Barbara Romzek, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has appointed veteran faculty member Timothy Miller to be acting chair of the Department of Religious Studies through June 2006.

Miller, a professor of alternative religions in America, has been on the faculty since 1973 and served as departmental chair from 1997 to 2002. He replaces Paul Mirecki, associate professor, who stepped down as chair last month.

"I appreciate Professor Miller's willingness to step in for the next six months while I discuss with the faculty plans for a permanent chair," Romzek said. "Professor Miller not only has previous experience as chair but also is known as a teacher and researcher with respect for and scholarly interest in the variety of religious expressions in America."

Miller, who holds master's and doctoral degrees from KU, has published five books, including The Quest for Utopia in Twentieth-Century America. He became a full professor in 1998. Miller received the Steeples Award in 2002, an annual award to CLAS faculty for outstanding service to the state of Kansas, and was a visiting professor at Dartmouth College in 1995.

Religious studies, established at KU in 1901 for noncredit instruction of students, became an academic department in 1977. The department encourages the academic study of how religious experience has been described, organized and practiced in history and in varying cultures.