CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Feng Sheng Hu will become the Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences effective Jan. 1, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.
Hu currently is the associate dean for biological, chemical, physical and mathematical sciences in LAS. A professor of plant biology who previously served as head of the department of plant biology, Hu also is a Ralph E. Grim Professor of Geology.
A faculty member at Illinois since 1998, Hu has been recognized as a Packard Fellow in Science and Engineering, a University Scholar of the University of Illinois, a Fulbright Scholar and a Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science. His research integrates biological, geological and atmospheric sciences, with the aim of understanding long-term ecosystem dynamics under changing climatic conditions.
“An outstanding scholar who has amassed an impressive record in administration as the associate dean, professor Hu has direct familiarity with the issues facing the college and the campus,” said Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Edward Feser. “He has great appreciation for the diversity of disciplines, pedagogies and epistemologies of the college, and is an excellent communicator and an energetic advocate for LAS. I look forward to his leadership of LAS and on the Council of Deans.”
With 648 tenure-system faculty, LAS accounts for one-third of all faculty on the Urbana campus. LAS offers more than 70 majors; more than 99 percent of undergraduate students on the Urbana campus take a class in LAS.