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.