Sanderson named Emory College
v.p. for arts and sciences
President Bill Chace and Provost Billy Frye announced the selection of Steven E. Sanderson as vice president for arts and sciences and dean of Emory College. Pending approval by the board of trustees, the appointment will become effective in July.
An internationally respected political scientist, Sanderson currently serves as chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of Florida, where he has taught since 1979.
"We have been most impressed by Dr. Sanderson's experience in leading the development of universitywide programs, in establishing effective international collaborations and in garnering philanthropic support for new undertakings," wrote Chace and Frye in a letter announcing the appointment. "An energetic administrator and creative educator, he brings to Emory a strong belief in faculty governance, excellent teaching and research and the integration of the University into the processes of globalization."
Sanderson said he became convinced during his conversations with Chace, Frye and members of the search committee that Emory is an exceptional place. "People there are taking seriously new demands and changes in higher education and are in a position act on them," he said. "That's pretty rare, pretty exciting.
"Emory is also small enough so that it provides a good undergraduate education and at the same time has a high research profile and can contribute to scholarship at the highest levels," he added.
Sanderson himself has a distinguished track record as an educator and scholar. He received the 1992 Blue Key Distinguished Faculty Award, and in 1990 he was one of ten University Teachers of the Year at Florida as well as the recipient of the Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching given by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Sanderson has written three books and edited another. He has co-authored four monographs and has published numerous articles and book chapters. He has been a Fulbright-Hays Dissertation Research Fellow in Mexico, a Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a Fellow of the Council on Foreign Relations, serving in this last capacity as a member of the Trade Policy Development Staff of the U.S. Trade Representative.
Sanderson earned his B.A. degree in political science from the University of Central Arkansas, then earned M.A. degrees from the University of Arkansas and Stanford University. He received his Ph.D. degree from Stanford in 1978. Before beginning his association with the University of Florida, he taught at Stanford and at San Francisco State University and was, for two years, a program officer for social science for the Ford Foundation in Rio de Janeiro.
He plans to relocate to Atlanta this summer with his wife, who will be working in the law library, and 10-year-old daughter. The Sanderson's also have a college age son who attends Bates College in Maine.