Linnell Named Acting Dean for UNM College of Fine Arts

The University of New Mexico NEWS RELEASE

Media Contact: Sari Krosinsky, (505) 277-1593, michal@unm.edu March 5, 2009 Linnell Named Acting Dean for UNM College of Fine Arts University of New Mexico Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Suzanne Ortega recently announced the appointment of James Linnell as acting dean of the College of Fine Arts. Prior to this appointment, he served as CFA senior associate dean. Linnell, a writer and director, has taught at UNM since 1975 and previously at Northwestern University. As chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance, he helped to establish the Master of Fine Arts in dramatic writing. He has also served as artistic director of the Words Afire Festival, a festival of new plays from the dramatic writing program. Linnell’s work has been performed in the United States and abroad in Mexico, Australia, New Zealand and Israel. He is completing a book on dramatic writing, “Walking on Fire: The Shaping Force of Emotion in Writing Drama,” for Southern Illinois University Press. He received a master’s degree at Ohio State University and a doctorate in directing at the University of California at Berkeley. CFA Dean Christopher Mead is taking sabbatical leave this semester and will step down as dean at the end of July.

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