MOUNT VERNON – Cornell College has hired Joseph Dieker as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the college. Dieker will begin July 1 after completing the school year as dean at Culver-Stockton College, a liberal arts college in Canton, Mo.
As dean since 2004, Dieker has been integral in the development of Culver-Stockton’s strategic and campus master planning process.
“He’s a very accomplished dean. The hallmarks of his time have been curricular innovation and a high degree of collegiality,” said Cornell College President Les Garner. “I’m impressed with the leadership he’s demonstrated at Culver-Stockton and pleased at the prospect of his joining Cornell.”
Dieker came to Culver-Stockton as an associate professor of music in 1989 after a nine-year term on faculty at Warner Pacific College in Portland, Ore. He succeeds Chris Carlson, a Cornell professor emeritus of sociology who is serving a two-year term as dean.
“It’s a great thrill for me to be associated with Cornell College,” Dieker said.
A native of Portland, Dieker earned a bachelor’s degree from Warner Pacific, a master of music degree from the University of Oregon, and a doctor of musical arts degree from Arizona State University. Dieker, a clarinetist, created the Culver-Stockton Wind Ensemble, the college’s premier instrumental ensemble.
Culver-Stockton introduced a 12/3 academic calendar in 2008, featuring a three-week term at the end of each semester similar to Cornell’s One Course At A Time calendar. Dieker sought advice from Cornell to help their faculty learn to teach three-week courses. Cornell Professor of Politics Craig Allin led a retreat at Culver-Stockton, and other Cornell faculty hosted Culver-Stockton faculty on the Cornell campus.
Cornell began the search for a dean in the summer of 2009, and three finalists visited campus in December. Professor of History Phil Lucas led an eight-member search committee.
The committee was also composed of professors Lynne Ikach, Craig Tepper, Emily Walsh, and Erin Davis, and students Jeanna Kadlec, Adam Norton, and Quin Purkey.
Lucas said Dieker had the qualities they sought in a dean.
“He has a track record of working with faculty to create and implement curricular reform,” Lucas said. “He has earned respect as a longtime member of the faculty and as dean. The committee enjoyed his collegiality and openness, which were repeatedly mentioned in testimony from Culver-Stockton, and we were impressed with his sensitivity to the larger needs of the institution and to individuals across his campus.”