FAYETTEVILLE -- A history professor at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville has been named dean of its Honors College.
Lynda Coon was chosen to replace Bob McMath, who retired in August. The announcement was made Thursday. She will begin her new duties June 1.
Coon is currently associate dean of fine arts and humanities in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. She is also director of the Religious Studies Program in the college.
There were 47 applicants for the job, said Javier Reyes, vice provost for distance education, who was chairman of the search committee.
Sharon Gaber, UA provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, said she was happy that Coon accepted the position.
"After a national search, we found that we had the best person right here on campus," Gaber said.
Coon wasn't initially an applicant for the job. She applied in December, said UA spokesman Steve Voorhies.
There were three finalists for the position last fall. Each finalist visited the Fayetteville campus in September, participating in interviews and public forums.
Gaber said a national search was held first, then people on campus were invited to apply. In the meantime, two finalists who interviewed in the fall dropped out of the search during the process, she said.
"We kept the search open," Gaber said. "Initially, we said we wanted to see what people from off-campus looked like. Then we invited people on-campus to apply."
Gaber said they were trying to find a perfect match for the Honors College, and Coon already had experience working with students in the Honors College.
"We had people who were good, but maybe not exactly the correct fit," Gaber said. "So we were looking for someone who was the correct fit."
Gaber said Coon was the only person offered the position. Gaber said Coon wasn't specifically asked to apply for the job.
Coon will earn an annual salary of $195,000 per year, Voorhies said. The annual salary for her current position is $144,000.
"I am honored to be selected as the second dean of the Honors College," Coon said through a news release.
She didn't return voice mail or email messages left for her on Thursday.
Gaber thanked the search committee for its "diligent work" and Curt Rom, a UA professor of horticulture, for doing an "outstanding job" as interim dean of the Honors College.
In 1995, Coon helped launch the Honors Humanities Project in the Fulbright College, according to the news release. The project is an interdisciplinary four-semester sequence of courses taught by teams of professors.
Coon has taught many honors courses and mentored nearly two dozen honors students on their thesis projects, according to the release.
In her application letter to the search committee, Coon emphasized the importance of undergraduate research as part of the UA's strategic plan and discussed ways to involve more honors students in ongoing research projects.
Coon also recommended a plan to increase the diversity of the Honors College by recruiting valedictorians at every Arkansas high school and working to bring more underrepresented groups to campus, according to the news release.
"I also envision the Honors College as a place where distinguished visiting scholars could find a home, providing the institution with public lectures, one-on-one tutorials with advanced Honors College Fellows, and outreach to University of Arkansas colleagues," Coon wrote in her letter. "This program would lead to more national and international visibility for the university."
To increase faculty engagement, Coon also suggested creating an advisory board made up of faculty members who have been involved in Honors College programs.
Coon earned a bachelor's degree in history at James Madison University, and her master's and doctoral degrees at the University of Virginia.
She joined the UA faculty in 1990 and became a full professor in 2011. Coon served as chairman of the History Department from 2008 to 2013. She is the author of two books on the history of Christianity in late antiquity and the early Middle Ages.
Coon is a member of the University of Arkansas Teaching Academy and has received three top teaching honors at the university: the Fulbright College Master Teacher Award in 1998, the Charles and Nadine Baum University of Arkansas Teaching Award in 2000 and the University of Arkansas Honors College Distinguished Faculty Award in 2014.
The Honors College was established in 2002 and unites the university's top undergraduate students and professors in a learning environment characterized by discovery, creativity and service. Each year the Honors College awards up to 90 freshman fellowships that provide $70,000 over four years, and more than $1 million in undergraduate research and grants for study abroad.
The Honors College enrolled 892 freshmen last fall, its largest class ever.
While freshman Honors College enrollment has gone up, the overall enrollment dipped in the fall for only the second time since the college was formed in 2002.
Metro on 03/06/2015