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SMU’s Dedman College Gets New Dean

Southern Methodist University has named Thomas DiPiero as the new dean of SMU’s Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. DiPiero, who begins Aug. 12, will be a professor in the Departments of English and World Languages and Literature.

DiPiero comes from the University of Rochester where he’s dean of humanities and interdisciplinary studies in the College of Arts, Sciences and Engineering. He’s also professor of French and Visual and Cultural Studies there.

He fills the vacancy left by William Tsutsui, who resigned in May to lead Hendrix College in Arkansas. DiPiero was a visiting faculty member at SMU-in-Taos in 2011 and guest lectured at SMU’s Gilbert Lecture Series in 2008. He has authored or co-edited three books.

DiPiero has a Ph.D. in Romance Studies from Cornell University, a Master of Arts of from Cornell University in Romance Studies and a Masters of Arts from Ohio State University in Romance Languages and Literatures. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in French from Ohio State University.

In his new role, DiPiero will be overseeing the largest of SMU’s seven colleges and schools, which includes 307 full-time faculty members.

Stella M. Chávez is KERA’s immigration/demographics reporter/blogger. Her journalism roots run deep: She spent a decade and a half in newspapers – including seven years at The Dallas Morning News, where she covered education and won the Livingston Award for National Reporting, which is given annually to the best journalists across the country under age 35.