Home » WKU names new dean of Potter College of Arts & Letters

WKU names new dean of Potter College of Arts & Letters

Bowling Green, Ky. –  WKU Provost David Lee has named Dr. Larry Snyder as Dean of Potter College of Arts & Letters. Dr. Snyder is currently serving as Interim Dean of the College, and his appointment concludes a five-month national search that attracted more than 50 applicants.

Dr. Larry Snyder
Dr. Larry Snyder

“Dr. Snyder has built an outstanding reputation with faculty, staff, and student in the College,” Provost Lee said. “He has considerable experience and a clear understanding of WKU’s mission of teaching, scholarship, and services. He has done outstanding work as the Associate Dean and Interim Dean, and I look forward to working with him in his new role.”

Dr. Snyder earned a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He joined WKU in the Department of Philosophy and Religion in 1990. An outstanding teacher, he is a past recipient of the University Award in Teaching, and has made the classroom a priority throughout his career. Dr. Snyder joined the Potter College Dean’s Office staff in 2003 and became Interim Dean in August 2015.

“I am genuinely humbled and honored by this appointment,” Dr. Snyder said. “Potter College has been home for most of my academic career.  It was — and remains — a great place to work and study, one filled with talented students and a gifted faculty. And I am excited by the opportunity to provide some measure of service and leadership to the college that has nurtured my professional life.”

Since its creation in 1965, Potter College of Arts & Letters has experienced remarkable transformation and growth. Then as now, the disciplines in the college remain central to building students’ skills in communication and analysis and broadening their perspective on the world around them.

Academic Units in the college include Art, Communication, English, Folk Studies & Anthropology, History, Journalism & Broadcasting, Modern Languages, Music, Philosophy & Religion, Political Science, Sociology, and Theatre & Dance.