Lester joins Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development

Neal Lester has accepted a new role as associate vice president in the Office of Knowledge Enterprise Development (OKED). In this capacity he will be responsible for advancing humanities research and will continue to direct the universitywide Project Humanities.  

Lester currently serves as dean of humanities in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and previously served as chair of the English Department. In both capacities he successfully advocated the importance of the humanities as central to contextualizing and adding meaning to the human experience. 

As associate vice president in OKED, he will continue this theme and help develop a portfolio of humanities research.

"I thank Dean Lester for his continuing, dedicated service to CLAS and the academic community," said Elizabeth D. Capaldi, executive vice president and provost of the university. "Dr. Elizabeth Langland will serve as interim dean of humanities while we conduct an internal search for a new dean."

Langland serves as vice provost and dean of New College and interim director of the School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies.