Lynn Franken has been named dean of the School of Humanities and Fine Arts and professor of English at Coastal Carolina University, effective July 1, 2000. She will be responsible for all administrative aspects of the school, which comprises nine departments and has 65 full-time faculty members.

Franken comes to Coastal from Butler University in Indianapolis, Ind., where she has served as chair of the Department of English since 1994. She also served as associate dean of Butler's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences from 1992 to 1994. Franken earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in English from Texas Tech University and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Texas at Austin.

During her tenure as chair of Butler's English Department, the number of majors has doubled and the curriculum has been expanded to include new approaches to teaching in the Humanities, particularly regarding freshman English and writing courses.

In addition to her teaching and administrative duties, Franken serves on the Education and Programming Committee of the Indianapolis Opera board, where she has been an effective advocate for linkages between academic learning and the performing arts. She has published numerous articles in scholarly journals and presents regularly at academic conferences.

"Lynn Franken will bring a variety of experiences to the position, both as an administrator and as a teacher-scholar," said John Idoux, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Coastal. "She will help to build on the excellent base which has already been established and will guide the progress of the school as it moves into its new home, the Humanities and Fine Arts Building which is now under construction."

More than 100 applicants applied for the position of dean. Final candidates were recommended to Idoux by a search committee consisting of faculty from each department in the school and chaired by Jack Riley, associate professor of politics at Coastal.

Departments within the School of Humanities and Fine Arts which report to the dean are: art, English, foreign languages, history, music, philosophy and religion, politics and geography and theater. The Waccamaw Center for Cultural and Historical Studies also reports to the dean.