Monday, March 11, 2019

CASL Faculty Rock!

The College of Arts, Sciences, and Letters is abuzz these days. The most recent round of Fulbright Faculty Scholars was recently released and three college faculty were named as recipients (Daniel Davis—who will be working in the Philippines, Bill DeGenaro—who is off to Jordan, and Anna Muller—who is beginning a new project in Poland). This would be an amazing achievement for most universities collectively let alone for one college within a university. Just to provide some context, in 2017-2018 Faculty at Michigan State University (a university that far surpasses the University of Michigan-Dearborn both in size and in its research portfolio) were awarded six Fulbrights while our colleagues in Ann Arbor were awarded twelve.

The fact that three of CASL’s faculty were named Fulbright Scholars reminded me of just how accomplished our faculty are. Not only do our faculty excel in the classroom but they are exposing our students and the world to their leading-edge research and scholarly findings. This comes as no surprise to me or to anyone else who has had the privilege of sitting in one of the courses offered by CASL faculty members but it is always wonderful to have what you know to be true validated by outside sources.

Though the college’s enrollment decline continues to challenge our budget we have been consistent in ensuring that the resources that we do have are allocated in ways that promote both the success of our students and the success of our faculty. The recognition of these three scholars by this very prestigious body confirms that the college is making an excellent investment. Congratulations to our Fulbright recipients! We wish you much success in your work!We are all extremely proud of you!