Yale College Dean Richard H. Brodhead has announced a number of new appointments in the Dean's Office, including two new assistant deans and a shift in responsibilities for some current assistant deans. In addition, Dean Brodhead has filled a new position, dean of undergraduate education, in his office.
New assistant deans
Richard A. Chavolla, who most recently was director of the Office of Diversity, Recruitment and Support Programs at Arizona State University in Tempe, has been named assistant dean of Yale College and director of the Chicano Student Cultural Center. Edgar Letriz Nunez, an assistant dean of students at Union College in Schenectady, New York, has been appointed as an assistant dean and director of the La Casa Cultural Julia de Burgos, the Puerto Rican student cultural center at Yale.
Mr. Chavolla has coordinated minority student recruitment programs at Arizona State University, where he also developed academic support programs, including mentoring and tutoring, for prospective graduate students. He previously held a similar post at Northern Arizona University and was a naturalist and cultural historian for the National Park Service at Big Bend National Park. He earned his B.A. from Boston University and a M.A. in political science and sociology from Boston College.
At Yale, in addition to working with the Chicano and Native American communities, Mr. Chavolla will help direct the Mellon and Bouchet Fellowship Programs and the STARS (Science, Technology and Research Scholars) programs, which support the aspirations of students interested in pursuing graduate work and professional careers in the sciences.
Mr. Letriz directed Union College's Multicultural Resource Center and chaired the Multicultural Advisory Group to the president of the college. He served on the faculty committees on study abroad, medical school admissions, and campus safety and security. In addition, he coordinated the Parents' Weekend program. He previously served as assistant dean of admissions at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, and was an admissions staff counselor at the University of Wisconsin. He earned his B.A. in modern languages and literatures at Union College and holds a M.A. in French from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
At Yale, in addition to his work with the Puerto Rican community, Mr. Letriz will share responsibility with Dean Chavolla and others in the Dean's Office for the Mellon, Bouchet and STARS programs, and will serve on the Committee on Readmissions and the Committee on Undergraduate Organizations.
New dean's office post
Joseph W. Gordon, dean of undergraduate studies, has been appointed by Dean Brodhead as the new dean of undergraduate education. Dean Gordon will also retain his title as associate dean of Yale College.
"I have long felt the need of a high-level administrator to assist the Dean in addressing the many fundamental issues of Yale College education that deserve our fuller attention," said Dean Brodhead in announcing the new post. "I'm delighted to report that Joe Gordon has agreed to accept a yet fuller burden of responsibility in this area. No one could do the job more thoughtfully or efficiently."
Mr. Gordon, who earned two master's degrees and a doctorate at Yale, has been dean of undergraduate studies since 1988 and has been on the faculty of the English department since 1976. He has served as codirector of the Bass Writing Program and was associate director of Yale Summer Programs. In 1987-88 he was acting master of Pierson College.
In order to take on his new responsibilities, Dean Gordon will give up his current involvement with individual student academic careers, coordinating the work of residential college deans and chairing the Committee on Honors and Academic Standing, among other related obligations, according to Dean Brodhead. Mark Schenker, assistant dean of Yale College and director of Yale Summer Programs, will take over Dean Gordon's former responsibilities in these areas. Mr. Schenker's new title will be associate dean of Yale College, dean of academic affairs and dean of summer programs. He, in turn, will share some of his current work in the Yale Summer Programs office with Kimberly M. Goff- Crews, assistant dean of Yale College and director of the Afro- American Cultural Center, who now has the additional title of director of summer programs.
"This triple switch is the most major transformation in this office in many years," Dean Brodhead said. "I make it in total confidence that all existing Yale College Dean's Office functions will continue to be discharged with equal skill by different hands."