UNM announces finalists for Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences

Posted: April 25, 2023

Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, James Holloway, has announced the selection of three candidates for the position of Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences.

The following candidates will be coming to campus between May 1^st and 9^th and will meet with faculty, staff, and students during their visits. The full schedule of visits is available on the executive search page.

Alfred J. Lopez

CVfor Alfred J. Lopez
BIO

Alfred J. López is Professor and Head of the School of Interdisciplinary Studies, Director of Global Studies, and Director of Latin American and Latino Studies at Purdue University. He also currently serves as Interim Head of English. He is the author of six books, including José Martí: A Revolutionary Life (U Texas P, 2014), the definitive biography of Cuba’s greatest national hero. His essays have appeared in American Literature, Comparative Literature, Cuban Studies, South Atlantic Quarterly, Modern Fiction Studies, and the Huffington Post, among many other journals and periodicals. López was also the founding editor of The Global South (Indiana UP 2007- ), the leading journal of globalization and global South studies. He is a first-generation college student, and the son of Cuban immigrants.

Jennifer Malat

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BIO

Jennifer Malat earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Minnesota and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Michigan. She spent the first 20 years of her career at the University of Cincinnati, where she achieved the rank of Professor, co-founded and directed a community-engagement initiative called The Cincinnati Project, and served as the inaugural divisional dean for social sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences.

In July 2020, Jennifer moved to Virginia Commonwealth University to serve as the dean of the College of Humanities and Sciences. In that role, she successfully guided the college through the first two years of the pandemic and prioritized improved equity for students, faculty, and staff. In July of 2022, Jennifer began applying her experience and expertise as Associate Vice President for Development at VCU. In this role, she works with senior leaders and key staff to develop a framework that ensures that the next comprehensive campaign reflects the university’s commitment to equity and inclusion.

Thomas Mote

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BIO

Dr. Thomas Mote is a Distinguished Research Professor of Geography and Associate Dean in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia, the nation’s oldest state charter university. He is a scholar in climate science, and has been elected as a Fellow by the American Meteorological Society and the American Association of Geographers. Dr. Mote is also a former Fulbright Fellow in Brazil.

He has received major awards from the University of Georgia for research, teaching, and academic advising. Dr. Mote founded and served as director of the Interdisciplinary Program in Atmospheric Sciences before being appointed as the Head of the Department of Geography in 2011. Since 2016, he has served as Associate Dean, and his current responsibilities include leading faculty affairs and summer programs. He also serves as the divisional dean for the Physical and Mathematical Sciences.