Thomas DiPiero, whose academic interests range from the psychoanalysis of race and gender to French literature, is the new dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences and professor in the Departments of English and World Languages and Literatures.
DiPiero joined SMU in August from the University of Rochester, where he was dean of humanities and interdisciplinary studies in the College of Arts, Sciences and Engineering and professor of French and of visual and cultural studies. He replaces William Tsutsui, who resigned in May to become president of Hendrix College.
“Dedman College is the academic heart of SMU, home to world-class, innovative teaching and research about the natural world, its people, their creations and institutions,” DiPiero says. “The college’s departments, programs and centers are leading the way in creating new knowledge and new fields of inquiry, and I am tremendously eager to work with faculty, students, and staff to extend the intellectual boundaries of our work and the geographic reaches of our discoveries.”
>Dean DiPiero discusses the value of a liberal arts education.
As dean of Dedman College, DiPiero will head the largest of SMU’s seven colleges and schools, with its 307 full-time faculty members, including 19 endowed professorships. About half of SMU’s undergraduates pursue their majors in Dedman College through 39 baccalaureate degree programs and their minors in more than 50 areas. Nineteen graduate programs in Dedman College lead to a Master’s degree and 13 programs lead to a doctor of philosophy degree.
DiPiero received a Ph.D. in Romance Studies from Cornell University in 1988, a Master of Arts from Cornell University in Romance Studies in 1984 and a Master of Arts from The Ohio State University in Romance Languages and Literatures in 1980. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in French from The Ohio State University in 1978.
“The College and the entire University will benefit from DiPiero’s interdisciplinary approach to the humanities and sciences, as well as from his passion for research and teaching,” says President R. Gerald Turner. “He’s a great fit for Dedman College and for SMU.”
DiPiero previously served as a visiting faculty member at SMU-in-Taos in 2011 and as a guest lecturer for SMU’s Gilbert Lecture Series in 2008.
Dedman College is the academic heart of SMU, home to world-class, innovative teaching and research about the natural world, its people, their creations and institutions,” DiPiero says. “The college’s departments, programs and centers are leading the way in creating new knowledge and new fields of inquiry, and I am tremendously eager to work with faculty, students, and staff to extend the intellectual boundaries of our work and the geographic reaches of our discoveries.”
DiPiero is the author or co-editor of three books: White Men Aren’t (Duke University Press, 2002); Illicit Sex: Identity Politics in Early Modern Europe, edited with Pat Gill (University of Georgia Press, 1997); and Dangerous Truths and Criminal Passions: The Evolution of the French Novel 1569-1791 (Stanford University Press, 1992). He served as editor of the Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies (University of Pennsylvania Press) from 2005-13, and has written several book chapters, as well as numerous journal articles.
At the University of Rochester, he received awards for distinguished undergraduate teaching and for support of Ph.D. candidates. He served as the principal investigator for the project “Training Graduate Students in the Digital Humanities,” which received $1 million in funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Prior to Rochester, DiPiero was a visiting assistant professor of French and Humanities at Reed College in Portland, Oregon from 1985-87 and a lecturer at the Université de Paris-X, France from 1982-83.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Paul Ludden expressed thanks to Peter Moore, Dedman College’s senior associate dean and associate dean for academic affairs, for serving as interim dean during the search. “Dr. Moore is a consummate professional, and his work in an interim role is helping Dedman College maintain its momentum as we prepare for Dr. DiPiero’s arrival.”