By Nate Harling
Mark Kornbluh, Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, has appointed two interim associate deans while Elizabeth Lorch, Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Study, is on sabbatical for the 2018-2019 academic year.
Carrie Oser is interim Associate Dean for Research. Oser is a highly involved and committed faculty member who serves as associate chair and professor of sociology. She holds joint appointments in the Department of Behavioral Science and the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research and serves as associate director of the new Center on Health Equity Transformation. A scholar of addiction treatment and health disparities, Oser has a strong history of external grant funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
“It is a tremendous honor to be asked to serve as interim associate dean of research in the College of Arts & Sciences,” Oser said. “The most exciting aspect of the position is fostering the growth of research opportunities for faculty and students in the College of Arts & Sciences. A&S is a unique college as the breadth of scholarship is large including basic and applied research across the natural, mathematical, and social sciences as well as the humanities.”
Oser plans to utilize her new position to further enrich the vibrant academic community of A&S. “I hope to leverage more transdisciplinary research collaborations, help faculty prepare competitive funding applications, and successfully implement research projects. I am also committed to supporting research and creative works that are not traditionally amenable to external funding,” Oser said. “Another goal is to increase the visibility of A&S faculty scholarly contributions within the university, in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and beyond for the betterment of society.”
Sarah Lyon has been appointed interim Associate Dean of Graduate Study. Lyon is an Associate Professor of Anthropology and has already garnered significant graduate studies management experience having served as the Director of Graduate Studies of Anthropology since 2015. She directs the A&S program on Transforming the PhD, Careers Beyond the Academy, for which she was the PI on a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. An economic anthropologist who studies food, agricultural production and commodity chains, Lyon also has a long record of external funding, including funding for her graduate students.
“I am really passionate about graduate education, so this is truly a great outlet for my professional energy,” Lyon said. “Graduate education, especially doctoral education, is experiencing a period of rapid transformation as institutions, including our own, respond to broader changes in the academy (for example, the declining numbers of tenure-track jobs) and the evolving needs and interests of today's graduate students. We have the opportunity to be forward-thinking and innovative in response to these changing needs and that excites me. I believe that our graduate degree programs are one of A&S's strongest assets and I'm excited to have the opportunity to support them.”
Oser and Lyon’s appointments will be for the 2018-19 academic year.
“Carrie Oser and Sarah Lyon are both excellent faculty members with diverse experiences which will benefit the college in these positions,” said Mark Kornbluh, dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. “Having started their faculty careers at UK, both Oser and Lyon have rapidly built national and international reputations as scholars and mentors. They are excellent representatives of a new generation of faculty leadership in the College of Arts and Sciences.”
