KNOXVILLE — The University of Tennessee today named Carolyn Hodges as the dean of the Graduate School, effective January 1.
Carolyn Hodges Hodges currently serves as the associate dean for academic personnel of UT’s College of Arts and Sciences, a position she has held since 2004.
“Dr. Hodges has had an exemplary academic career,” said UT Provost Robert C. Holub. “Her background is ideal for the critical work that she will face in this new position.”
As the dean of the Graduate School, Hodges will be charged with overseeing all aspects of the school, including the recruitment of graduate students as well as improving the quality of graduate programs at UT.
“[Hodges] will have broad authority over the direction and composition of graduate education on the Knoxville campus,” said Holub.
Increasing diversity in the graduate student population along with enhancing funding opportunities for graduate education will also be part of her responsibilities.
“I look forward to working with the various colleges to devise and implement initiatives that generate increased opportunities for the attainment of advanced degrees, that augment diversity in our graduate enrollment, and that support a high level of scholarly inquiry and sense of professionalism,” said Hodges.
In September Holub announced that the university would reinstate the Graduate School after a number of years without a single entity entrusted with overseeing graduate education. The move brings UT in line with its peer institutions and will facilitate closer interaction with the university’s research offices.
“The reinstatement of a Graduate School is an exciting and important development on the Knoxville campus, for it will provide a vital resource for the enhancement of graduate education and research,” said Hodges.
Hodges joined the faculty at UT in 1982 as an assistant professor of German. While at UT, she has served as both the acting and associate department head for Germanic and Slavic Languages and chaired the comparative literature program. Prior to her current position, she was the head of the Department of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures from 1999 to 2004.
An expert in 19th and 20th century German literature, Hodges earned her bachelor’s degree in French from Beaver College in 1969 and went on to earn both her master’s and doctoral degrees in Germanic Languages and Literatures from the University of Chicago in 1971 and 1974, respectively.
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Contacts:
Jay Mayfield (865-974-9409, jay.mayfield@tennessee.edu)
Tom Milligan (865-974-9438, tom.milligan@tennessee.edu)