Research and Graduate Studies @ KU

Rosen named Associate Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies

Sara Thomas Rosen, professor and chair of the Department of Linguistics at the University of Kansas, has been named associate vice provost and dean of graduate studies.

The appointment follows the previously announced combination of the Lawrence campus Office of Research and the Graduate School. Rosen will report to Steve Warren, interim vice provost for research and graduate studies, and serve alongside two existing associate vice provosts, George Wilson and Joshua Rosenbloom.

"I'm delighted that Sara has accepted the challenge of this new position in this new organization," said Richard Lariviere, executive vice chancellor and provost. "Our goal as a university is to align research and graduate studies and grow both dramatically during the coming decade. Sara is an ideal person to help lead that effort."

Rosen joined the KU faculty in 1991 as an assistant professor. Her background includes a B.A. degree in psychology (1981) and an M.Ed. degree in special education (1982), both from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received a doctorate in linguistics and cognitive science from Brandeis University (1990).

Prior to coming to KU, Rosen was a post-doctoral fellow at the Montreal campus of the University of Quebec. She was also an assistant visiting professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Maryland-College Park.

At KU, Rosen progressed to associate professor in 1996 and full professor in 2006. She has been department chair since 2000. Her primary research interest is the relationship between sentence structure and sentence interpretation.

"This is a great opportunity to bring graduate education to the forefront at KU," said Rosen. "We have many strong programs in the social sciences, the humanities, the sciences and engineering. I want all of them to connect more closely with KU's research mission, while maintaining their focus in great teaching. The whole faculty will be engaged in making this happen, and I look forward to working with them on this."

Rosen served as a senior administration fellow at KU during 2004-05, a professional development position designed to equip faculty for increasingly responsible positions on campus. The following year, she was chosen for the National Science Foundation's ADVANCE Leadership Institute for Senior Women Faculty.

At KU, Rosen is a past recipient of the J. Michael Young Academic Advising Award (2002) and an Excellence in Teaching Award from the Center for Teaching Excellence (1999).