Provost Extends ARHU Dean Bonnie Thornton Dill’s Term
By ARHU Staff
University of Maryland Provost Mary Ann Rankin announced yesterday that Bonnie Thornton Dill’s term as the dean of the College of Arts and Humanities (ARHU) has been extended until June 30, 2022.
“Under Dean Thornton Dill’s leadership, the College of Arts and Humanities has secured major donor support for its performing arts programs and initiatives, received numerous significant grants from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in support of inclusive humanities and digital technologies, and engaged in several major curriculum initiatives that include new interdisciplinary majors such as Philosophy, Politics, and Economics and Immersive Media Design,” Rankin said in an email to campus leadership and the college.
Thornton Dill, who has led the college since 2011, has focused her work on increased support and visibility for arts and humanities research; provided leadership for interdisciplinary initiatives within the college and across the campus; supported student engagement with underserved communities; and helped increase the number of UMD’s national scholarship award recipients.
In Spring 2019, ARHU launched an integrated curriculum-career initiative “Be Worldwise. Get Worldready.,” which prepares students for life after graduation. The initiative blends new and reimagined course offerings, integrated academic and career advising and access to internships, alumni networking and other opportunities across the region.
Thornton Dill looks forward to further advancing this initiative and highlighting to prospective students and families the adaptability of a liberal arts education. Additionally, she will launch robust discussions about the future of the humanities Ph.D.
“I am proud of what the college has achieved over the past ten years and am so thankful to the faculty and staff who have worked diligently to make Maryland a destination for arts and humanities study. I look forward to amplifying the exciting work happening in the college at the intersection of art, culture, technology and social justice and plan to work toward solidifying resources that raise our profile and continue to enable collaborations across disciplines.”
During Thornton Dill’s tenure, the college has been intentionally focused on weaving equity, social justice and inclusion into all aspects of teaching, research and service. She established a 21-person Committee on Race, Equity and Justice, which advises her on goals related to the eradication and dismantling of structural racism and on strategies for ensuring equity and social justice throughout the college, campus and community. This past fall, the campus announced the university’s first honorific naming of an academic department, the Harriet Tubman Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies (WGSS).
Recognized internationally for her scholarship on the intersections of race, class and gender in the U.S. with an emphasis on African American women, work and families, Thornton Dill is also a professor in WGSS. She is the founding director of both the Center for Research on Women at the University of Memphis and the Consortium on Race, Gender, and Ethnicity at UMD. Her scholarship includes three books and numerous articles.
