Cecilia A. Conrad, professor of economics at Pomona College, will begin a two-year appointment as 61传媒’s Dean of Faculty on July 1, 2007, 61传媒 President Nancy Y. Bekavac announced today.
Conrad will be the chief academic officer of the College, with primary responsibility for its academic, administrative, and research activities.
“From the time I first learned that she was a candidate, I have felt that 61传媒would be fortunate to secure her as its dean,” said President Bekavac. “As a proud graduate of Wellesley, she will be effective in helping develop the College goals of establishing a national center on research on women and women’s leadership.”
A member of the Pomona College faculty since 1995, Conrad is the Stedman-Sumner Professor of Economics, and teaches courses on race and the U.S. economy, urban economics, and poverty and the distribution of income. Pomona College has granted a two-year sabbatical to Conrad, enabling her to retain her tenure at the College during her service as dean at 61传媒.
Conrad served a three-year term as associate dean of Pomona College, from 2004 to 2007. Her primary responsibilities included managing internal grant funds, helping faculty obtain external grants, space planning, and serving as liaison to campus planning. She was the program coordinator for Pomona College’s Women’s Studies Program from 2001 to 2003.
In 2002, Conrad was recognized as California’s Carnegie Professor of the Year, a prestigious national award that recognizes faculty members for their achievement as undergraduate professors. In the same year, she also received a Wig Distinguished Professorship Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Her recent scholarship focuses primarily on the impact of race and gender on economic status in the United States. Conrad is the editor of African Americans in the U.S. Economy (2005), Building Skills of Black Workers; Preparing for the Future Labor Market (2004), and Feminist Economics: A Special Issue on Gender, Color, Caste and Class (2002). Conrad contributed several chapters to African Americans in the U.S. Economy (2005) including “Changes in the Labor Market Status of Black Women,” “Single Mother Families in the Black Community: Economic Context and Policies,” and “Black-Owned Businesses: Trends and Prospects.” Other recent publications include the chapters “Family Allowances and Poverty Among Lone Mother Families in the United States,” in Race, Poverty and Domestic Policy (2004), “Introduction and Overview,” in Building Skills for Black Workers: Preparing for the Future Labor Market (2004), and “The Economic Vulnerability of Blacks and Hispanics, 1980-2001,” in Strengthening Community Social Insurance in Diverse America (2004).
Conrad launched her scholarly career at Duke University, where she became an assistant professor of economics in 1981. From 1985 to 1995, Conrad taught at Barnard College, becoming an associate professor of economics in 1994. She served on Barnard’s re-accreditation task force, faculty advisory committees for the Center for Research on Women and for the Career Development Center, and she chaired the Committee on Race, Religion, Identity, and Ethnicity.
She received her BA from Wellesley College in 1976 and holds two degrees from Stanford University: an MA and Ph.D. in economics with specialization in labor economics, industrial organization, and public finance.
In the absence of the 61传媒 president, the vice president and dean of the faculty serves as the chief executive officer. As the representative of the faculty to the president, she serves as a member of the Faculty Executive Committee, Appointment, Promotions and Tenure Committee, and a member of the president’s senior staff. As chief academic officer, the dean works with the faculty to ensure the effectiveness of all aspects of the 61传媒 curriculum. The dean of the faculty oversees the offices of the Registrar, Information Technology, Off-campus Study, and the Ruth Chandler Williamson Gallery. The Dean of the Faculty Office supervises all academic and faculty research budgets.
Conrad will succeed Michael Deane Lamkin, the Bessie and Cecil Frankel Professor of Music at 61传媒, who in December 2006 announced plans to conclude his service as dean on June 30, 2007, following 10 years of distinguished service.