Two finalists for The University of Toledo’s dean of the College of Arts and Letters have been identified by the search committee.
Faculty, staff and students are invited to hear their presentations and meet the candidates at open forums next week. Each forum will run from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., and attendees can participate in person or virtually.
Dr. Melissa Gregory , left, is senior associate dean and a professor of English at UToledo, and has served as interim dean of the College of Arts and Letters since February 2022. Dr. David Simpson is a visiting professor of urban planning in the Department of Geography at Brigham Young University.
Specializing in nineteenth-century British literature, Gregory joined the UToledo faculty in 2002. She has served as an associate dean since 2018 and led initiatives to increase student participation in undergraduate research, retain high achieving students and elevate the visibility and reputation of liberal arts and humanities. She has led multiple curricular initiatives including a new minor in the health humanities supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities grant, a minor in Latinx studies and a major in data analytics.
Gregory’s forum will take place Wednesday, Feb. 7, in Savage Business Complex Room 1200. To participate virtually, join the forum via Webex.
Dr. David Simpson is a visiting professor of urban planning in the Department of Geography at Brigham Young University.
An Ohio native, Simpson has more than 30 years of experience leading change in academic and community settings. His interdisciplinary work focuses on sustainability, community resilience and human-animal interaction. He has held faculty positions at San Francisco State University, Texas A&M University and the University of Louisville, where he directed the university’s sustainability efforts for almost a decade while serving as department chair, associate dean for faculty affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences and the university’s faculty grievance officer.
Simpson’s forum will take place Thursday, Feb. 8, in Savage Business Complex Room 4140. To participate virtually, join the forum via Webex.
The goal is to have the dean of the College of Arts and Letters named soon and in place prior to the 2024-25 academic year. Dr. Anne Balazs, dean of the John B. and Lillian E. Neff College of Business and Innovation, is the chair of the search committee.
