CU-Boulder Arts and Sciences dean stepping down

University of Colorado Boulder Provost Russell Moore today announced that he has accepted the resignation of Todd Gleeson as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at CU-Boulder effective June 30, 2012.

Gleeson, who has served nine years in the post, will return as a professor in the Department of Integrative Physiology. He was named dean of Arts and Sciences by then-CU-Boulder Provost Philip P. DiStefano on April 16, 2002, following the nomination of a search committee that had conducted a national search.

“Todd Gleeson has been an effective leader of CU-Boulder’s largest college during a time of great transformation and growth,” Moore said. “He has overseen the growth of student enrollment in Arts and Sciences programs from 13,850 to over 16,100 students, a 12 percent faculty expansion, and the introduction of a number of innovative new academic programs, all while managing significant budget challenges during his tenure as dean.”

Moore said Gleeson also has been a stalwart fundraiser through innovations such as the upcoming Buffalo Bicycle Classic, which has raised $1.4 million for scholarships in Arts and Sciences since its founding in 2003.

“Throughout good times and bad, Todd has remained a good friend and colleague,” Moore said. “I am delighted he is staying with us as a member of the faculty.”

Moore said a decision will be made on a search sometime later this academic year after consultation with DiStefano, now the chancellor of CU-Boulder, and other CU officials.

Gleeson began his CU-Boulder career in 1981 as an assistant professor and was appointed professor in 1994. He also has served as associate chair of the ecology and evolutionary biology department.

In the College of Arts and Sciences, he served from 1990 to 1995 as acting associate dean for student academic affairs and as associate dean for curricular affairs, before assuming the post of associate vice chancellor for faculty affairs in 1997.

Gleeson has received numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation and was honored as an Elected Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

He also is a recipient of the University of Colorado Teaching Recognition Award from the Student Alumni Organization for Alumni Relations. He has a lengthy record of research publication, university and professional service and teaching activities for undergraduate and graduate students.

Gleeson earned his doctorate from the developmental and cell biology department at the University of California, Irvine. He also held a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellowship in physiology at the College of Medicine at UC-Irvine.