Farewell and Thank You to Interim Dean Kathy Sloan

Often, when the word interim is added to the title of a leader it means that things under their watch might remain in a liminal or in-between state, and progress might pause.

But that is certainly not the case when it comes to Kathy Sloan, who has served University of Arkansas’ Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences as Interim Dean since August 2022.

For Sloan, being asked to lead Fulbright College was a homecoming, because as a historian, the college has been her academic home and family since 2004.

Fulbright College is the place where she grew as a teacher, scholar, mentor, and ultimately as a leader who has pushed the college forward during a pivotal, transitional time.

And it is a place where colleagues and college constituents alike said she has made a tremendous positive impact, in particular over the past two years.

For example, under Sloan’s guidance and leadership, incredible reorganizations happened to better support the college’s faculty, staff, and students, and increase the college’s vitality, including:

• Updating the college’s Associate Dean’s roles to depart from the team’s previous alignment with the college’s four academic disciplines, and instead modeling their roles on a traditional provost’s office configuration – with each leader focusing on specific areas and types of needs of the college, which has provided more equity and overall better service across the college
• Likewise, updating and staffing other service areas of the college, including the Finance, Human Resources, and Communications and Creative Services teams to better serve the college
• Additionally, successfully overseeing a new partnership between the college and the Division of Advancement, which brought in new team members to set the college up well for future fundraising success
• Successfully bringing in multiple new college leaders, including top leaders for the Pryor Center and the School of Art, as well as more than 13 new department chairs and emerging leaders across the natural sciences, fine arts, humanities and social sciences

During Sloan’s tenure, Fulbright College also increased tuition revenue, awarded 1,269 scholarships for a total of about $3.4 million in student support, and awarded nearly 4,000 degrees and certificates to students and new graduates.

Additionally, this year alone under Sloan’s leadership, a few of the college’s many accomplishments include:

• Having three Fulbright College students win the highly competitive Goldwater Scholarship, considered the nation’s preeminent scholarship for students in STEM
• 10 students being selected as semi-finalists for the Fulbright U.S. Student Scholarship Program
• A team of Biological Scientists discovering a new virus now known as the Ozark virus
• The Inspirational Chorale making its performance debut at the famed Carnegie Hall
• One of our Anthropologists being chosen as the first-ever U of A member of the highly-selective National Academy of Sciences – a distinguished group of scholars founded by President Abraham Lincoln
• One of our Historians being named both a 2024 Pulitzer Prize finalist and a 2024 Bancroft Prize winner – which are among the most notable awards in the field of American history
• One of our Political Scientists being named a 2024 Carnegie Fellow – an honor that comes with $200,000 to fund research on polarization in American society
• One of our Physicists being awarded not one, but two back-to-back Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) awards
• One of our Chemists being inducted as a fellow in the exclusive American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering

The college also launched several new degrees and programs, was part of the interdisciplinary team that broke ground on a new one-of-its-kind U of A semiconductor facility, and celebrated the first-ever graduates of our multi-college, interdisciplinary undergraduate Data Science Program.

And, the college launched its Arkansas Center for Black Music, and welcomed the first cohort of its Master of Music in Black Sacred Music degree program – which is the only program of its kind in the United States.

As Interim Dean, Sloan has also been responsible for serving more than 7,800 students exploring, studying, and earning degrees with us in the fine arts, humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences.

And that all spans across three schools, 16 departments, and more than 43 academic programs, institutes, and research centers.

“And even beyond – when you consider that Fulbright College is also home to nearly 50 percent of all U of A alumni who live, work, and make a difference around the world,” said Associate Dean Stephanie Schulte.

“All this to say – Kathy, you have made an incredible difference, and Fulbright College is all the better for it. On behalf of the entire Dean’s Office team, we cannot thank you enough for your leadership, guidance, contributions, achievements, and service,” she added.

As Brian E. Raines takes on the role of Dean of Fulbright College on July 1, Sloan will head back to the faculty of the Department of History and plans to begin a new research project.

“We wish you all the best in your next endeavors and thank you so much, Kathy, for being such a terrific leader of Fulbright College during this important time,” Raines said.

“You’ve created a foundation for excellence in Fulbright College, and I am honored to follow in your footsteps and build upon this great work,” he added.