Steiner to become English chair, will be first woman to head dept.

Wendy Steiner is making history. She is the first woman ever to be selected as chairperson of the English Department. The English professor, who has been described by Undergraduate English Chairperson Alan Filreis as "a world-class scholar and public intellectual," will be replacing her colleague John Richetti, who currently holds the position. Richetti, whose five-year term ends in July, explained that the chair is selected by a committee that "canvasses the faculty" before voting. Only the 38 standing English faculty members were considered by the committee for this position. Adjunct and visiting professors were not included in the selection pool. "The committee discovered that Wendy Steiner was the almost overwhelming choice," he said. Rick Beeman, associate dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, said the committee, which was chaired by English Professor Robert Lucid, forwarded its recommendation to SAS Dean Rosemary Stevens. "Rosemary enthusiastically endorsed that recommendation, as Wendy is a superb scholar and a wonderfully responsible citizen of the school and the University," he said. "We look forward to working with her." This will not be Steiner's first administrative position at the University. She has also served as graduate chair of the English Department. "Under her leadership, our graduate program made many important reforms to its requirements," Filreis said. He added that even though Steiner will not officially assume her new position until July 1, she is already planning for the transition. "John Richetti as outgoing chairman, and Vicki Mahaffey and I as grad chair and undergrad chair respectively, are already working closely with her to get her up to speed on departmental plans and visions," Filreis said. Steiner, who was unavailable for comment last night, received her doctorate from Yale University. She has authored several books, including a an academic text on Gertrude Stein entitled Exact Resemblance to Exact Resemblance, and two books on the relationship between modern literature and the visual arts, The Colors of Rhetoric and Pictures of Romance. According to Filreis, the position of department chairperson entails acting as chief academic officer of the department "while at the same time continuing regular duties as a member of the departmental faculty." He added that this is a particularly large responsibility in the English Department, citing responsibilities that range from conducting searches for new faculty appointments to supervising the office staff and organizing departmental committees. Richetti said when he became chair five years ago, the undergraduate department needed a lot of work. "I have devoted a good deal of my energy during my years in office to making improvements in our undergrad programs," he said. He added that "most of this has been accomplished by persuading Al Filreis to become undergrad English chair. "That's what I would consider to be my greatest accomplishment of my term," Richetti said. He attributed the department's improvement in undergraduate education to the electronic technological revolution that the department has undergone.