Usselman to Step Down as Chair of History and Sociology; Royster Announces National Chair Search

Posted October 19, 2016

The Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts will be conducting a national search for a new school chair in the School of History and Sociology (HSOC).

Currrent HSOC chair, Steve Usselman, will step down at the end of this academic year, returning to a full time role as a professor focusing on teaching and research.

Ivan Allen College Dean Jacqueline Royster lauded Usselman saying, “I give my whole-hearted thanks to Steve Usselman, who, by the end of this year, will have served a term and an additional year as chair. His accomplishments as chair are manifold.” 

Royster noted the following highlights from Usselman’s terms serving as the HSOC chair:

• He secured a higher level of funding for doctoral students.
• He garnered more research support for faculty with regard to both time and money. 
• He pursued various forms of recognition for faculty accomplishments. 
• He led a thorough curriculum review and faculty workload review. 
• He provided support, attention, and leadership in the development of new programs (e.g., Sports, Society and Technology; the Social Justice Minor (in collaboration with the School of Literature, Media, and Communication); and Asian Studies (as a cross-college collaboration).
• He produced and led a successful Academic Program Review process for the school.
• He increased faculty numbers with strong hires in both history and sociology.
• He led the process for changing the name of the school from HTS to HSOC, adding exponentially to the ability of the school to send clearer messages about identity and focus to incoming students.
• He developed a new website and promotional materials for HSOC, showcasing the high performance of programs, faculty, students, alumni, and staff.
• He participated actively on the Ivan Allen College Leadership Team in identifying best practices for the college and executing them at the school level.  

Royster announced the search committee for appointing a new HSOC chair:

Search Committee Chair: Kaye Husbands Fealing (chair of SPP)

HSOC Committee Members: Dan Amsterdam, Jennifer Singh, William Winders, Laura Bier, Mary McDonald, Douglas Flamming, LaDonna Bowen-Chavers

Ivan Allen College Committee Member: Carol Senf (LMC)

Georgia Tech (at large) Committee Member: James Budd (chair, School of Industrial Design, College of Design) 

“On behalf of the School of History and Sociology, the Ivan Allen College, and Georgia Tech broadly, we thank this group of colleagues in advance for their invaluable service in making sure that our search for HSOC leadership is a successful one,” Royster said. 

The ad for the position may be viewed at http://www.iac.gatech.edu/about/open-position