Appointment of Head for Department of Sociology

To:           Executive Vice Presidents, Chancellors, Vice Presidents, Vice Chancellors, Vice Provosts, Deans, Directors and Heads of Schools, Divisions and Offices

From:      David A. Reingold, Justin S. Morrill Dean of the College of Liberal Arts

Re:           Appointment of Head for Department of Sociology

Date:        October 11, 2016

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Linda Renzulli, professor of Sociology at the University of Georgia, as Professor and Head of the Department of Sociology within the College of Liberal Arts. Linda’s accomplishments as an outstanding scholar and educator will advance the department and build on our considerable strengths.

Linda began her appointment on October 1, 2016, and succeeds Ken Ferraro who has served as interim head and will return to the faculty in October. Ken’s service has been outstanding, and the department has benefited greatly from his leadership.

She received her bachelor's degree in Sociology and Special Education from Rutgers University, and her M.A, and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina‐Chapel Hill. She was a faculty member at the University of Georgia from 2001 to 2016, rising from Assistant to Professor. She served as Director of Graduate studies from 2010 – 2015.

Linda has been published in top journals in her field such as Social Forces, Social Problems, Sociology of Education, and Work & Occupations. Linda’s scholarly interests include sociology of education, organizational change, and stratification. Her recent work concentrates on schools as organizations and examines the causes and consequences of the development of charter schools. She also was recently named editor of Sociology of Education, an official journal of the American Sociological Association.

The Department of Sociology is one of ten academic units in the College of Liberal Arts. It offers undergraduate majors in Sociology and Law and Society. At the graduate level, research and training programs are organized into six areas: family and gender; health, aging, and the life course; law and society; sociology of religion; social inequality; and social movements and political sociology.

I also want to express gratitude to the members of the search committee: Doug Hurt (chair), Rachel Einwohner, Brian Kelly, Michael Light, Venetria Patton, Preethi Ramaswamy, Jill Suitor, Patricia Thomas, and Fenggang Yang.

Please join me in thanking the search committee and welcoming Dr. Linda Renzulli to Purdue University.