For Immediate Release

Contact: Barbara K. Laskin or Doug Stone
March 29, 2005
(651) 696-6203

Diane P. Michelfelder named provost

It is with great pleasure that I announce the appointment of Dr. Diane P. Michelfelder as the next Provost and Dean of the Faculty at Macalester College.

Michelfelder received her A.B. degree from Bryn Mawr College and her Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Texas at Austin. A philosopher with a special interest in ethics, aesthetics and the philosophy of technology, she is the co-editor of Applied Ethics in American Society and Dialogue and Deconstruction: The Gadamer-Derrida Encounter, which was named one of the "Outstanding Philosophy Books of the Year" by Choice magazine. Her essays, reviews and translations have been widely published in books and journals including the Journal of Social Philosophy; Rethinking Nature: Essays in Environmental Philosophy, Ethics and Information Technology; and Readings in the Philosophy of Technology.

At present Michelfelder is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Indiana State University. Previously she served as Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Philosophy Department at California Polytechnic State University and as Professor of Philosophy and Department Head in Languages and Philosophy at Utah State University.

Michelfelder is a gifted and energetic academic leader with a passionate commitment to the liberal arts and a history of attending as both a scholar and an administrator to the social dimensions of our collective work. I know that you will join me in welcoming her to the Macalester community and in thanking the Provost Search Committee for their outstanding service to the college.

Michelfelder's appointment will begin on July 1, 2005. She will succeed Dan Hornbach, who will go on sabbatical leave and then return to the Biology Department after six years of outstanding service as Provost.--Brian Rosenberg

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