UPDATE: Political science professor Dr. Gary Malecha has accepted the position of interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences beginning July 1, 2017.
Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Dr. Michael Andrews has resigned from his position at the University of Portland. Andrews has accepted a position as the Director of the John Felice Rome Center, a campus of Loyola University Chicago located in Rome, Italy.
University President Fr. Mark Poorman sent out an email Tuesday afternoon stating that he has accepted Andrews’ resignation as Dean, McNerney-Hanson Endowed Chair in Ethics and Professor of Philosophy. Andrews will leave the University on June 30, 2017.
“Michael will, of course, be greatly missed on the UP campus, but I do understand the call to service and opportunities elsewhere,” Poorman stated in the email.
As Director of Loyola’s Rome Center, Andrews' leadership responsibilities will include overseeing the academic, curricular, residential, financial and student life aspects of the program.
“The students and faculty in CAS are exceptionally talented individuals," Andrews said. "I am sad to leave the Bluff. At the same time, Loyola Chicago University has offered me an extraordinary opportunity to lead one of the oldest and most successful study abroad academic programs in Western Europe."
Andrews said he has already started brainstorming about possible collaborative efforts between UP and Loyola’s Rome Center. The program allows Loyola University Chicago students to study abroad at the international campus for a year, semester or summer term, not unlike UP’s Salzburg program. There is also a special Rome Start program, where international students complete their freshman year on the Rome campus before finishing their Loyola Chicago undergraduate degree in Chicago.
Andrews has history working in Italy. He completed a master's degree in metaphysics at the Gregorian University and returned to Rome annually for eight years as Director of Seattle University’s Italy summer study abroad program. He was appointed Senior Research Fellow at the Jesuit Historical Institute at the Jesuit Curia in Rome in 2007.
Poorman said an interim dean of the college will be appointed to serve for the coming year, beginning July 1, 2017, and the University will begin a national search for a permanent appointment to the position.
“I am confident that the College of Arts and Sciences will continue to thrive during this transition, thanks to our exceptional faculty and staff,” Poorman said. “Provost (Tom) Greene and I look forward to engaging many of you in the search process for a new dean.”
