PROVO, Utah (May 11, 2013)—BYU Professor J. Scott Miller was announced as the incoming dean of the College of Humanities on May 11 by the university administration.
“I am pleased to inform you that following a careful and deliberate search process, Professor Scott Miller has accepted the appointment as the dean of the College of Humanities. He will begin his five-year term as dean on June 1,” Academic Vice President Brent W. Webb said in an announcement to faculty and staff on Monday.
“Dr. Miller received strong support from the faculty search committee, and he has the full confidence of the BYU administration. He brings a combination of experiences that prepare him well for this new responsibility,” Webb said. “I am confident he will continue the legacy of outstanding leadership by his predecessors in the dean’s office. Scott is looking forward to working with you in the further development of the college.”
Miller is a professor of Japanese and comparative literature. He received his B.A. from BYU in comparative literature and later earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in East Asian studies from Princeton University. Miller was an associate professor of Japanese at Colgate University prior to joining the faculty at BYU in 1994. He has also served as Asian Studies coordinator in the David M. Kennedy Center, associate dean of Undergraduate Education and Honors Program director, and as co-director of BYU’s International Cinema program.
Outgoing Dean John Rosenberg has worked closely with Miller as chair of the Asian & Near Eastern Languages Department.
“Scott has served well as a two-term department chair and as an associate dean of Honors. He is a true intellectual with interests that bridge east and west,” said Rosenberg. “His judgement is sound and his demeanor is kind, and I very much look forward to him being my dean.”
Webb spoke of Dean Rosenberg’s service to the college during Convocation services on April 24.
“His eighteen years of leadership in the dean’s office have been marked by a deep commitment to the mission of the university to provide the finest disciplinary education possible in an environment of faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, said Webb. “While humanities elsewhere report experiencing something of an identity crisis, this college – its students, faculty and programs – has never been stronger or more confident than under the leadership of its exceptional dean. Only rarely could it be said of deans at other institutions what I now observe of Dean Rosenberg; that he is truly beloved of his faculty colleagues in the College of Humanities.”
—photo courtesy of Jeffrey Cornwall photography