Athens, Ga. – Linda Kirk Fox, associate dean and professor of the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University, and associate director of Washington State University Extension, has been named the new dean of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Georgia following a national search. As dean, she also will serve as associate director of Georgia Cooperative Extension and associate director of the Georgia Agricultural Experiment Stations.
“Dr. Fox will bring to this campus what all new leaders bring-a set of fresh ideas, some new ways of carrying out our mission and an energy that will benefit the entire campus,” said UGA President Michael F. Adams. “I am confident she will lead the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, already one of our fastest-growing academic units, to even greater success. I look forward to working with her.”
The appointment was announced today by Jere Morehead, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, and becomes effective in early July.
“The FACS search committee and the university’s Executive Search group provided three outstanding finalists,” Morehead said. “I am delighted that Dr. Fox will become the next dean of this great college. She has the background and vision to provide excellent leadership.”
Fox has been at Washington State since 2002 and before that was a faculty member and extension specialist at the University of Idaho, where she also served as director of the School of Family and Consumer Sciences from 1999-2002. She holds three degrees from Oregon State University, including a doctorate in family resource management.
“I’m honored and excited to join the faculty and administration of the University of Georgia,” Fox said. “It is the reputation for excellence across the departments of the College of Family and Consumer Sciences that attracted me to apply and accept this opportunity to lead the college.”
The new dean succeeds Laura Jolly, who was named vice president for instruction at UGA last September. Anne Sweaney, a department head and longtime faculty member in the College of Family and Consumer Sciences, has served as interim dean since September 2010.
“Anne Sweaney has provided exemplary service as the interim dean,” Morehead said. “She is one of the most talented and dedicated faculty members I know at UGA.”
Sweaney said she was pleased with the choice of Fox as the college’s seventh dean. “She has the skills and energy to lead our college to the next level of success,” Sweaney said.
The UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences includes more than 60 faculty members in four academic departments: child and family development, foods and nutrition, housing and consumer economics, and textiles, merchandising and interiors.
More than 1,500 students are enrolled in the college and have access to numerous resources to enhance their educational experience, including leadership development programs and opportunities to conduct undergraduate research and participate in service-learning and study abroad.
