October 10, 2019

Dear Colleagues,

I am pleased to announce that the Office of the Provost is extending Bruce Blonigen’s role as UO’s dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) through the 2020-21 academic year.

Originally, Bruce was to serve as interim dean through the end of the current academic year. But because of his valuable leadership and thoughtful direction, we are removing the interim tag and adding a year to his deanship over the university’s largest college.

Bruce has done a great job since he was named interim dean, most visibly taking over the helm of CAS as our campus prepared for the opening this fall of Tykeson Hall. His work with all of the Tykeson stakeholders ensured that the new building designed to help exploring students find their academic and career passions opened without a hitch.  At the same time, Bruce ably led CAS through the budget process and a successful round of the Institutional Hiring Plan, jumped energetically into the ongoing development work of the college, and, most of all, offered CAS stability and continuity in a time of change.

He has held a variety of roles at UO before being named the CAS Dean. He was the CAS Dean of Faculty and Operations; Interim Dean of the Lundquist College of Business; and was the CAS Associate Dean of Social Sciences from 2013 to 2016. He was also the head of the Department of Economics for five years.

As part of this change in status, CAS Senior Divisional Dean of Humanities Karen Ford will take on a new role. She will be the CAS Dean for Faculty in order to focus on faculty personnel processes and provide additional support to CAS faculty. CAS will fill Karen’s humanities position soon.

I am excited to have Bruce in this role, and I look forward to working closely with him as our university moves forward. Bruce’s experienced leadership is a benefit to CAS and the entire university. Please join me in congratulating him.

Best wishes,

Patrick Phillips
Provost and Senior Vice President