Fairfax, Va. — George Mason University has named Ann Ardis dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, selecting a leader with a deep commitment to multidisciplinary scholarship, who will elevate the college’s already impressive reputation through strategic research initiatives and beneficial partnerships with the local and broader communities.
Ardis comes to Mason from the University of Delaware, where she is senior vice provost for graduate and professional education. She also is the founding director of Delaware’s Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center, which supports collaborative multidisciplinary research and teaching, and she has served as an associate dean and deputy dean in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Ardis assumes her new role at Mason in August.
“The more I learn about Mason, the more excited I am about being part of what’s going on at a university that is on the move and clearly values its faculty accomplishments and opportunities for students,” Ardis said. “The challenge of this moment is making sure the infrastructure is in place to support faculty research and ensuring the continuation of what is a very genuine commitment to serving a diverse student population.”
“We are thrilled to have Ann Ardis joining Mason’s vibrant community of scholars. She will help craft an exciting vision for the college,” Mason Provost S. David Wu said. “I am particularly excited about her leadership in interdisciplinary humanities. She will expand and enrich Mason’s intellectual collaboration across campus, and help foster a culture of diversity, inclusion and excellence among faculty.”
Mason’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences was ranked 51-75 worldwide in the most recent evaluations by the Academic Rankings of World Universities, which puts it ahead of all universities in Virginia and Washington, D.C. The college’s proximity to Washington, D.C., allows it to serve as a resource and crossroads for an ever-more interconnected world, while providing enhanced opportunities for instruction in history and culture, and addressing global political and social challenges.
Ardis has been senior vice provost for graduate and professional education at the University of Delaware since 2016. She joined the university in 1989 as a member of the English department. Her research areas include turn-of-the-20th-century British literature and culture, modernist studies and the metamorphosis of print culture.
Ardis recently completed a term of service as co-editor of “Modernism/modernity,” the official journal of the Modernist Studies Association (Johns Hopkins University Press). Extensively published, she is also the author of “Modernism and Cultural Conflict, 1880-1922” (Cambridge University Press), and “New Women, New Novels: Feminism and Early Modernism” (Rutgers University Press).
She earned her bachelor’s degree in English and political science from the University of Kansas, and her master’s and doctoral degrees in English from the University of Virginia.
About George Mason
George Mason University is Virginia’s largest public research university. Located near Washington, D.C., Mason enrolls 36,000 students from 130 countries and 49 states, including Washington, D.C. Mason has grown rapidly over the past half-century and is recognized for its innovation and entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility.