Rhonda Gonzales Appointed Dean of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
Expensive DU group customers,
It is with large delight that I share, with the concurrence of the chancellor, that Dr. Rhonda M. Gonzales has been appointed as our next dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS), effective July 1, 2021. Dr. Gonzales will also be appointed as whole professor with tenure in DU’s Section of Record. Dr. Gonzales’ space of research and training knowledge is African record, precisely the historical past of East Africa and the Atlantic slave trade to Mexico.
Dr. Gonzales comes to us from The College of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), exactly where she presently serves as chair of the record office and professor of heritage. She has also served as interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UTSA. Prior to serving as interim dean, Dr. Gonzales was instrumental in serving as UTSA’s interim vice president for pupil achievements and affiliate vice provost for strategic initiatives. In the two roles, she envisioned and oversaw a series of initiatives related to college student persistence and thriving. Most just lately, she is co-principal investigator on a multi-million greenback grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. DU and CAHSS will tremendously benefit from Dr. Gonzales’ skills and insights in these critically important domains.
Even with her expanding administrative obligations, Dr. Gonzales has maintained a constant investigation agenda. She just lately co-authored a book with Oxford University Push titled Bantu Africa. In 2017, she released a co-authored chapter on African women’s heritage in an edited assortment with Routledge Press. And she is co-author of a forthcoming e book with Cambridge College Push entitled, Relatives Right before Gender: Historical past in Central and Jap Africa, ca. 500-1900. Dr. Gonzales’ perform in precolonial East African historical past is extremely interdisciplinary and collaborative, drawing on several fields of scholarly inquiry and garnering recognition, as with a the latest multi-calendar year grant to carry out study on African history from the Nationwide Endowment for the Humanities in 2017.
Dr. Gonzales attained her B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from the College of California at Los Angeles. She commenced her academic occupation at Macalester College in Minnesota just before transferring to The University of Texas procedure. She has served as a Fulbright reviewer, an exterior reviewer for DePaul University and a grant reviewer for the American Historical Affiliation. Her skills on the standing of gals of color in just the history profession and over and above is frequently sought following by greater education and learning institutions and organizations.
On finding out of her appointment, Dr. Gonzales remarked, “I am thrilled to be part of the Higher education of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences as its subsequent dean. Signing up for DU to winner liberal and creative arts as the keystone of a 21st century in depth training is an honor that I embrace with wonderful enthusiasm and motivation.”
It presents me fantastic satisfaction now to provide my profoundest thanks to the CAHSS dean lookup committee for their huge time, thoughtfulness, and perception. It was a good honor indeed to associate with this sort of a challenging-performing committee:
Co-chairs
- Anne DePrince, professor of psychology and director of DU’s Center for Local community Engagement to advance Scholarship and Understanding (CCESL)
- Andrei Kutateladze, dean of the School of Normal Sciences and Arithmetic
Associates
- Paula Adamo, training professor, Spanish language, literary and cultural research
- Liz Escobedo, associate professor, heritage and CAHSS director of diversity, fairness and inclusion
- Jennifer Garner, CAHSS government director of progress
- Craig Harrison, University of Denver trustee (BSBA ’03)
- Kirk Jones, CAHSS chief running officer
- Lisa Martinez, professor, sociology and criminology
- Andrea Stanton, chair and affiliate professor, spiritual experiments
- Keith Ward, director and professor, Lamont University of Music
Co-chair and professor Anne DePrince remarked upon information of Dr. Gonzales’ appointment, “We have been grateful for sturdy engagement from the CAHSS and DU local community, which designed it attainable to showcase the college’s distinct tactic to bringing the University’s community excellent vision to existence. We’re energized that Dr. Gonzales will be a champion for the college’s operate.”
Dr. Gonzales will do well Dean Danny McIntosh, who has led CAHSS with a highly effective dedication to our college students and group. Dean McIntosh’s determination to our pupils is most obvious in the college’s enhancement of the Keystone Ordeals, a established of college-guided, integrative discovering activities. Beneath Dr. McIntosh’s leadership, the college elevated approximately $40 million to assist scholar work, internships and education opportunities, as perfectly as college innovation, exploration and creative perform. Most notably, throughout this time, the school secured precious nationwide grants and philanthropic assistance for the John Madden Center for Innovation in the Liberal and Imaginative Arts, which includes many school-led initiatives these kinds of as the Casa de Paz Discovering Neighborhood and the DU Prison Arts Initiative.
Following a perfectly-acquired sabbatical, Dr. McIntosh will rejoin the college in the Office of Psychology the place he’ll return to teaching and continue on his research. You should sign up for me in congratulating and thanking Dr. McIntosh for his leadership.
Rhonda, her husband, Curtis, and son, Alonzo, are enormously searching ahead to transferring to Denver. They are fired up to make Colorado their property and to consider benefit of the state’s magnificent landscape and the out of doors adventures it invitations.
You should sign up for me in welcoming Rhonda and her spouse and children to DU. Jointly, we have a pretty enjoyable long term ahead!
With very best regards,
Mary Clark
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
