Longtime
faculty member appointed college dean
By
Elysse James
On-line Forty-Niner
The
College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
at Cal State Long Beach has a new dean,
Laura Kingsford, who has been a CSULB faculty
member since 1980.
“I
have lots of mixed emotions,” Kingsford
said. “We’ve had outstanding
deans so I feel a real challenge. [The college
has] become even better. It’s exciting.
There are a lot of wonderful opportunities.”
Kingsford
was named interim dean last May following
the death of Dean Glenn M. Nagel.
Kingsford
said she intends to increase community awareness
of the sciences through interactive programs.
Currently, the college is working with the
Aquarium of the Pacific.
“I have spent many hours thinking
about where we need to go. The sciences
aren’t as well known as, say, the
arts,” Kingsford said. “It’s
not something the community is aware of
much. We are starting to do that with the
aquarium, finding ways to let the community
know more about us so we can provide services
to the community. We have a lot of opportunities
to connect with the community. The new buildings
will help that.”
Alan
Miller, chairman of the department of biological
sciences said Kingsford’s movement
to the position of dean was not a surprise.
Previous to her appointment as interim dean,
she was considering finding an opening for
a dean at another school. Her job responsibilities
have not changed since becoming dean, though
now she can take actions such as hire an
assistant.
“If
you consider it a placeholder it would be
different. When I became interim dean I
set short and long term goals to move the
college forward as if I were dean,”
Kingsford said. “What I was doing
there is no different. In the back of my
mind I knew there are some things you can’t
do. It’s a privilege to be in this
leadership position.”
Kingsford
said she wants to show students the relevance
of what they are learning within the world
around them. She also hopes to increase
student retention and encourage the more
than 2,100 students of the college to go
on to graduate school. “We are all
very happy about this decision,” said
Jeane Bright, assistant to the dean.
Kingsford
earned a bachelor’s of science degree
in biology at Boise State University in
Idaho and a doctorate in microbiology from
the University of Utah. She previously served
three terms as chairwoman of the biological
sciences department at CSULB. As dean, Kingsford
is the top administrator in charge of the
undergraduate and graduate programs, as
well as research and funding.
“This
college is really moving forward. I’m
building on at lot of what was already happening,”
Kingsford said. “My goals include
academic excellence under the graduate program,
strengthen project funding for research,
increase the access of high school students
to science and retention. Just building
on what we have, we don’t have to
change.”
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