The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences welcomes Dr. Will McConnell as our new dean. Dean McConnell received his PhD from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and came to the United States on a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada postdoctoral award. His current research covers a wide span of global warming and environmental sustainability issues, and he has presented environmental sustainability research across disciplines in numerous international conferences. Over the course of his Woodbury career, Dean McConnell has participated on nearly every committee, served as Dean of Faculty, developed the Interdisciplinary Studies program, and been involved in the redesign of Woodbury’s General Education program. Woodbury students know Dean McConnell for his enthusiasm as a teacher, advisor, and environmentalist—some have even had the opportunity to study ocean ecology on Dean McConnell’s scuba diving expeditions.
Under Dean McConnell’s stewardship, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences looks forward to continuing our role as an interdisciplinary leader on campus, offering students, faculty, and staff opportunities to discover new pathways of learning and express themselves both critically and creatively. We are proud of CLAS’s commitment to diversity in our general education curriculum and in nurturing collaboration across disciplines at the university.