Goodwin named Dean of new College of Natural Sciences

On Tuesday, May 19, the Provost announced that Steve Goodwin, currently Dean of the College of Natural Resources and the Environment (NRE), will become Dean of the newly formed College of Natural Sciences, effective September 1. The new college will consist of all departments from the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM), five departments and several programs from the College of NRE, and the Psychology Department from the College of Social and Behavioral Science (SBS).

Jim Kurose, Interim Dean of NSM, will join Dean Goodwin's leadership team, as will NSM's Julian Tyson, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Stephen Burns, Associate Dean of Research, Jack Wileden, Associate Dean of Advising, and Martha Baker, Associate Dean of Academics for NRE. "I'm confident that Dean Steve Goodwin of NRE, myself, our heads and chairs, faculty, and staff will all work together to make this merger work well," said Jim Kurose.

"The integration of the life science and environmental science departments and programs with the physical sciences in a new College of Natural Sciences is a terrific opportunity to strengthen the campus' current position and promote growth and collaboration, especially in the new science building planned for 2012," says Kurose. "The new college will be well equipped to advance broad, cross-cutting interdisciplinary initiatives across campus and to invigorate the development of larger institutes and centers."

The creation of the new college is part of Chancellor Robert Holub's strategic framework for elevating "UMass Amherst to the ranks of the very best public research universities in the country." In Chancellor Holub's words, the creation of The College of Natural Sciences "better positions us to compete nationally and internationally, enhances our ability to attract and retain the best faculty, and facilitates research collaboration across the science disciplines."

The College of Natural Sciences will have 377 tenure-track faculty members and nearly 6000 undergraduate majors. In 2008, the departments that comprise the new college garnered more than $81 million in research awards in 2008.

Departments, Schools, and Programs in the new College of Natural Sciences

From NRE:

• Food Science
• Microbiology
• Natural Resources Conservation
• Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences
• Veterinary and Animal Sciences

From NSM:

• Astronomy
• Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Computer Science
• Geosciences
• Mathematics and Statistics
• Physics
• Polymer Science and Engineering

From SBS:

• Psychology

Schools and Programs

• Stockbridge School of Agriculture
• Environmental Science
• MA Agricultural Experiment Station
• Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs in Life Sciences (Molecular and Cell Biology; Neuroscience and Behavior, Organismic and Evolutionary Biology; and Plant Biology)