Effective April 1, Dr. Jeffery Braden, Interim CHASS Dean for nearly a year, will officially take on the duties of Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. 

Antony Harrison, head of the English department, said he has a very positive outlook for his colleague considering Braden’s personality and performance as interim dean.

“He’ll be a great dean,” Harrison said. “He’s done a good job this year and he’s a very fast learner, which he’s had to be because he’s never been the department head and his only administrative experience was for one year as Associate Dean for Research.”

Harrison said the necessary learning Braden did serving as the interim dean better prepared him to take the position permanently.

“It’s been a kind of steep learning curve, but he’s done a great job of it and he has by far the best interests of the college at heart,” he said.

Jonathan Ocko, head of the history department, echoed Harrison’s sentiments on Braden.

“I think he’s learned a lot on the job,” Ocko said. “One of his best attributes is that he recognizes when he has made a mistake, which is always an attractive quality in an administrator and I think he is deeply committed to the College and its role in the University, so I have very positive expectations for him in the future.”

According to Dr. Douglas Gillan, head of the psychology department, while Braden hasn’t had as much experience as deans are typically expected to have, his participation in other opportunities and jobs have more than prepared him for this job.

“He has a wide variety of experience,” Gillan said. “He started off as an elementary school teacher, he’s worked with chimpanzees, then he got his doctorate and went into academic teaching jobs, and he’s worked [at] Florida, Wisconsin, and San Jose State and here, so he’s had a wide variety of experience that I think will help him a lot.”

Gillan did lament that not all of his experiences directly prepared him for the position of CHASS Dean.

“[I’m not] saying that working with chimpanzees is anything like working with faculty in the college,” Gillan said.

Gillan has worked closely with Braden for three years on projects concerning the psychology department as head of the department, while Braden has served as professor, director, and associate dean of research during this time period, which has allowed him to see Braden’s commitment to the University.

“From the college’s standpoint, we want to continue to move toward being the strongest humanities and social sciences colleges around,” Gillan said. “Our mission is different than that of others –Duke and UNC – in that we tend to be much more applied and out there in the community applying what we learn in the lab and the classroom and I think he is going to [continue to] support that kind of activity.”

Growth in research and graduate programs is a major focus of the University and one that Braden shares according to Provost Larry K. Nielsen.

“Dr. Braden joins a group of outstanding deans that continues to serve NC State’s fundamental missions of quality education, research and service,” said Nielsen. “His experience and vision will serve us well as the University moves forward to face the current economic challenges. I expect the college to make great advances under Dr. Braden’s leadership.”

“As the money comes back [after the current economic recession] we will be looking to build graduate programs and support undergraduate programs,” Braden said.

“The only way a college in the University is treated seriously is if its faculty are very productive in terms of research,” Ocko said. “CHASS has a number of departments that have all won the Outstanding Teaching Award, so we are all deeply committed to being good teachers and to undergraduate education, but on the other hand, the notion is we don’t want to be a service college, that is, we want support for what our faculty does in terms of research as well. There has to be a balance between those two.”

Ocko believes Braden will be able to help the college find this balance.

“I think he is going to be an effective voice for CHASS and continue to support the ability of CHASS faculty to do research as well as to focus on teaching.”