Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

February 13, 2004

Two Iowa Staters are among LAS dean finalists

by Linda Charles
Four candidates for dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will visit campus in the next three weeks.

The candidates are Shari Benstock, professor of English and women's studies, University of Miami; Wolfgang Kliemann, associate vice provost for research and professor of mathematics, Iowa State University; Peter Sherwood, University Distinguished Professor and head of chemistry, Kansas State University; and Michael Whiteford, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor of anthropology, Iowa State.

Sherwood will interview on Feb. 16-17, Whiteford on Feb. 23-24, Benstock on Feb. 25-26 and Kliemann on March 1-2.

Open forums
4-5 p.m., Memorial Union

Feb. 16: Sherwood, Gallery
Feb. 23: Whiteford, Gold Room
Feb. 25: Benstock, Gallery
March 1: Kliemann, Oak Room

An open forum with the candidates will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. in the Memorial Union on the first day of their visits. A public reception will follow at 5 p.m. A diversity forum will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Memorial Union Oak Room on the second day.

Former LAS dean Peter Rabideau in July accepted the position of provost and vice president for academic affairs at Mississippi State University.

Following is additional information on the candidates. (Their complete vitae are online at http://www.provost.iastate.edu/positions/dean_las.html.)

Benstock has been with the University of Miami since 1986. She served as associate dean for academic affairs in the College of Arts and Science (2000-2003), was the founding director of the women's studies program (1986-1990), professor of English (from 1987) and chair of the English department (1996-2000). She also was on the faculty at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma (1982-1987) and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1975-1982). She received a B.A. (1967) and M.A. (1970) from Drake University, Des Moines, and a Ph.D. (1975) from Kent State University, Ohio.

Kliemann joined the Iowa State faculty as an assistant professor in the mathematics department in 1983. He also served as an associate professor (1987-1992) and professor of mathematics (since 1992). He served as associate DEO of graduate studies in the mathematics department (1999) and associate dean for research in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2000-2001). He was appointed associate vice provost for research in 2001. Prior to working at Iowa State, he taught at the University of Oldenburg, Germany (1974-1976). He studied sociology at the Freie Universitt Berlin, West Germany (1967-1970), received a Diplom (master's) in mathematics in 1974 from the Universitt Bielefeld, West Germany, and a Dr. rer. nat. (doctorate) in mathematics in 1980 from the Universitt Bremen.

Diversity forums
11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.,
Memorial Union Oak Room

Feb. 17: Sherwood
Feb. 24: Whiteford
Feb. 26: Benstock
March 2: Kliemann

Sherwood joined the Kansas State University faculty in 1985 as an associate professor and became a professor in 1991. He served as director for the Center for Molecular and Solid State Energetics (1988-1990) and has been University Distinguished Professor and head of the chemistry department since 1997. He also served on the faculty of Downing College, Cambridge University, England (1970-1972) and the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England (1972-1985). He received a B.Sc. from St. Andrews University, Scotland, in 1967 and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University in 1970.

Whiteford has been at Iowa State since 1972, serving as assistant professor of anthropology (1972-1976), associate professor (1976-1980) and professor (since 1980). He also chaired the anthropology department (1991-2001) and served as associate dean for administrative affairs for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (2001-2003). He was appointed interim dean Sept. 1, 2003. He received a B.A. (1967) from Beloit College, Wisconsin, and an M.A. (1970) and Ph.D. (1972) from the University of California, Berkeley.