Outstanding

Michael E. Latham will join Grinnell College on July 1 as its new dean and vice-president of academic affairs. Latham is currently dean of Fordham University’s 3,600-student Fordham College at Rose Hill in the Bronx, N.Y. He will succeed David Lopatto, a Samuel R. and Marie-Louise Rosenthal Professor of Natural Science and Mathematics, who has been serving as interim dean.

“Michael Latham’s impressive tenure as a liberal arts leader; his scholarship and teaching; his ease in relating to our faculty, staff, and students; and his focused vision for Grinnell’s future made him an outstanding choice to become our new academic leader,” says President Raynard S. Kington.

In addition to serving as dean, Latham — who has his Ph.D. in history from the University of California-Los Angeles — will be a tenured professor of history. He will be charged with helping create an adaptive curriculum and pedagogy; expanding collaborations within and between disciplines; expanding opportunities for students to directly experience the creation, interpretation, and application of knowledge; increasing the role and impact of academic mentoring; and attracting and retaining the best faculty and students from around the world. Latham grew up in Honolulu. He and his wife, Jennifer, have two daughters, Maile, 11, and Anya, 9.