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Dr. Dan Klingensmith announces return to classroom; search under way for new vice president and dean of Maryville College

Nov. 13, 2023

He’s worn them well over the past six years, the trappings and titles that come with appointment to the position of vice president and dean of Maryville College — but the one that means the most is the one to which he’ll return next year.

Dr. Dan Klingensmith, tapped by former president Dr. Tom Bogart and continuing in the role under the administration of Dr. Bryan Coker, has announced he will return to the classroom as a professor of history in July 2024. As a result, a national search process is under way in collaboration with Storbeck Search, a consulting firm specializing in leadership recruitment for colleges, universities and education-related nonprofits.

“It’s been an honor to be dean of Maryville College, and I’ve had a chance to work with wonderful colleagues throughout the institution,” said Klingensmith, who was named as interim vice president and dean of the College in February 2018. “But I love teaching and I’m eager to get back. I never thought I’d be away from it this long.”

“This is Dan’s decision and one which I am accepting with mixed emotions — while I am sad to lose Dan’s presence on our senior leadership team, I completely respect and understand his desire to return to the classroom full-time,” Coker added. “Dan’s six years as vice president and dean of the College have bridged two presidencies and been a remarkable period for the institution, characterized by much change, including a global pandemic.”

Klingensmith joined the MC faculty in 1998 as an assistant professor of history after earning a bachelor’s of history from Harvard University and a master’s and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. He was appointed to full professorship in 2011 and throughout his time in the faculty ranks served in various leadership positions, including chair of the Division of Humanities, chair of the faculty and chair of the Strategic Planning Task Force. He was an ACA-Mellon Fellow at the Salzburg-Global Seminar in 2011, a Fulbright Senior Research Fellow at the University of Calcutta in 2007, and he received the College’s Outstanding Teacher Award in 2004 and 2011.

That success, Coker added, continued during his tenure as dean and vice president.

“His steady and courageous leadership helped effectively guide the College through COVID-19 and a shift to online education, allowing us to continue educating students safely and responsibly,” Coker said. “Many academic successes have occurred on Dan’s watch, including the introduction and SACS approval of the first graduate program in the College’s modern history, the master of arts in teaching focused on STEM education, as well as new majors, including Developmental Psychology, Elementary Education, and Hospitality and Regional Identity.”

In partnering with Storbeck Search, the College is working with Julie Tea, an experienced consultant with 25 years in higher education and 17 in leading executive searches. Already, she’s met with members of the faculty and the campus community to develop a position description for the next vice president and dean. A search advisory committee made up of representatives from MC administration, faculty, current students and the Board of Directors provided input for a position statement that seeks “an experienced academic leader and administrator, with a collaborative, innovative, and strategic mindset, who is a champion of the liberal arts” and will assist the College in:

  • Assessing, advancing and stewarding the curriculum and strategic academic priorities in concert with the College’s mission;
  • Enhancing retention and graduation rates;
  • Recruiting, mentoring and retaining talented and dedicated faculty and staff;
  • Building, advancing and celebrating diversity, equity and inclusion; and
  • Strengthening and expanding partnerships externally to build academic opportunities.

“We will be providing regular updates as this search process moves forward; however, it’s important to note that confidentiality will be imperative when it comes to the identities of applicants for this position, and we will only be disclosing the names of finalists once their on-campus interviews have begun,” Coker said. “In the meantime, I hope the campus and the community at large will join me in celebrating and thanking Dr. Dan Klingensmith for his dedicated and remarkable service to the College.”

Maryville College is a nationally-ranked institution of higher learning and one of America’s oldest colleges. For more than 200 years we’ve educated students to be giving citizens and gifted leaders, to study everything, so that they are prepared for anything — to address any problem, engage with any audience and launch successful careers right away. Located in Maryville, Tennessee, between the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the city of Knoxville, Maryville College offers nearly 1,200  students from around the world both the beauty of a rural setting and the advantages of an urban center, as well as more than 60 majors, seven pre-professional programs and career preparation from their first day on campus to their last. Today, our 10,000 alumni are living life strong of mind and brave of heart and are prepared, in the words of our Presbyterian founder, to “do good on the largest possible scale.”