JSU Selects Deans to Oversee Two New Schools

09/30/2016

JSU has promoted two well-respected departmental leaders to serve as deans of the university’s new School of Science and School of Human Services and Social Sciences. 

Dr. Timothy Lindblom, head of the Department of Biology, has been named dean of the School of Science while Dr. Maureen Newton, head of the Department of Sociology and Social Work, has been named dean of the School of Human Services and Social Sciences. According to Dr. Rebecca Turner, provost, the two new deans were chosen from a strong pool of qualified candidates.

"We are pleased that these appointments could be made internally and that we have leadership opportunities like these available for employees at JSU,” Turner said. “I am looking forward to working with these two new deans on our Academic Affairs leadership team." 

The university announced in June that it was reorganizing its four colleges into six schools to create more manageable, marketable and synergistic units. The large College of Arts and Sciences was split into three schools: the School of Arts and Humanities, the School of Science, and the School of Human Services and Social Sciences. With Dean Earl Wade remaining with the School of Arts and Humanities, the university needed to select new deans to oversee its two new schools.

“As JSU moves forward with its new academic structure with six schools, leadership is extremely important to our future success,” said President John M. Beehler. “I am very pleased that we have found two excellent leaders in Maureen Newton and Tim Lindblom to be our founding deans of the School of Human Services and Social Sciences and the School of Science. I am confident they are the right people at the right time to lead these two new academic schools to a bright future that is transformative, innovative and engaged for success.”

Lindblom arrived at JSU earlier this year as professor and head of biology after serving 14 years at Lyon College in Arkansas, where his appointments included chairing the Division of Natural Science and serving as the Willie Dillard Bryan Professor of Biology. He earned a BS in molecular biology at Auburn University in 1993 and a PhD in cellular biology from the University of Georgia in 2000. After graduate school, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Zoology at the University of Wisconsin. He currently serves as managing editor of the “Eastern Biologist” journal and editor of “Aletheia: The Alpha Chi Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship.”

“I’m delighted to be a part of this new school that brings the sciences together,” Lindblom said. “This new organization will help us work more collaboratively and create synergy between many scientific disciplines. JSU is a special place and the JSU family has welcomed me warmly. I look forward to serving the students, faculty and staff in the coming years."

Newton joined the social work faculty at JSU in 1999 and was promoted to associate professor in 2005 and full professor in 2011. She was named director of the Bachelor of Social Work program in 2012 and head of the Department of Sociology and Social Work in 2013. Before going into academia, she worked as a clinical social worker for ten years in the areas of alcohol and drug recovery, home health and hospice care, and HIV/AIDS. She earned a BS in social work from the University of Alabama at Birmingham in 1986, a Master of Social Work from Florida State University in 1987 and a PhD in social work from the University of Tennessee in 1998. She has been the Faculty Athletic Representative at JSU since 1996, working with athletes, administrators, the OVC conference and the NCAA. 

"It is an honor and a privilege to have the opportunity to work with the students, faculty and staff within the new School of Human Services and Social Sciences,” Newton said. “I look forward to supporting our faculty and staff in the continued effort to provide a successful learning environment. We have great programs within our school and our faculty and staff provide innovative and creative opportunities for students to excel in learning and in life. It is my hope that by bringing these departments and programs together in one school we can build upon our success."