DETROIT – Wayne Raskind, professor and founding director of the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (SoMSS) at Arizona State University (ASU), has been appointed dean of Wayne State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) effective Aug. 15.
Raskind succeeds Robert Thomas, who is retiring.
Raskind will work closely with the Office of the Vice President of Research in increasing the research portfolio of the college and hiring talented and productive faculty.
Additionally, he will partner with the Office of the Provost to recruit and retain students and assist in further developing social sciences departments including anthropology, sociology and economics.
Ronald Brown, Wayne State provost and senior vice president for academic affairs, said Raskind is a respected international scholar with an impressive combination of business acumen and altruism.
“Professor Raskind’s academic administration experience and dedication to building a diverse university community are assets to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the university as a whole,” Brown said. “He has an exceptional track record for inspiring leadership. I am confident he will make an excellent addition to Wayne State.”
In Raskind's three years as director of SoMSS, the number of math majors at ASU increased by more than 50 percent, and the school hired and nurtured talented junior faculty who earned prestigious grants such as the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Award.
He has more than 12 years’ experience as an administrator at public and private institutions. Prior to joining ASU, Raskind was chair of mathematics (1999-2005) and dean of faculty (2005-2007) at the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences at the University of Southern California.
His research interests include algebraic geometry, number theory, algebraic K-theory, partial differential equations, cryptography and mathematics education.
Fluent in French, Raskind spent a year as a visiting researcher at Universite de Paris-Sud in France. He has given numerous lectures and facilitated seminars at institutions throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia.
He earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Cambridge, England and a B.A. in mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania.
“I am delighted to be joining Wayne State University as dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,” Raskind said. “Wayne State is a perfect combination of a high-level research university that serves a wide spectrum of students in an urban environment. These missions are not only compatible, but can serve to strengthen each other. The college is the core of the university and must reach out to and play well with all other academic units. It will be my pleasure to spearhead this effort as dean.”
Wayne State’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences offers majors, minors and co-majors across 19 departments and more than a dozen programs, centers and institutes, providing a broad-based liberal arts education. For more information visit www.clas.wayne.edu.
Wayne State University is a premier urban research institution of higher education offering more than 400 academic programs through 13 schools and colleges to nearly 31,000 students.