Anderson Gets New Post at MUW

Anderson

COLUMBUS, Miss. — A veteran faculty member and department chair will become the new dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at Mississippi University for Women.

Dr. Brian Anderson, currently professor of political science and chair of the Department of History, Political Science and Geography, will assume his new duties July 1, pending approval by the state Board of Trustees, Institutions of Higher Learning.  He succeeds Dr. Thomas Richardson, now interim provost and vice president for academic affairs.

“Dr. Anderson brings outstanding academic and administrative credentials and a record of distinguished scholarship and teaching to his new role,” said President Jim Borsig.  “He is eminently qualified to provide leadership for the seven departments that make up the college.”

A faculty member since 1998, Anderson holds a bachelor’s degree in foreign affairs from the University of Virginia, and master’s and doctoral degrees, both in political science, from Pennsylvania State University. He has been department chair since 2009.

At The W, he has been recognized as the Faculty Member of the Year, as well as The W faculty honoree for the state’s annual Higher Education Appreciation Day, Working for Academic Excellence (HEADWAE).  He also has been The W’s Humanities Faculty Member of the Year, an annual honor presented by the Mississippi Humanities Council.

Anderson has published articles or chapters in Ashgate Research Companion to U.S. Foreign Policy, and Interest Group Politics, among others.  He has a forthcoming article in PS:  Political Science and Politics. In addition, he has served as a conference panelist for topics ranging from homeland and international security to undergraduate student research. 

The college he will lead, in addition to his current department, includes art and design; communication; languages, literature and philosophy; music; science and mathematics; and theatre.