Appointment of Rutgers–Newark Dean of Faculty of Arts and Sciences

May 3, 2007

Members of the Rutgers Community:

Provost Steven Diner and I are pleased to announce that Dr. Philip L. Yeagle, a distinguished scholar and the head of the department of molecular and cell biology at the University of Connecticut, has been appointed Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers–Newark, effective August 15, 2007.

We are eager to welcome Dean Yeagle to our community and know that he will be a strong and innovative leader for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers–Newark. His combination of scholarly excellence and administrative experience makes him well-suited to this vital position.

Philip Yeagle has served at UConn for the past 10 years, leading a department of more than 50 faculty members and helping the university attain substantial increases in enrollment, research funding, and endowments. He has also led in the development of new graduate programs, distance learning opportunities, and global education partnerships. 

Before coming to UConn, Dr. Yeagle was a professor of biochemistry at the State University of New York at Buffalo's School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, where he served on the faculty from 1978 to 1997. He has twice held visiting professorships at the University of Oxford, England.

The author of six books and 145 articles in biochemistry, Dr. Yeagle was executive editor of the journal Biochimica et Biophysica Acta Biomembranes from 1997 to 2006.  He now serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Dr. Yeagle received a B.A. from St. Olaf College and a Ph.D. from Duke University, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Virginia.

As Provost Diner stated in the news release announcing this appointment (see http://urwebsrv.rutgers.edu/medrel/viewArticle.html?ArticleID=5764), Dean Yeagle brings to Rutgers broad experience with undergraduate education, graduate study, research, and community engagement. We know he will serve the Rutgers–Newark community with energy and with distinction.

Many thanks to Professor Jan Lewis for her leadership as acting dean and to the members of the search committee and the chair, Dean Les Kennedy of the School of Criminal Justice, for their hard work.  I know you will join us in welcoming Philip Yeagle to Rutgers.

Richard L. McCormick
President
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey