Tom Apple named dean of UD's College of Arts and Sciences

Tom Apple

12:32 p.m., March 24, 2005--Tom Apple, vice provost for administration, dean of graduate education and professor of chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., has been named dean of the University of Delaware's College of Arts and Sciences, effective July 1, Provost Dan Rich announced today.

"Tom Apple brings excellent experience and outstanding qualifications in teaching, research and administration to his new position. President Roselle and I are confident that the College of Arts and Sciences will flourish under his leadership," Rich said. "And, it's a special pleasure to welcome back a UD alumnus to this important position."

"The University of Delaware College of Arts and Sciences is poised perfectly to prepare students for a successful future," Apple said. "I am honored and privileged to have the opportunity to lead the college as dean."

Apple earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Pennsylvania State University in 1976, and he received his doctorate in physical chemistry from UD in 1982. He was a postdoctoral research fellow at Iowa State University from 1981-83. His wife, Anne, also is a UD alumna.

He joined the chemistry faculty at the University of Nebraska as an assistant professor in 1983 and was named an associate professor there in 1988. He became associate professor of chemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1991 and was named a full professor there in 1997. He chaired the Department of Chemistry from 1997-2001. That year, Apple was named dean of graduate education and the following year he gained the title of vice provost for administration. In addition, he served as interim vice provost for institute diversity from 2002-03, and since 2004, he has been the NCAA faculty representative.

Apple's research in zeolite materials and polymeric materials has been funded by 12 grants from the National Science Foundation, as well as support from the National Institutes of Health and others, and he is the author or coauthor of 55 articles in professional journals. He has served as a National Science Foundation review panelist since 1993 and has presented numerous lectures at professional meetings across the country, including several at UD.

Apple is a member of the Council of Graduate Studies, the American Chemical Society, the Center for Chemical Research and the Society for Applied Spectroscopy.

His honors include RPI's Trustees Outstanding Teacher Award in 1996 and the University of Nebraska Parents Association Teaching Award in 1990 and 1991.

Apple will replace previous dean Mark A. Huddleston, who accepted the presidency of Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, last summer. Bobby Gempesaw, vice provost for academic programs and planning and international program, has been serving as interim dean since then.

Apple was selected as a result of a comprehensive national search. "The search committee has done an outstanding job," Rich said.

Timothy K. Barnekov, dean of the College of Human Services, Education and Public Policy chaired the committee, and its members included Stephen A. Bernhardt, Kirkpatrick Chair of Writing in the Department of English; Virginia Bradley, chairperson of the Department of Fine Arts and Visual Communications; Philip Broadbridge, chairperson of the Department of Mathematical Sciences; Maxine Colm, vice president for administration; George Hadjipanayis, Richard B. Murray Professor and chairperson of the Department of Physics and Astronomy; Wunyabari Maloba, associate professor of history and chairperson of the President's Commission on Racial and Cultural Diversity; Robin W. Morgan, dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources; Charles G. Riordan, chairperson of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry; Havidan Rodriguez, professor of sociology and director of the Disaster Research Center; Karen Rosenberg, chairperson of the Department of Anthropology; and Cynthia Schmidt-Cruz, associate professor of foreign languages and literatures and director of Latin American Studies.

The College of Arts and Sciences, UD's largest college, is organized under the dean, with three associate deans responsible for departments and programs in three general areas: arts and humanities (eight departments and four programs and centers), social science and history (six departments and 12 programs and centers) and natural science and mathematics (10 departments and seven programs and centers).

In fall 2004, the college's enrollment totaled 8,303, with 7,041 undergraduate students and 1,262 graduate students.

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