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Oct. 30, 2001
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana University
Vice President for Student Development and Diversity Charlie Nelms has named Lew
Miller as dean of the Honors College and Julia Bondanella as associate dean.
"These new titles reflect not only the symbolic rise of the Honors College as
one of the nation's strongest programs for high-achieving students; these titles
also indicate that Lew and Julia's achievements and responsibilities have grown
significantly over the past few years," Nelms said. Earlier this year, the
Honors Division was renamed as the Honors College.
Miller, a professor of English at IU since 1964, has served as associate and
acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and was the founding director of
the Liberal Arts and Management Program (LAMP) at IU. He headed key IU task
forces that led to significant changes in curriculum and student financial
assistance.
In addition, Miller is a published poet and significant literary critic, as
well as a much-honored teacher, having won some of IU's most prestigious
all-campus teaching awards. Miller's career has featured a wide range of
interests, including a Lilly Fellowship, during which he worked as an account
executive/copywriter at Chiat/Day advertising company, using his experience
there to develop interdisciplinary courses.
As director and now as dean of the Honors College, Miller has overseen major
growth in the honors curriculum, including addition of several experimental
electives which have become popular courses in the mainstream curricula of other
campus units.
The Honors College, which serves nearly 2,400 of IU's 27,000-plus
undergraduates, offers freshman seminars on the "great books" and other topics,
offers several other courses, and works with the academic departments and
schools to create honors diplomas in most of IU's degree programs. In addition,
the Honors College offers an extensive array of extracurricular activities for
honors students, including frequent social gatherings with IU professors and
up-close encounters with distinguished visitors to the campus.
Associate Dean Julia Bondanella, professor of French and Italian, has
overseen the Honors College scholarship program, one of the largest and most
prestigious merit award programs in the state. In addition, she has been a
leader of the national movement that has resulted in the growth and
collaboration of honors programs, serving as president of the National
Collegiate Honors Council. As a recognized expert in honors education, she has
sustained and enhanced the Honors College's "Ideas and Human Experience"
courses, which are unique to IU and which cover a wide range of key ideas and
works.
Bondanella's other accomplishments include the institution of a model honors
community service program, outreach to local elementary schools and work with
both student and alumni advisory boards. She has been an active member of
Bloomington Faculty Council and other campus-wide committees.
"These two fine colleagues have given many years of their talents and time to
the campus in service of our best students. I am proud of the work they have
done and pleased to be able to announce their new titles," Nelms said. "The
Honors College is one of the jewels of the Bloomington campus -- it provides
personable and thoughtful service, especially to freshmen and sophomores, and is
one of the reasons why IU is simply a great place to be."
(George Vlahakis, 812-855-0846,
gvlahaki@indiana.edu )