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Media contact: Susan McKinsey, 277-1989
(cell) 362-5530 mckinsey@unm.edu

March 29, 2007

Claiborne Named UNM Arts & Sciences Dean

University of New Mexico Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs Reed Dasenbrock has named Dr. Brenda J. Claiborne as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Claiborne, currently professor of biology and director of the Institute for Aging Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), will begin her new job August 1.

Dasenbrock notes that the dean of Arts and Sciences is one of UNM’s most important positions as this college teaches 62 percent of all of the credit hours at the university. It has 20 departments, including those key to undergraduate education, as well as strong doctoral programs in the humanities, social sciences and physical sciences.

“Dr. Claiborne comes from UTSA, a rapidly rising Hispanic serving institution, where she has been quite successful in bringing in external research funds and building high quality programs,” said Dasenbrock.

“We look forward to her participation in helping increase student success and graduation rates at UNM, as well as helping build programs of national distinction,” he added.

Saying she is impressed with the quality and enthusiasm of the faculty and administrators and the diversity of the student body, Claiborne is delighted to be joining UNM. “I look forward to working with all members of the college to develop a strategic plan that both reflects the priorities and needs of the college and supports the mission of UNM.”

Claiborne said she also looks forward to improving student success, supporting outstanding scholarship and fostering collaborative projects and programs with other colleges and with the School of Medicine.

Claiborne has been on the UTSA faculty since 1986. From 1993 – 1997, she served as Dean of Graduate Studies and Associate Vice President for Research, with responsibility for all graduate programs, research centers and institutes, and research development on the UTSA campus.

Claiborne received her bachelor’s degree in Zoology from the University of California, Berkeley, her masters of science in Biology from the University of Oregon and her Ph.D. in Biology from the University of California, San Diego. Before her tenure at UTSA, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow in developmental neurobiology at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. She has had a distinguished research career in neuroscience.

At UNM, Claiborne will have a tenured appointment in the Dept. of Biology with a secondary appointment in the Dept. of Neurosciences in the School of Medicine.

Joseph Cecchi, dean, School of Engineering, who chaired the Arts and Sciences dean’s search committee, reflected on the strength of the candidate pool, saying “It is a strong indication of the high esteem UNM’s College of Arts and Sciences enjoys nationwide that we saw a great number of exceptionally talented individuals from highly-regarded institutions across the country. From that pool the provost was able to select five outstanding finalists – every one a leader.”

Provost Dasenbrock, who had previously served as UNM’s dean of Arts and Sciences, extended his thanks to Vera Norwood who has served as interim dean since March 2005.

“The position of Dean of Arts and Sciences, as I can testify from experience, is a challenging one, and Vera has very capably addressed all of the challenges of the job and kept the College moving forward in this period of transition,” said Dasenbrock.

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