University of Delaware
Office of Public Relations
UpDate - Vol. 16, No. 21, Feb. 27, 1997

           Margaret Andersen named A&S college interim dean
     
     Margaret L. Andersen, vice provost for academic affairs
since 1990, will serve as interim dean of the College of
Arts and Science, beginning July 1, until a new dean can be
found, Provost Mel Schiavelli announced today. A national
search committee for the new dean will be appointed in the
coming month, and it is expected that the new dean will be
in place by July 1998.
     Mary Richards, dean of the college since 1991,
announced in January that she planned to resign as dean July
1 to return to the faculty.
     "Given Dr. Andersen's administrative experience and her
record as a scholar and teacher in the college, I am
confident she can provide strong leadership during this
important period of transition in the college," Schiavelli
said.
     "The College of Arts and Science is the heart of the
University," Andersen said. "One half of the University's
students are enrolled in the college, and all students
experience some of their education with the college.
     "This means that the college must have a strong
commitment to a diverse array of academic programs and must
embrace a firm commitment to excellence-in teaching,
scholarship, creative activity and service. I look forward
to working with the students, staff and faculty in the
college to achieve these goals," she said.
     Andersen, who joined the UD Department of Sociology in
1974, currently holds a joint appointment as professor of
sociology and women's studies. In 1980, she received a UD
excellence-in-teaching award. From 1981-85, she served as
director of the Women's Studies Interdisciplinary Program,
and she was a visiting professor of women's studies at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall of 1984.
     Andersen's areas of specialization include the
sociology of sex and gender/women's studies, race and ethnic
relations and sociological theory.
     She is author of four books: Thinking About Women:
Sociological Perspectives on Sex and Gender; Race, Class and
Gender: An Anthology, coedited with Patricia Hill Collins;
Social Problems, coauthored with Frank Scarpitti and Laura
O'Toole; and the forthcoming Sociology: Understanding a
Diverse Society, coauthored with Howard F. Taylor. In
addition, she has published more than 20 articles in
scholarly journals.
     Recently elected president of the Eastern Sociological
Society, Andersen has held several posts in that
organization and was recognized with its I. Peter Gellman
Award in 1988. She recently served on the council of the
American Sociological Association and also is a member of
Sociologists for Women in Society, the Society for the Study
of Social Problems and the Association of Black
Sociologists. Andersen recently completed a five-year term
as editor of Gender & Society and currently serves on the
editorial boards of Race and Society and Women's Review of
Books.
     A graduate of Georgia State University, Andersen
received her master's and doctoral degrees in sociology from
the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
     The College of Arts and Science is the largest of the
University's 10 colleges. During the current academic year,
more than 8,300 undergraduates and nearly 1,200 graduate
students are enrolled in this college.