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Dean McCord announces new leadership roles in four College of Liberal Arts and Sciences jobs

July 18, 2012
Judy Ledgerwood

Judy Ledgerwood

Christopher McCord, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is announcing leadership changes at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), as well as in Women’s Studies, the Department of English and LGBT Studies.

McCord said anthropology professor Judy Ledgerwood has been selected to serve as CSEAS director.

One of only nine federally designated national resource centers for Southeast Asian studies, the center is a hub of scholarship, boasting nearly 30 faculty associates and affiliates.

The center coordinates an undergraduate minor and a graduate concentration in studies of the diverse sub-region of Asia. Additionally, the center is known internationally for having developed SEAsite, an interactive Web site that offers language and culture training programs in Burmese, Indonesian, Khmer, Lao, Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese.

“Dr. Ledgerwood brings to the position a strong background as a Southeast Asian scholar and teacher and as an administrator,” McCord says. “She has worked actively in Cambodia, has led study abroad programs to the region and has secured external funding for a variety of projects.”

Ledgerwood’s administrative experience includes a term as chair of the Department of Anthropology. Her duties will begin Aug. 1. History professor Trude Jacobsen, who has been serving as interim director, will return to her role as the center’s assistant director.

Meanwhile, Amy Levin is transitioning from her long service as director of the Women’s Studies Program to serve as chair of the Department of English.

“Dr. Levin has served as director of Women’s Studies since 1996, and during that period has advanced the mission of the program through her leadership, her scholarship, her teaching and her service,” McCord says.

Levin’s contributions have been recognized in a variety of ways, including the 2011 Wilma Stricklin Award for Improving the Campus Climate for Women at NIU. Levin began her new duties July 1.

Sociology professor Kristen Myers succeeds Levin as Women’s Studies director. Myers has served as the coordinator of the LGBT Studies program, as director of Graduate Studies in Sociology and as treasurer of Sociologists for Women in Society. Myers began her duties as director Monday.

Communication professor Rob Brookey will take over as coordinator of LGBT Studies. Brookey is an accomplished scholar in rhetoric and public communication who studies the media industry. He will begin his duties Aug. 16.