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Freudenburg named interim graduate dean

Aug. 24, 2010

KALAMAZOO--Dr. Gene Freudenburg, chair of Western Michigan University's Department of Mathematics, has been tapped to serve as the University's interim dean of the Graduate College for the 2010-11 academic year.

Photo of Dr. Gene Freudenburg.Freudenburg, whose appointment is pending approval by the WMU Board of Trustees and is effective Sept. 1 through May 31, joined the WMU faculty in 2006 when he was appointed department chair and professor of mathematics. He will lead WMU's extensive graduate programming while the University searches for a permanent replacement to Dr. Lewis Pyenson, who returned to the faculty July 1.

"Dr. Freudenburg has great familiarity with our graduate college, is highly respected by his colleagues, and brings a wonderful background in research and graduate education to this role," says Dr. Timothy J. Greene, WMU provost and vice president for academic affairs. "His leadership will allow the University to continue to build its reputation in graduate education while we take the time necessary to assess and set our future directions in that arena."

Freudenburg came to WMU from the Pott College of Science and Engineering at the University of Southern Indiana, where he was professor of mathematics and assistant dean. He was named that university's 2004 Distinguished Professor, which is the school's highest recognition for faculty. A member of the USI faculty from 1995 to 2006, he previously served as a faculty member at Ball State University.

Freudenburg is a prolific researcher and the author of numerous professional articles and a book published by Springer-Verlag in 2006. He also serves as a reviewer for several mathematics journals and was the recipient of a research grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation in 2001. Additionally, he has been a visiting professor at the University of Burgundy in France and Switzerland's University of Basel.

Freudenburg earned a bachelor's degree from Valparaiso University in 1982, a master's degree from Saint Louis University in 1986 and a doctoral degree from Washington University, Saint Louis in 1992.

Western Michigan University's Graduate College is home to nearly 100 programs--67 at the master's level and 29 that lead to a doctoral degree. Graduate students at WMU make up more than 20 percent of the student body and have their academic homes in six of the University's seven degree-granting colleges.

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Media contact: Cheryl Roland, (269) 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu

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