Dr. Raymond Poincelot, who has served the last four years as associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been named interim dean of the College for the academic year 2006-07. He fills the position vacated by Dr. Timothy Snyder who has accepted the appointment of Academic Vice President at Loyola College in Maryland.

In making the announcement, Academic Vice President Orin Grossman said, "With Dr. Poincelot the College of Arts and Sciences has an experienced senior faculty member and administrator who is capable of keeping the important College initiatives on track. He will be invaluable next year in providing wise and steady leadership, and I am delighted and grateful that he has agreed to serve as interim dean."

Dr. Poincelot said he is looking forward to the challenges of the next year. "I welcome the opportunity to work with the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences and to continue the good works of Dean Snyder. My goal is that the next academic year will be mutually beneficial to all and that the College will continue in its excellence and high-energy scholarly creativity."

A professor of biology who joined the Fairfield faculty in 1977, Dr. Poincelot was the founding director of the Environmental Science Program and served 13 years as the chair of the Department of Biology. Under his leadership the department gained a number of scholarly and dedicated young faculty and a facility equipped with high tech labs and research instruments.

Dr. Poincelot's own research has focused on sustainable agriculture and the effects of seaweed and compost products on plant propagation and growth. He has written over 70 articles for agricultural, horticultural and environmental publications and is the author of five books, the most recent in 2003, Sustainable Agriculture: Today and Tomorrow , published by Prentice Hall. He has also edited five additional books, the most recent in 2006, Developing and Extending Sustainable Agriculture: A New Social Contract . In 1995, he received the National Publications Award, American Horticultural Therapy Association, for his co-edited book, People-Plant Relationships .

He served for 18 years as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Sustainable Agriculture , which he founded in 1989. The first academic journal to be housed at Fairfield University, it now produces eight issues a year and receives contributions from all over the world.

Dr. Poincelot also serves in the critically important role of the University's safety, chemical hygiene and radiation safety officer.

A graduate of Southern Connecticut State University with a bachelor of arts degree in chemistry, Dr. Poincelot earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Case-Western Reserve University. He was awarded a Yale Mellon Visiting Faculty Fellowship for 1990-91.

Posted On: 04-26-2007 10:04 AM

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