University of Southern Mississippi Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. Steven R. Moser has announced the appointment of Dr. Maureen Ryan as Dean of the College of Arts and Letters, effective May 1. Ryan’s appointment is pending IHL Board approval.
As Dean, Ryan will provide academic and administrative leadership for one of the most diverse colleges at USM. The College of Arts and Letters consists of three divisions (humanities, social sciences, and the arts) and is home to the Dale Center for the Study of War and Society, the Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage, the Center for Writers and the newly established Arts Institute of Mississippi.
“I am thrilled Dr. Ryan will officially join the leadership team in Academic Affairs,” Moser said. “She has a long and distinguished track record as a scholar, teacher and administrator. Her work crosses traditional disciplinary and professional boundaries, and she is the perfect choice to serve as dean of this diverse and vibrant college.”
Ryan has served as interim dean since May 2015 and is a Professor of English who teaches and writes about modern and contemporary American literature. Her publications include “The Other Side of Grief: The Home Front and the Aftermath in American Narratives of the Vietnam War” and “Innocence and Estrangement in the Fiction of Jean Stafford.” She was the sixth Charles W. Moorman Distinguished Professor of the Humanities.
“As a long-time faculty member in the College of Arts and Letters, I am well acquainted with the strengths of its faculty and programs,” Ryan said. “I am honored to serve the college as Dean."
Ryan holds degrees from Penn State and Temple Universities. At Southern Miss, she has also served as Dean of the Honors College, Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness, and interim Dean of the Graduate School.
