Thomas DiPiero has been named the new dean of Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences. He will also teach in the Departments of English and World Languages and Literatures. He will begin working at SMU Aug. 12.

DiPiero works at the University of Rochester as dean of humanities and interdisciplinary studies in the College of Arts, Sciences and Engineering. He will be replacing William Tsutsui, who is now the president of Hendrix College.

“Dedman College is the academic heart of SMU, home to world-class, innovative teaching and research about the natural world, its people, their creations and institutions,” DiPiero said in a press release. “The college’s departments, programs, and centers are leading the way in creating new knowledge and new fields of inquiry, and I am tremendously eager to work with faculty, students, and staff to extend the intellectual boundaries of our work and the geographic reaches of our discoveries.”

DiPiero previously taught at SMU-in-Taos in 2011 and was a guest lecturer for SMU’s Gilbert Lecture Series in 2008.

See the full press release from SMU News and Communications here.

The Daily Campus will publish a more detailed feature on DiPiero’s appointment.