In this new role, Brown will be a key partner for academic units as they navigate matters such as recruiting and retaining excellent faculty.
Dean Feng Sheng Hu has named Andrew Brown vice dean of faculty affairs in Arts & Sciences. Brown is currently chair of the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures and professor of Spanish and of comparative literature.
In his new role, which goes into effect July 1, Brown will serve as a key partner for department chairs and faculty members as they navigate hiring, mentorship, career advancement, and promotion opportunities, as well as policy issues such as sabbatical, leave, and fellowship reviews. Brown will manage a range of matters related to the appointment, recruitment, and retention of faculty, as well as other issues impacting the success of faculty and academic units.
“I really enjoy working with our great faculty and our dedicated chairs and directors, and I am looking forward to the new opportunities that this position will afford to help support Dean Hu’s efforts to mentor and retain our amazing people and continue to recruit the very best,” said Brown. “Coming to this position from serving as a chair, I’m also excited to help develop support structures for our chairs and directors that will make us all more effective in our work to strengthen our faculty. I am especially glad that we’ll get to develop these ideas as part of our strategic planning process.”
As part of the Arts & Sciences senior leadership team, Brown will play a pivotal role in executing the dean’s vision for achieving academic distinction.
“I am thrilled to have Andrew as a partner in addressing the critical issues that affect our faculty,” said Hu. “The strength of our faculty is the bedrock of Arts & Sciences. Investing in their success and growth – both individually and collectively – will advance our teaching mission, our research enterprise, and our school’s academic distinction.”
As a scholar, Brown's research and teaching focus on issues of technology, science, global popular culture, and Latin American cultural identity. His current work includes “Weirding Latin America,” a project that explores the Weird as a genre and philosophy in contemporary Latin American fiction. He is the author of “Cyborgs in Latin America” (Palgrave, 2010) and “Test Tube Envy: Science and Power in Argentine Narrative” (Bucknell UP, 2005). Brown is also the editor of “Latin American Science Fiction: Theory and Practice” (Palgrave 2012) and “Tecnoescritura: Literatura y tecnología en América Latina,” a special issue of Revista Iberoamericana (Nov.-Dec. 2007).
The vice dean of faculty affairs is a new leadership role within Arts & Sciences, one of several key positions created by Dean Hu to bolster the school’s administrative efforts. The search committee, which was chaired by Kit Wellmon, professor of philosophy and dean of academic planning, included Jonathan Cohen, assistant dean of faculty affairs and administration, Clarissa Hayward, professor of political science, Larry Kuykendall, associate dean of finance and administration, and Jennifer R. Smith, the former dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and incoming vice provost of educational initiatives.
"Kit and the committee did a phenomenal job in identifying a strong and exciting pool of candidates," Hu noted. "We have exceptional leaders within our ranks, and I’m grateful they will be helping our school foster its immense potential in the coming years."
