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Campus News - June 30, 2001 |
Two deans to leave UNM
Provost Brian Foster recently announced the impending departure of two UNM
deans. Robert L. Migneault, dean of the UNM General Library since 1987, will
step down from that position at the end of the 2001-02 academic year. A search
for a new dean will begin this fall.
Robert J. Desiderio, dean of the UNM School of Law for the past four years,
will resign as dean effective June 30, 2002.
Migneault will return to the library faculty effective June 30, 2002. Foster
said, During Bobs tenure, the UNM Libraries have made great progress,
moving to approximately 50th in the rankings of the Association of Research
Libraries (ARL).
UNM Libraries have moved into the age of new information technologies, have
been in the national discussion on the future of scholarly publishing, have
been the main provider of library services for the Western Governors University,
and in general have taken a place among leaders in defining the academic library
of the future.
During the coming year, Foster said, Migneault will continue to provide
leadership in several critical areas of library development, including fundraising,
further progress in upgrading library technology capabilities, and engaging
the campus in the national dialogue on the future of scholarly publishing and
its implications for the library of the future. Migneault also will be
eligible for a sabbatical at the end of the coming academic year and plans to
complete a book during that time.
Migneault was dean during the renovation of Zimmerman Library, where he was
also instrumental in securing funding for the Center for Southwest Research.
Also in Zimmerman, he has supported the Center for Academic Program Support,
the main learning and tutoring facility on campus that also provides the librarys
credit courses.
Under Migneault, an expanded Parish Memorial Library of Business and Economics
was established within the Anderson Graduate Schools of Management in June,
1987, providing the state with its only extensive business library. Less than
a year later, in February, 1988, the UNM Centennial Science and Engineering
Library opened its doors.
In 1986-87, the ARL ranked the UNM libraries 98 of 101 member university libraries.
Under Migneaults leadership, by 1995-96 the UNM General Library moved
into the top 50 of ARL-ranked institutions, coming in 47th out of 120 members
in the United States and Canada. UNM remains the only library system in the
state to be ranked by ARL.
The Provost praised Desiderio for his work at the law school. In his
long tenure at UNM, Dean Desiderio has served the institution in many ways,
including a term as interim Vice President for Academic Affairs, Foster
said, adding that a national search for Desiderios successor will begin
this summer.
Dean Desiderio assumed the leadership of the law school at a time of
significant challenges. He has been a University leader in every sense of the
word and I would like to ask the University community to thank him for his many
years of service to UNM.
Foster commended Desiderio for his work to address the Schools inadequate
physical plant, as well as for dramatically increasing the
Schools level of fundraising. He also credited Desiderio for successfully
leading the UNM School of Law through an accreditation process and for the hiring
of several new faculty.
The next academic year will be the fifth year of my current deanship-the
period for which I committed myself when I assumed the deanship in 1997,
Desiderio said. I have come to the conclusion that it is a particularly
appropriate time to make this move, for the benefit of the law school and for
my family and me, as well, he said, adding that many of the goals he set
for himself as dean have been realized or are nearing fruition.
Desiderio said, We have made considerable strides in raising faculty
salaries and library resources, even though we have more to do. Furthermore,
we
all recognized the monumental nature of the task ahead of us to expand and update
the new law school facility. That enterprise has been at the core of my current
deanship and will come to fruition with the dedication of the new Frederick
M. Hart Addition in the fall of 2002.
Desiderio said, It has been my great privilege to serve as dean of the law school not once, but twice. There is no other law school like it and no other law school I would have chosen to serve.
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