one of three candidates to replace interim Dean Wendy Larson, who has occupied the position since July 2006.
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