From the Duke News Service

Aug. 23, 1999

In a major administrative reorganization of Duke University's school of arts and sciences, Robert J. Thompson Jr., former dean of undergraduate education, has been named dean of Trinity College, William Chafe, dean of the faculty of arts and sciences, announced Monday.

Karla Holloway, William Rand Kenan professor of English and African American literature, will become the dean of the humanities and social sciences, and Berndt Mueller, James B. Duke professor of physics, will become the dean of the natural sciences. Both of these positions are new.

"These three individuals are superbly qualified for their new responsibilities," Chafe said in a letter to all arts and sciences faculty. "I look forward to working with them on the arts and sciences team as we engage the challenges of a new curriculum, a new century, and a new strategic planning process so that Duke can maintain and strengthen its position as a leader in American education."

Chafe, who had been dean of Trinity College as well as dean of faculty, said the changes stem from his appointment earlier this summer to the additional post of vice provost for undergraduate education, and the earlier decision by James Siedow to give up his position as dean of faculty development and return to research and teaching as professor of botany.

"Given these shifts, the president (Nannerl O. Keohane), the provost (Peter Lange) and I decided it was appropriate to restructure my office with two new divisional deanships and a redesignation of Bob Thompson's role," Chafe wrote.

"Bob Thompson has been an indispensable ally in promoting reform in the curriculum, and in leading our efforts to transform the University Writing Program and the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Writing," Chafe said. "Neither Curriculum 2000 nor the new writing program would have been possible without his efforts."

Chafe said Holloway, who joined Duke in 1992 from North Carolina State University, "is a distinguished literary scholar who has shown extraordinary leadership abilities, both in her role as a former chair of the Provost's Advisory Committee on Appointments, Promotion, and Tenure and in her position as director of the African and African American Studies program."

As director of the African and African American Studies (AAAS) program, Holloway "has been instrumental in broadening and deepening the AAAS curriculum, advocating successfully for tenure lines for AAAS, and recruiting distinguished faculty members to make ours one of the premier African American Studies programs in America," Chafe said. Holloway's scholarship has focused on African-American literature from the perspectives of linguistics and cultural studies, and has resulted in the publication of four books, including Codes of Conduct: Race, Ethics, and the Color of our Character, the most recent.

Chafe said Mueller, who came to Duke in 1990 from the University of Frankfurt in Germany, "has demonstrated great leadership talent in the natural sciences. He has done an excellent job as chair of the physics department, and has played a critical role in revising and reforming the undergraduate curriculum in physics, while recruiting outstanding scientific leaders to Duke, such as FELL (Free Electron Laser Laboratory) director Glenn Edwards."

"Berndt Mueller has been heavily involved in spearheading interdisciplinary efforts in the sciences, and will bring special skills to the long-range planning process for the sciences that we will undertake in conjunction with the provost's office and other schools at Duke."

Mueller's scholarly expertise focuses on theoretical physics, where he works in a number of areas of nuclear physics related to the structure of matter under extreme conditions. He has written or edited some 11 books and monographs, published over 200 scientific papers, and been the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Senior U.S. Scientist Award from the Humboldt Foundation.

Thompson's research has focused on clinical child psychology. Chafe said Thompson, who joined Duke in 1975, is "well known for his work on coping with the stress of childhood illness and on behavior disorders in childhood." He has written or co-authored three books and a monograph as well as over a hundred scholarly articles and book chapters.

"Bob is both an outstanding teacher and a nationally respected scholar," Chafe said. Thompson has won several Distinguished Teaching Awards and the 1997 Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Pediatric Psychology and has served as President of the Association of Medical School Professors of Psychology.

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