Dear UT Community,
I am pleased to announce that Dr. David Sosa, the Louann and Larry Temple Centennial Professor in the Humanities and Chair in the Department of Philosophy, has been appointed Interim Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, effective June 1. Dr. Sosa brings a strong record of leadership, along with a breadth of experience in teaching and mentoring, to this interim role. Since 2006, when Dr. Sosa became Chair, the Department of Philosophy has steadily enhanced its reputation as one of the nation’s top programs — rising from No. 14 to No. 8 (The Philosophical Gourmet Report).
Dr. Sosa is a specialist in the philosophy of mind and language, and his expertise spans ethics, metaphysics and epistemology. He has been directly involved in a multifaceted body of work serving and supporting both students and faculty. He supervises or co-supervises 12 doctoral candidates and is the former director of the Plan II Honors program and the former president of the Alpha of Texas chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honor societies. He remains an active researcher and author, having published 46 articles, edited or co-edited six books and translated two books to date. In addition, he is the co-editor of Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Language and editor-in-chief of the journal Analytic Philosophy. He is also a subject editor for 20th century philosophy for the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Dr. Sosa has served as a member of several University search committees, including the University’s Presidential Search Committee in 2014, the Dean of the School of Law Committee in 2011, and the past two committees for the Dean of the College of Liberal Arts.
Before joining UT, Dr. Sosa taught at Dartmouth College and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his undergraduate degree at Brown University and his Ph.D. at Princeton University.
Dr. Sosa’s leadership experience and deep knowledge of our University will be invaluable as we continue to move forward with the search for a permanent Dean of the College of Liberal Arts. I look forward to working closely with him as Interim Dean during this transition.
Please join me in welcoming Dr. Sosa to the role and thanking Dean Ann Huff Stevens for her leadership of one of the largest and most respected liberal arts programs in the country.
Sincerely,
DAVID VANDEN BOUT, Ph.D.
Interim Executive Vice President and Provost