Chris Chulos named TU College of Liberal Arts dean

Chris Chulos will join Towson University in July as dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

April 2, 2020

Chris Chulos joins TU as CLA dean
Photo courtesy Chris Chulos

Chris J. Chulos will join Towson University as the dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

Chulos was the standout candidate amid an extensive national search, said Provost and Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs Melanie Perreault. Chulos begins his new role at TU on July 15, 2020.

Chulos joins TU from Roosevelt University, where he is the associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

“I am thrilled to be joining Towson University which distinguishes itself as a leader in 21st-century higher education," Chulos said. "I look forward to working with the College of Liberal Arts, its faculty who are accomplished as teachers and scholars, and its talented students. What excites me most is that the College is dedicated to preparing students for 21st-century needs which includes transformative and life-long learning, dedication to diversity and inclusion, and community engagement in the greater metro area.”

He is also a professor of modern European history with a specialty in 19th- and 20th-century Russia.

His research and administrative work has concentrated on the role that culture plays in identity and the formation of social stereotypes—ethnic, religious and gender—and the need to work for greater inclusivity. Having lived and worked for more than a decade in Finland, Russia and England, Chulos has ample experience identifying how to foster better relations between people from diverse backgrounds.

Chulos has authored a book and nearly two dozen scholarly articles on topics ranging from Russian peasants to women’s history and pre-Soviet cinema and co-edited two books in similar research areas as well as written dozens of book reviews. In an effort to better understand the relationship between academia and public policy, Chulos has completed two residencies at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. He is also a permanent faculty member of the Department of History at the University of Helsinki.

Chulos holds a bachelor’s degree from Loyola University Chicago and a master’s and doctorate from the University of Chicago.

As dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Chulos will oversee 40 diverse majors that provide students with unique opportunities to sharpen their critical thinking skills, learn to communicate powerfully and persuasively, acquire new learning through research and collaborate with others.

"We are very fortunate to have someone with Chris’s experience and commitment to higher education as our next dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and we look forward to his leadership of this outstanding college," Perreault said.

The provost added that the search committee conducted a comprehensive process, and its members played a vital role in filling this important leadership position. Perreault thanked Dean Laurie Mullen of the College of Education for her leadership as chair of the committee.

The committee members were:

  • Matthew Durington, Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice
  • Maria Fracasso, Psychology
  • Sharon Jones-Eversley, Family Studies & Community Development
  • Christian Koot, History
  • Lorie Logan-Bennett, Career Center
  • Jill Max, Baltimore Hebrew Institute, College of Liberal Arts
  • John Murungi, Philosophy & Religious Studies
  • Wayne Robertson, College of Liberal Arts
  • Joseph Rudolph Jr., Writing Center
  • Joel Slotkin, English
  • Frances Washburne, University Advancement