After a national search, Shearle Furnish has been named the founding dean of the new College of Arts, Letters & Sciences at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. His appointment will take effect July 1. Zulma Toro, executive vice chancellor and provost at UALR, said the appointment of Furnish, who served in a similar post in Ohio for the past seven years, is exactly what the university needs. “As founding and current dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences at Youngstown State University, Dr. Furnish is well positioned to provide the leadership for this newly restructured college,” Toro said.
Furnish was instrumental in the 2007 reorganization of the College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences at Youngstown State, which is today composed of nine departments and nine interdisciplinary centers and programs. Under his leadership, the college added a master’s program in applied behavior analysis and the first bachelor’s and then master’s programs in gerontology. A professor of English, Furnish received a master’s degree in 1978 and doctorate in 1984 in English literature from the University of Kentucky in Lexington and a bachelor’s degree in 1975 in English literature from Transylvania University in Lexington.
“An experienced academic leader, he will collaborate with our administration, faculty and community leaders to ensure that this college is the backbone of our partnership with the community,” Toro said of Furnish. “I am delighted to be selected for this very special position in a strategically transformed academic structure,” Furnish said. “The assembly of an academic leadership team with several new members represents a significant opportunity to enliven the environment of teaching and learning, propel the institution and enhance the experiences and opportunities of students and the communities of Little Rock.” n
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