Kathryn Sloan, who currently serves as the interim vice provost for academic affairs, has been named the interim dean for the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, effective August 1, 2022. 

Sloan takes over for Todd Shields, who served as dean of the Fulbright College since 2014 and has accepted the position of chancellor at Arkansas State University.

For the previous month, Sloan served as the interim vice provost for academic affairs but is now returning to the college where she began at the U of A nearly 20 years ago.

“Fulbright College has been my academic home since 2004,” Sloan said. “It is a place where I grew as a teacher, scholar, mentor, and leader. I am delighted to return as interim dean and collaborate with its stellar leaders, faculty, staff, and students to advance its mission. I thank Provost Terry Martin for his confidence in my ability to lead the college in this important time.”

From October 2019 until June of 2022, Sloan was the vice provost for faculty affairs and was responsible for advancing the strategic recruitment, retention, evaluation and professional development of university faculty and worked with faculty concerning grievances and complaints. Under her leadership, the Office of Faculty Affairs implemented a suite of faculty development programming, including peer mentoring circles, the Bridge program, and a workshop series on mentoring graduate students and postdocs.

“Kathy is an excellent teacher, scholar and one of the most well-respected faculty members on our campus,” Interim Provost Terry Martin said. “Her experience and service will provide stability to the Fulbright College during this transition, and I know she will be a great leader to help continue to advance its mission.”

With more than 20 years of experience as a faculty member, with 18 years spent at the U of A. She has served as associate dean for the humanities in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, chair of the Department of History, and director of graduate studies and associate chair in the Department of History. She is the author of three books on Latin American history, most recently Suicide and the Social Imaginary in Modern Mexico published by the University of California Press in 2017. She also serves as a reviewer for the U.S. Department of Education's Fulbright and area studies fellowships.

Additionally, Sloan was instrumental in launching the Arkansas Humanities Center as its inaugural director and assembled a cross-campus team to start Arkansas Stories of Place and Belonging, an innovative public scholarship and engagement series funded by a Chancellor's Innovation & Collaboration Grant that has brought together scholar-experts, students and the general public to engage in informed conversations about the region's history of human interaction.

Sloan holds her bachelor's degree in psychology from Kansas State University and master's degrees in business administration and Latin American studies and a doctorate in Latin American history from the University of Kansas.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas’ economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the top 3% of U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.