Announcement of Dean of Continuing Education
August 27, 2009
Dear fellow members of the Columbia community:
It gives me great pleasure to announce the appointment of Kristine
Billmyer as the new Dean of the Faculty of Continuing Education, effective
November 1, 2009. Dr. Billmyer comes to Columbia from the University of Pennsylvania
where she has had a distinguished career as both a teacher and administrator
since 1987. In 2005 she became Penn's
Executive Director of the College of Liberal and Professional Studies and
Associate Dean of the School
of Arts and Sciences. A nationally recognized scholar in her field,
she has published widely on cross-cultural variation in language use and the
acquisition of sociolinguistic competence by second language learners. She previously served as Executive Director
of Penn's English Languages Programs, where she taught and designed a number of
courses.
Dr. Billmyer received her BA in Psychology and Spanish
Literature from Vassar College, her MEd in English Education from Temple University
and her PhD in Educational Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania. She has been active in the leadership of a
number of professional associations, serving as a past president of the
American Association of Intensive English Programs and past president of the
Philadelphia Region Intensive English Program consortium.
Kristine Billmyer's proven track record as a teacher,
scholar and administrator make her an excellent choice to lead our School of Continuing Education as the University
enhances its ability to provide quality life-long learning opportunities to a
wide diversity of students. I am confident she will make an outstanding dean.
I want to take this opportunity to thank Peter Awn, who has
been serving as acting Dean of the School
of Continuing Education since 2006
even while continuing as Dean of the School
of General Studies. I also want to thank Vice President for Arts
and Sciences, Nicholas Dirks and his
search committee of faculty members, administrators and alumni, for their
excellent work resulting in this outstanding selection.
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Kristine Billmyer to the Columbia community.
Sincerely,
Lee C. Bollinger
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