From the Dean's Office

"Alumni of the School of Arts and Sciences have distinguished themselves in many fields."

/Users/collinme/Desktop/pletcherAs Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at SUNY Potsdam, I welcome you. The mission of the School is to provide excellent instruction to students in its major programs of study and to interested students in other programs who wish to strengthen their grounding in the arts and sciences. The School also bears primary responsibility for instruction in the General Education Program required of SUNY Potsdam graduates.


The School of Arts and Sciences is composed of departments in the four traditional arts and sciences areas:

  • Humanities-- English & Communication, Modern Languages, and Philosophy
  • Fine arts--Art, Dance & Drama
  • Social sciences-- Anthropology, Economics & Employment Relations, History, Politics, Psychology, and Sociology
  • Sciences-- Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Geology, Mathematics, and Physics

Studies in these important disciplines have formed the backbone of the courses of study at SUNY Potsdam, the oldest of the institutions in the State University of New York, since its founding as the St. Lawrence Academy in 1816.Alumni of the School of Arts and Sciences have distinguished themselves in many fields. They include T. Coraghessan Boyle (winner of the PEN/Faulkner award for World's End, and author of such novels as The Road to Wellville and A Friend of the Earth), Daniel L. Comins (Professor of Chemistry, North Carolina State University), Frances Eagle (Executive Director, Merrimack Valley Manufacturing Partnership), Michael Galane (General Manager of Supply Chain Operations, North America Enterprise Servers, Hewlett-Packard), Darlene Kerr (President and Chief Operating Officer of Niagara Mohawk), Geoffrey Lambert (Engineering Manager of Cisco Systems), Paul Lockhart (Professor of History, Wright State University), Paul Malinowski (Vice President for e-business Solutions, IBM), C.J. Rapp (inventor of Jolt Cola and CEO of Global Beverage Company), Susan Rosenberg (Associate Professor of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine), and James T. Spencer (Professor of Chemistry, Syracuse University).

I would be happy to correspond with anyone interested in learning more about the programs of study in the School of Arts and Sciences. Please do not hesitate to contact me at the address below.

 

Galen K. Pletcher, Ph.D.
Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Philosophy
E-mail: pletchgk@potsdam.edu