For Immediate Release
Lauren Kimbrough – July 28, 2004

SFA Professor Appointed To Associate Dean

Dr. James Lowry, assistant professor of geography at Stephen F. Austin State University, has been appointed associate dean of SFA’s College of Liberal Arts.

“Dr. Lowry is the ideal person to fill the role of associate dean,” said Dr. Robert Herbert, dean of the College of Liberal Arts. “He has the right mix of administrative and academic experience. Since he joined the SFA faculty in 2002, he has consistently demonstrated an enthusiastic commitment to student success.”

Lowry graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Belmont Abbey College in 1983. He earned his master’s in geography in 1988 at East Carolina University and his Ph.D. in geography from the University of Arizona in 1996.

Prior to his arrival at SFA in 2002, Lowry served as an associate professor at East Central University in Ada, Okla. He chaired the Department of Cartography and Geography from 1998 until 2001. He was the recipient of the university’s Teaching Excellence Award and the Honor Court Faculty of the Month award.

Lowry is a member of Gamma Theta Upsilon Geography Honor Society and faculty sponsor of the SFA chapter. He also is a member of Delta Epsilon Sigma Honor Society and Pi Gamma Mu International Social Sciences Honor Society.

Lowry’s responsibilities as associate dean will include student advising and recruitment and retention initiatives, according to Herbert.

“I look forward to working with him in this new role, and I’m confident that he will quickly make himself indispensable to the college,” Herbert said.

The College of Liberal Arts includes six departments, including political science, geography and public administration; English and philosophy; history; modern languages; psychology; and sociology.