Dean chosen for Honors College

IU named Lew Miller its first dean of the Honors College, IU Vice President for Student Development and Diversity Charlie Nelms said earlier this month. Nelms also named Julia Bondanella the college's first associate dean.\n"These new titles reflect not only the symbolic rise of the Honors College as one of the nation's strongest programs for high-achieving students; these titles also indicate that Lew and Julia's achievements and responsibilities have grown significantly over the past few years," Nelms said. Earlier this year, the Honors Division was renamed as the Honors College.\nMiller, a professor of English at IU since 1964, has served as associate and acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and was the founding director of IU's Liberal Arts and Management Program. \nIn addition, Miller is a published poet and significant literary critic, and a much-honored teacher, having won some of IU's most prestigious all-campus teaching awards. Miller's career has featured a wide range of interests, including a Lilly Fellowship, during which he worked as an account executive and copywriter at an advertising company, using his experience there to develop interdisciplinary courses.\nAs director and now as dean of the Honors College, Miller has overseen major growth in the honors curriculum, including the addition of several experimental electives which have become popular courses in the mainstream curricula of other campus units. \nThe Honors College, which serves nearly 2,400 of IU's 27,000-plus undergraduates, offers freshmen seminars on the "great books" and other topics, offers several other courses, and works with the academic departments and schools to create honors diplomas in most of IU's degree programs. In addition, the Honors College offers an extensive array of extracurricular activities for honors students, including frequent social gatherings with IU professors and up-close encounters with distinguished visitors to the campus.\nBondanella, professor of French and Italian, has overseen the Honors College scholarship program, one of the largest and most prestigious merit award programs in the state. In addition, she has been a leader of the national movement that has resulted in the growth and collaboration of honors programs, serving as president of the National Collegiate Honors Council. \n"These two fine colleagues have given many years of their talents and time to the campus in service of our best students. I am proud of the work they have done and pleased to be able to announce their new titles," Nelms said. \n"The Honors College is one of the jewels of the Bloomington campus -- it provides personable and thoughtful service, especially to freshmen and sophomores, and is one of the reasons why IU is simply a great place to be"