Canadian university tabs Peacock as dean

July 10, 2006

Simon Peacock, a longtime ASU faculty member and divisional dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is headed to the University of British Columbia . Peacock, a distinguished geoscience scholar, will take up duties as dean of UBC's Faculty of Science, effective Aug. 1.<separator></separator>Peacock joined ASU in 1985 as an assistant professor and went on to become a professor and chair of the department of geological sciences. In 2003, he was named interim associate dean for academic personnel; in 2004, he became a divisional dean in the college.<separator></separator>“As divisional dean of natural sciences and mathematics, Simon has been instrumental in reshaping this college to strengthen opportunities for study and research across disciplines,” says David A. Young, ASU vice president and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “Instead of the traditional disciplinary silo structure in most colleges of arts and sciences, we wanted to remove barriers that impede faculty in one discipline from interacting with faculty from another discipline, as envisioned by ASU President Michael Crow in his plan for a New American University . Simon was a leader in this redesign effort.”<separator></separator>The University of British Columbia in Vancouver is one of the world's top 50 universities, according to two independent rankings done in 2005, one by the Times Higher Education Supplement, a UK publication, and the other done by the Institute of Higher Education at Shanghai Jiao Tong University .<separator></separator>“This opportunity for me at UBC is like an assistant coach getting his first coaching assignment,” Peacock says.<separator></separator>In his new role as dean of UBC's Faculty of Science, Peacock will oversee nine departments in the life sciences, physical sciences, computer sciences, mathematics and statistics. UBC's Faculty of Science has almost 400 faculty members and more than 7,000 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students.

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