CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Venetria K. Patton will become the Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign effective Aug. 2, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.
Patton is currently the head of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies at Purdue University. She has held several leadership roles at Purdue including Provost Fellow for Diversity and Inclusion and director of the African American Studies and Research Center. She previously was an associate professor of English and of African American studies at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
“The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is foundational to the mission of this great university,” said Andreas C. Cangellaris, the vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost of the Urbana-Champaign campus. “Professor Patton has a clear vision for advancing the college. With her rich and strong record of academic leadership, her enthusiasm for bolstering the college’s excellence in teaching, research, innovation and engagement, and her proven record of commitment to inclusive excellence, she will be a strong and effective leader.”
Patton’s teaching and research focus on African American and diasporic women’s literature. She is the author of two monographs: “The Grasp That Reaches Beyond the Grave: The Ancestral Call in Black Women’s Texts” and “Women in Chains: The Legacy of Slavery in Black Women’s Fiction.” She is co-editor of “Double-Take: A Revisionist Harlem Renaissance Anthology” and editor of “Background Readings for Teachers of American Literature.” Her essays have appeared in numerous Black studies and women’s studies journals.
She is the recipient of the Kenneth T. Kofmehl Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award at Purdue and the Annis Chaikin Sorensen Award for distinguished teaching in the arts and humanities and the College of Arts Distinguished Teaching Award, both from Nebraska, Lincoln. She holds a B.A. in English from the University of La Verne and an M.A. and Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Riverside.
Patton was selected after a national search headed by Vikram Amar, the dean of the College of Law. Gene Robinson, who has led LAS as interim dean since July 2020, will resume leadership of the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.
LAS is the academic home of roughly one-third of the faculty and students at the university. With more than 1,500 classes offered each semester, more than 99% of undergraduate students take a class in LAS during their time at Illinois.
Editor’s notes: Venetria Patton will be available for media questions by phone July 28 from 11 a.m. to noon., CDT, at 765-496-2797. For more information, contact Robin Kaler, associate chancellor for public affairs, 217-333-5010, rkaler@illinois.edu.
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