Misericordia names new dean of College of Arts and Sciences
Published: July 30, 2010
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Misericordia University has named Russ Pottle, Ph.D., as the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.
Misericordia University has named Russ Pottle, Ph.D., as the new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Pottle comes to Misericordia from Regis College in Weston, Mass., where he was the founding dean of the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Liberal Arts, Education, and Social Sciences. Previously, he served as academic dean, director of admissions and Abbot David Melancon Endowed
Professor of literature at Saint Joseph Seminary College, in Saint Benedict, La.
As dean of the Misericordia College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Pottle is
responsible for fostering development of new programs and initiatives within the
college and raising the university research profile of educational programs and
faculty. The college includes the departments of biology, chemistry and biochemistry,
communications, English, fine arts, mathematics and computer science, philosophy,
physics and religious studies.
“Dr. Pottle brings a wealth of experience and significant academic administrative
abilities to Misericordia,” noted Michael A. MacDowell, university president. “He will
be a real asset to the students, faculty and the entire community served by Misericordia
Having conducted his doctoral work in American and Comparative literatures,
Dr. Pottle received his Ph.D. from Louisiana State University, in Baton Rouge, La. His
Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees, both in English, are from Southeastern
Louisiana University, in Hammond, La., where his family has a long history of service
to the university and the higher education community. “My grandfather founded the
music department at Southeastern and was its chair for decades,” Dr. Pottle commented.
“My father taught there as an artist in residence, and I taught for a number of years in the
English department and the honors program.”
Dr. Pottle’s research interest is in travel writing studies. He is the U.S. vice
president for the International Society for Travel Writing; a member of the Board of
Advisors for the Society for American Travel Writing; and the member of other scholarly
literary and cultural studies societies. Recently, he presented a well-received paper on
the religious geography of “The Sun Also Rises” at the 14th Biennial Conference of
the Ernest Hemingway Foundation and Society, held in Lausanne, Switzerland.
