Stearns Named New Provost

Peter N. Stearns, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, has been named the new provost at George Mason University. The appointment was effective January 1, 2000.

"Dr. Stearns is an outstanding scholar with an excellent administrative background," says President Alan Merten. "With his nearly 40 years of professional experience in higher education, both as a teacher and an administrator, he will contribute to George Mason's academic growth as we move forward into the next century."

Stearns has served as a dean at Carnegie Mellon since 1992. He first joined that institution in 1974 as its Heinz Professor of History. Stearns served in a number of capacities at Carnegie Mellon, including director of the graduate program in applied history and social science, coordinator of the Ph.D. program in social and urban history, director of the core course in world history and the European studies program, coordinator of the Elderhostel program, and head of the history department.

Stearns's career in higher education began in 1961, when he served for two years as a teaching fellow at Harvard University. Between 1963 and 1969, he taught history at several other prestigious institutions of higher learning, including the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and Rutgers University.

Also at Rutgers, Stearns served as chairman of the New Brunswick department of history from 1969 to 1974. He earned his Ph.D., master's, and undergraduate degrees at Harvard University.