James Glaser © Mark Morelli

James Glaser, associate professor and chairman of political science, has been appointed dean for undergraduate education for Arts, Sciences and Engineering. The appointment is subject to approval of the provost, president and Board of Trustees, according to Susan Ernst, dean of Arts & Sciences.

This new position encompasses the responsibilities of the dean of the colleges, formerly held by Charles Inouye, who has returned to full-time teaching. In recognition of the importance of undergraduate education at Tufts, Glaser's position will be full time, Ernst said. The class deans, the director of the Academic Resource Center and the post-baccalaureate director will report to Glaser.

"Professor Glaser is ideally suited for this important position," Ernst said. "He is a gifted and popular teacher. He has been the advisor for several senior honor theses and received the Lerman-Neubauer Prize for Outstanding Teaching and Advising in 2000," she said. "He is committed to increasing the opportunities for undergraduate research and scholarship at Tufts. His role as a member of the Task Force on the Undergraduate Experience for 18 months will benefit us, as faculty and staff implement many of the recommendations outlined in the May 2003 report from the task force."

Glaser received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of California at Berkeley in 1991, after having received his bachelor's degree in political science from Stanford. He came to Tufts in 1991. His teaching and research is in American politics and political behavior. His book, Race, Campaign Politics and the Realignment in the South, won the V.O. Key Award for Best Book on Southern Politics in 1997, given by the Southern Political Science Association, and Choice magazine's Outstanding Political Science Book Designation in 1998. Glaser has written many articles on political attitudes and voting behavior and is frequently called upon by the national media for his expert opinion.

Glaser is also a skilled and experienced administrator. He has been chair of the political science department since 1999, and was instrumental in attracting several excellent new faculty members. He helped broker many successful faculty exchanges between Arts & Sciences and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, making it possible for undergraduates to benefit from the teaching of Fletcher faculty and for Fletcher students to work with and be taught by political science faculty.