Gennie VanBeek, associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and associate professor of education, will serve as interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences starting Oct. 1. VanBeek, who holds a Ph.D. from Oregon State University, has been teaching in the Linfield Department of Education since 2008, focusing her research on students at the margins of public education and engaging actively in professional development opportunities for an administrative career.
“It is an honor to serve my gifted CAS colleagues in a time of transition,” VanBeek said. “I am looking forward to nurturing the vibrant liberal arts core of Linfield and creating a reinvigorated sense of community and joy amongst CAS faculty and staff after several years of pandemic isolation.”
Joe Wilferth, appointed as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 2020, has accepted the position of provost and vice president for academic affairs at Converse University in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He will remain at Linfield through late September, then begin his appointment at Converse on Oct. 1.
“It’s been a real honor to serve as the inaugural dean of the College of Arts and Sciences,” Wilferth said. “I’ve enjoyed the support of Linfield’s leadership team, and it’s been exciting to collaborate with our staff and faculty to build something wonderful. I’m very proud of our accomplishments, particularly our clear focus on student support and student success. We have launched new undergraduate programs, revised and updated existing academic programs, added a new graduate program that is already successful, participated in the development of a new institutional strategic plan, hired outstanding new colleagues who ensure Linfield’s very bright future, and more. And we’ll open the new science complex before the end of this calendar year.”
Linfield University is an independent, nonprofit university with two physical campuses in McMinnville and Portland, Oregon, and an eCampus. Since 1858, Linfield has connected a traditional liberal arts experience with practical education through 57 majors, including wine studies, sport management and nursing. Linfield also offers interdisciplinary graduate degrees in business, nursing, education and sports sciences. For three years running, U.S. News & World Report magazine has named Linfield one of the top liberal arts colleges in the nation when it comes to social mobility. Thirty-two percent of Linfield students are first-generation college students, and more than one-third are U.S. students of color. Linfield competes in the NCAA Division III Northwest Conference. Learn more at www.linfield.edu.
