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| Wendy Larson started her first term as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences this year. |
As a professor of Chinese literature, I am always on the lookout for what is brilliant, quirky, and controversial in fiction across the globe. The theme of this issue of Cascade (“It’s elemental”) immediately brought to mind Arthur Conan Doyle’s eccentric detective Sherlock Holmes and his sidekick, to whom he often quipped: “It’s elementary, my dear Watson.” What was elementary to Holmes was impossible for poor Watson — and usually the reader — to comprehend.
Bits of academic evidence, whether they be for a literary argument or a scientific hypothesis, can sometimes seem insignificant. However, to those who are able to see the big picture, imagine how the parts may fit together, and understand why the puzzle is worth pursuing, every hour spent combing over the details is well spent.
Professor Stephen Shoemaker’s skill in the Coptic language (and seven others) allows him to investigate the “nooks and crannies” of religious history. Anika Copp scours ancient texts for just one Latin word. Jenny Dahl, a graduate student in Jim Hutchison’s chemistry lab, studies the optical properties of gold nanoparticles.
To these student and faculty researchers, each element is part of a complex and fascinating whole. In my new position as interim dean, I am gaining a deeper understanding of how much the College of Arts and Sciences, in both its diversity and its particularity, is also greater than the sum of its parts.
As dean of the college and a university leader for more than thirteen years, Joe Stone well understood that basic principle. It has been only a few months since he left his position to return to the Department of Economics, but I already sorely miss his intelligence and bold voice. Joe set in motion and guided many initiatives that have expanded and improved the college — the Society of College Scholars, the Professional Distinctions Program, and collaborative ventures between the college and the professional schools. As his fellow social scientists might note, Joe was able to make connections at the “macro” and “micro” levels, and recognize programmatic opportunities alongside individual needs and benefits. Joe’s tireless work on behalf of undergraduate education has touched many lives. As I begin this academic year as dean, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to him.
At the University of Oregon, faculty, students, and staff all contribute basic elements to our mission, balancing close attention to their role with an understanding of our larger goals. CAS alumni and donors are also a critical piece of our educational success. The construction progress on our new Integrative Science Complex is a testament to how both public and private support are necessary in our quest to sustain and further develop excellence (pg. 6). Lorry Lokey has been extraordinarily generous in making that project possible. However, as we approach the last two years of the University of Oregon’s Transforming Lives campaign, I want to underscore how each gift — like each detail in Doyle’s mysteries — has been significant. More than 12,000 individuals have played a part in the college’s campaign thus far, and the university faculty has given more than $2.6 million to date. Each and every contribution has an impact — thank you!
AT A GLANCE: DEAN WENDY LARSON
Previous Appointments
• Member of the East Asian Languages and Literatures (EALL) faculty since 1985; full professor since 1997
• Associate Dean of Humanities 2002–2006
• EALL Department Head 1992–95; 1996–97
• Fulbright research-teaching grant: University of Aarhus in Denmark, 1991
Education
• Ph.D. and M.A. in Oriental Languages from UC Berkeley
• B.A., Department of Chinese, University of Oregon (Phi Beta Kappa)
Professional Highlights
• Marta Sutton Weeks Senior Fellow, Stanford Humanities Center, 2005–06
• China Council Member, Association for Asian Studies, 2005–07
• Author/editor of five books including Gender in Motion: Divisions of Labor and Cultural Change in Late Imperial and Modern China, 2005
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