Joseph Steinmetz

Joseph Steinmetz, executive associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana University, Bloomington, has been named the new dean of KU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He will start July 1.

"I'm delighted that Joseph Steinmetz has agreed to lead KU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and I'm very confident he will be an outstanding leader for the university," said Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor David Shulenburger. "Dr. Steinmetz generated a remarkable degree of enthusiasm among the KU faculty within the college. His colleagues at Indiana spoke with great admiration for his talents and vision."

Chancellor Robert Hemenway said other universities actively recruited Steinmetz.

"Other universities wanted Joe Steinmetz, but KU was his choice," Hemenway said. "We are delighted that he will assume a key leadership position within the KU community."

Steinmetz said he felt the position at KU was the best that was open among universities this year.

"The College (of liberal arts and sciences) is a big part of the institution, and the institution is first-rate," he said. Out of all the dean positions that were open this year, this was by far the best."

He said he was intrigued by the KU position because of the mix of humanities with liberal arts, social science and other science disciplines within CLAS, which is a strong academic formula, he added.

Steinmetz began his academic career at IU in 1987, when he joined the Department of Psychology as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor, tenured in 1991 and promoted to full professor in 1995.

In 1999, IU recognized his research and teaching contributions by awarding him the Eleanor Cox Riggs professorship in psychology. He also is a core faculty member of two interdisciplinary programs at IU, in cognitive science program and in neural science, as well as a member of the University Honors Faculty.

From 1995 to 2005, Steinmetz was chairman of IU's Department of Psychology. During his last year as department leader, he was senior adviser to the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for long-range planning. In that role, he oversaw external reviews that the college conducted for key departments as part of its strategic planning processes, and he conducted a study of the general organization of university arts and sciences colleges around the country with an eye toward assessing IU's organization.

In 2005, Steinmetz assumed the duties of executive associate dean for the college. His major responsibilities included day-to-day management of the college's budget; leading the college's promotional committee, overseeing the office staff, overseeing faculty recruitment and hiring and representing the college on several campus-wide committees involved mainly in faculty development, financial matters and college fund raising.

Over the years, Steinmetz has taught a variety of courses in experimental psychology, neuroscience and cognitive science. At IU, he trained 14 graduate students and nine postdoctoral scholars and has worked with more than 100 undergraduates in his laboratory. His research program has produced more than 160 publications and more than 150 published abstracts, conference proceedings and invited presentations.

He said he plans to bring his research lab with him to KU. He said the lab, which studies how the brain encodes learning and memory, is made up of postdoctoral researchers and graduate students. Some have said they plan to follow him to Kansas.

"I still enjoy sitting down with my students and postdocs and discussing their research findings as we continue to study the relationship between the brain and behavior," Steinmetz said.

In 1996, the National Academy of Science selected Steinmetz for the Troland Research Award to recognize his research contributions to the fields of experimental psychology and neuroscience. Last year, he was elected a fellow in the prestigious Society of Experimental Psychologists. He also received the 2000 Indiana University College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Faculty Award.

Before arriving at IU, Steinmetz was post doctoral research fellow and research associate at Stanford University in California from 1983 to 1987.

Steinmetz earned a bachelor's in psychology with a minor in chemistry and a master's in experimental psychology from Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant. He received his doctorate in physiological psychology from Ohio University in Athens.

Steinmetz said his first goal at KU is to listen to faculty, staff and students in the process of setting priorities and directions for CLAS. Involving them in the planning process will help him learn about the institution, help the College work at peak efficiency and play to what he says is his greatest strength, getting people to work well together.

"I really value the importance of faculty, staff and students. Talking with them will help make a careful account of what's there at Kansas and where we should head in the future," he said.

The new dean succeeds Kim Wilcox, who left KU on July 1 to become provost at Michigan State University, East Lansing. Steinmetz is married to Sandra Steinmetz, a special education teacher. They have two children and one grandchild.

Steinmetz said he is anxious to start his new position. He looks forward to "the prospect of going to work with great people, and making a fresh start. I was very impressed with the administration there as well."