Burgess named founding dean of College of Arts and Sciences
Kim Chaudoin |
Dr. Norma Bond Burgess has been named founding dean of Lipscomb University’s new College of Arts and Sciences effective Aug. 1, Provost Craig Bledsoe announced today.
Burgess comes to Lipscomb from Chatham University, Pittsburgh, where she was founding dean of the College of Graduate Studies. In that role, she was responsible for every aspect of graduate education, including new program development, faculty evaluation, budgetary management, academic management, and faculty and support services.
“The selection of Dr. Burgess followed a nationwide search that produced several outstanding candidates, which is a tribute to Lipscomb’s growing academic reputation. I am confident that Dr. Burgess will build this new college into one of the premier arts and sciences colleges in the country,” Bledsoe said. “Dr. Burgess joins a strong team of academic leaders and will immediately make a significant impact on the quality of academics at Lipscomb.”
Lipscomb President L. Randolph Lowry said Burgess is a proven leader in academics and will play a key role in shaping the university’s academic structure.
“We are thrilled with the appointment of Dr. Norma Burgess as the founding dean of this new college. Every strong liberal arts institution has a strong emphasis on arts and sciences. Dean Burgess has experience growing programs with great reputations, which makes her an excellent choice to build the new College of Arts and Sciences at Lipscomb. She brings with her a wealth of academic leadership experience and enthusiasm that will continue to elevate the academic reputation of Lipscomb,” said Lowry.
Burgess said she looks forward to the challenge of building a new college at Lipscomb.
“I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to put the pieces of this new entity together and to work with the faculty and students to develop the new college,” said Burgess. “The experiences that I have had throughout my career have prepared me for this new role. Lipscomb offers the opportunity to influence students in a positive way and in a setting that I have not been able to do before. Lipscomb values its people.”
From 1993-2007 at Syracuse University, Burgess earned the rank of full professor and chair of the Department of Child and Family Studies and was academic co-chair of the Bachelor of Professional Studies program. She has also served as a visiting professor for the University of the Aegean in Rhodes, Greece, and as a member of the summer faculty at Cornell University. Dr. Burgess is a widely published scholar with a focus on work and family and leadership development.
Burgess has served as chair of the women’s caucus of the American Association of Higher Education and is currently a board member at-large of the National Council on Family Relations. She is co-author of African American Women: An Ecological Perspective and numerous articles and other writings on work and family life, leadership, faculty development and workplace diversity.
Burgess holds a doctorate in sociology and a master’s degree in public affairs from North Carolina State University as well as a bachelor of arts degree in political science from the University of Tennessee. She is a native of Stanton, Tenn.
Lipscomb’s new College of Arts and Sciences is an outgrowth of a reorganized six-college structure that combines the Colleges of Arts and Humanities and a majority of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences. Other colleges in the Lipscomb system include the College of Bible and Ministry, the College of Business, the College of Education, the Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering and the College of Pharmacy.