Mark Aldenderfer has announced his plan to step down as dean of the School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts at the end of this academic year. He has served as SSHA dean since 2010.
The school has accomplished much during his tenure at the helm, including:
- A doubling of the size of faculty from 48 in January 2010 to 102 in January 2014;
- Tripling the number of Latino/a and Chicano/a faculty since the inception of the school, and hiring the first African-American tenture-track professor in the school;
- Hiring 18 new staff members to better serve SSHA faculty and students;
- An initial $2 million gift for the Center for the Humanities and a recent commitment for an endowed academic chair in the humanities, the result of an ongoing collaborative effort with Development and Alumni Relations;
- The establishment of four new graduate groups: Interdisciplinary Humanities, Psychological Sciences, Cognitive and Information Sciences and Political Science;
- With the School of Engineering and the Office of the Chancellor, the establishment of a Blum Center at UC Merced, and UC Merced’s first international MOU, with Kathmandu University of Nepal;
- The move of faculty and staff to the Social Sciences and Management Building, and the design of the academic space for the Classroom and Office Building 2;
- The completion of an agreement with Caltrans for the curation and display of fossil animals recovered from highway projects. (The Columbian mammoth will go on display in the university library.);
- The development of a more robust student advising office; and
- Prioritizing accreditation and assessment activities by hiring a full-time coordinator for assessment in SSHA.
According to Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Thomas W. Peterson, Dean Aldenderfer is unique among administrators in higher education. “He has held an academic leadership position while continuing to maintain an internationally recognized research program,” Peterson said in an announcement to the campus community. “Anyone who has seen or heard him speak on the work he has done in Tibet and Nepal recognizes that rare combination of expertise in anthropological research and a commanding presence to engage and interest a general audience.”
After stepping down, Aldenderfer will take a one-year sabbatical. Juan Meza, dean of the School of Natural Sciences, will serve as chair of the search committee for a new dean. Recruiting firm Isaacson Miller will assist with the search.
