New Dean for USU's College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Joseph P. Ward (right) talks with a colleague at the University of Mississippi. Ward has been named dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Utah State University.
A history professor and administrator from the University of Mississippi has been selected to lead Utah State University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Joseph P. Ward will fill the administrative post following the retirement of the college’s current dean, John Allen.
“Following a national search and interviews with a group of impressive candidates, I am pleased that Dr. Ward has accepted the deanship in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Utah State University,” Executive Vice President and Provost Noelle Cockett said. “Joe brings excellent experience as a department head to USU, and we look forward to his leadership in this college.”
Ward joins USU from the University of Mississippi where he is department chair of the Arch Dalrymple III Department of History, a position he has held since 2007. The department at Ole Miss includes 34 tenured and tenure-track faculty, programs at regional campuses and approximately 200 undergraduate majors and 40 full-time graduate students. A $5 million gift led to the department’s naming in 2015. Prior to joining the faculty in Mississippi, he was an assistant professor of history at Wayne State University. As a historian and history professor, Ward’s specialization is the social culture of 16th and 17th century London.
Ward will begin his duties at USU in late July and said the nature of the college is appealing.
“I found the collection of programs of research interest in the college attractive,” he said during a campus visit. “I see folks working on all sorts of things that are not what I work on, but are not unfamiliar to me.”
He also emphasized the importance of working collaboratively.
“That’s what’s will be fun about being a dean — really fostering conversations within the college and beyond,” he said. “I want to engage in conversation, and then we’ll think together about where that will take us.”
That spirit of collaboration with faculty and department heads will be key factor in guiding the direction of the college, Ward said.
“One of the factors I found attractive as I considered the job at Utah State is that under John Allen’s leadership as dean, the college is in good health — it’s thriving,” he said. “And so, a big part of what I’m going to be doing is really just listening, reaching out and building relationships within and outside the college. I want to get to know people and listen and see how I can help. It’s not so much ‘my’ vision as it is ‘our’ vision.
“The bottom line is I think the college has a lot of momentum, and so my role is to work with the department heads and the provost to keep that momentum going forward.”
Ward earned degrees from the University of Chicago (1987) with honors from the college and in history, a master’s degree from Stanford University (1989) and his doctorate, also from Stanford (1992).
He has been the recipient of a number of grants and fellowships, most recently an open education resources course development grant from the University of Mississippi, and has authored several peer-reviewed books.
“I am confident that Dr. Ward will continue the excellent legacy of the college, building on the reputation created and expanded by its outstanding faculty, programs and departments,” Cockett said. “Dr. Ward takes over a college that has been guided by Dean John Allen since its creation. We want to thank Dean Allen for his exceptional service to the college and the university.”
Allen retires at the end of June 2016. He was named dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences in 2007.
Related Links:
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Writer: Patrick Williams, 435-797-1354, patrick.williams@usu.edu
Contact: Janelle Hyatt, 435-797-0289, janelle.hyatt@usu.edu
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