University of New Mexico Provost Chaouki Abdallah announced today his decision to name Dean of Arts & Sciences Mark Peceny to a term of five years after an overwhelming majority of Arts and Sciences faculty voted in his favor.

Provost Abdallah commented, “It has been a pleasure to work with Mark in his capacity as dean and I am extraordinarily pleased that his department chairs, directors, and faculty are supportive of his performance in this important position.”
Peceny was originally selected in July of 2011 following an internal search that brought forward four finalists for consideration.  Peceny’s first year as dean was marked by an emphasis on hiring additional faculty.  He was successful in leading the hire of an extremely diverse group of 59 tenured & tenure track faculty.  Twenty four lecturer positions were also filled in Arts & Sciences.

Mark Peceny graduated from the University of Michigan in 1984 with a BA in Political Science and earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1993.  He joined the University of New Mexico as an assistant professor in 1992.  He was promoted to full professor and named chair of the Political Science department in 2005.  His research examines democracy, dictatorship, and war, with special attention to the promotion of democracy during U.S. military interventions.  His book, Democracy at the Point of Bayonets, was published by Penn State Press and his research has appeared in the American Political Science Review, the flagship journal of his discipline and in International Organization, the top journal in the subfield of international relations.  He has won University-wide and College-wide teaching awards at UNM.
Dean Peceny’s five year term will span 2011-2016.