Hamilton College names Keen dean of faculty

CLINTON, N.Y. — Hamilton College announced it has appointed Suzanne Keen as VP of academic affairs and dean of faculty.

She is currently a member of the faculty and dean of the college at Washington and Lee University.

As Hamilton College’s chief academic officer, Keen will report to David Wippman, president, and serve as a member of the college’s senior staff. Her selection includes a faculty appointment in Hamilton’s Literature and Creative Writing Department and is effective July 1, 2018, the college said in a news release.

Keen began her teaching career at Yale University in 1990. Five years later, she accepted a position as assistant professor of English at Washington and Lee. She was promoted to associate professor in 1997, professor in 2001, and was named the Thomas H. Broadus Professor of English in 2005. Keen was acting chair of the Department of English in 2003-04, and chair from 2010 to 2012. She served as interim dean of the college in 2012-13 before assuming the position permanently in 2013.

In her current role at Washington and Lee, Keen represents the interests of 21 departments, 12 programs, 175 faculty members, and 49 staff members in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Her responsibilities include assessment of student learning outcomes; operating budgets for the college; stewardship of endowed funds; initiatives for enhanced global learning; hiring, mentoring, and evaluating faculty; recruiting and retaining women and diverse faculty and staff; representing the university’s academic program to external constituencies; strategic planning; and faculty tenure and promotion.

“Suzanne is an outstanding scholar and teacher with broad experience in academic administration,” Wippman said in the release. “She works collaboratively and strategically to advance academic priorities — always guided by the best interests of students. Her experience in faculty recruitment and development is especially attractive since we are in the midst of hiring the next generation of teacher-scholars on College Hill.”

Keen received her bachelor’s degree in 1984 in studio art and in English literature from Brown University. She was awarded a master’s degree in creative writing from Brown in 1986, and earned a second master’s degree in 1987 and then her Ph.D. in 1990, both in English language and literature from Harvard University.

Hamilton College said it has a full-time faculty of 186 who teach in one or more of Hamilton’s 56 areas of study, including 43 concentrations. It enrolls 1,850 students from 49 states and 49 countries.

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