Jacqueline Dixon named interim dean of College of Arts and Sciences

Exerpted from e-Veritas

Jacqueline Dixon, a senior associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences who has served on the University of Miami faculty since 1992, has been named interim dean of the college.

Executive Vice President and Provost Thomas J. LeBlanc announced that the longtime faculty member will lead the University’s largest academic unit until a successor is found for Dean Michael R. Halleran, who announced in March that he will step down to become provost at the College of William & Mary. Dixon will assume her new post effective July 1 and will serve until a new dean is named.

“After extensive consultation with faculty and academic leadership in the College of Arts and Sciences, I am convinced that Jackie Dixon is the right person to lead the college during the coming year,” LeBlanc said. “She has the respect of her faculty colleagues, deep roots at the University of Miami, and a wealth of experience with cross-disciplinary and cross-school programs. I look forward to working with her to maintain the momentum of the College of Arts and Sciences.”

Dixon, a professor of geological sciences in the college, was hired in 1992 in Marine Geology and Geophysics at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and held a joint appointment until 2006. She is the former director of the undergraduate program of the Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy. In fall 2006 Halleran appointed her senior associate dean for the life and physical sciences.

In addition to the undergraduate program in Ecosystem Science and Policy, Dixon played a leading role in implementing a new program called PRISM (Advanced Program for Integration of Science and Mathematics), a university-wide initiative to recruit top science students and create a community of scholars focused on enriched science education. She is on the steering committee for SEEDS (Scientists and Engineers Expanding Diversity and Success), an NSF- and University-funded program to promote women and diversity in science across the Coral Gables, Miller School, and Rosenstiel campuses.

Dixon received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford University and a Ph.D. from California Institute of Technology. She received an Early Career Development award from the National Science Foundation for excellence in research and education, and is internationally recognized for her research on the Earth’s deep carbon dioxide and water budgets. She focuses on the role of carbon dioxide and water in magmatic processes as they affect generation of magmas, deep Earth cycling of volatiles, and explosivity of volcanic eruptions. Dixon’s research takes her and her students to Hawaii, Iceland, the Galapagos, and mid-ocean ridges around the world.

“The departure of Dean Halleran is a loss for us all,” Dixon said. “It is an honor to be asked to take the helm while we search for his successor. Despite the challenging economic climate, I hope to maintain the momentum he established in improving the educational quality we offer UM students, improving the visibility and quality of our research enterprise, and promoting the College of Arts and Sciences as the essential core of UM.”

August 1, 2009