Message from the Interim Dean

Welcome to the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences.

Innovation and tradition, pragmatism and imagination, and the best of the new and the old will continue to shape the academic life of the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences. How appropriate that President Robert L. Bogomolny would appoint me—a 25-year faculty veteran and a historian—as interim dean while the college continues to adapt to its reconfiguration as a college of arts and sciences and to addressing the needs of a growing, changing body of lower-division students.

As we embrace UB21—the University's initiative aimed at re-envisioning UB and the College of Arts and Sciences—students, faculty and staff are working to redefine our roles and responsibilities. What should the college be like five, 10 and 20 years from now? One of my jobs as interim dean is to help begin to operationalize the best ideas as they emerge.

From my perspective, it seems certain that the pace of technological change and economic volatility will only increase, and with it will come increasingly rapid social and cultural change. So one of our highest purposes as a college is to prepare our students for meaningful and successful lives in such a world. Where better to start than with a general education in the arts and sciences?

Let me also remind you (constitutional historian that I am) that just as liberty and the pursuit of happiness are important elements in our past, so should life in the college where we work and learn be rewarding (and even fun!) as we build our shared future.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Jeffrey Sawyer