University of Florida names new dean of The Graduate School

March 19, 2007

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Henry T. Frierson, professor of educational psychology and director of the Research Education and Support Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been named the University of Florida’s new associate vice president and dean of The Graduate School.

He will assume his new position May 1 when he succeeds Ken Gerhardt, who has been interim dean since 2004.

Frierson has held a variety of administrative positions at UNC since he joined the faculty in 1974, including serving as an associate dean of the graduate school there from 1990 until 1996.

“Dr. Frierson has been at the forefront of graduate education in this nation for years,” UF Provost Janie Fouke said. “His ideas about mentoring graduate students and helping faculty with that task are exactly in alignment with what UF needs to be attending to in its quest to increase its stature among the country’s finest graduate programs.” Frierson’s annual salary will be $200,000.

Frierson, who received his doctorate in educational psychology at Michigan State University, hopes to promote an education program for UF undergraduates to encourage more to go to graduate school, including summer research programs for students who are good prospects for graduate study.

He also believes in a strong focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduate programs and a strong effort to attract well-prepared international students.

An avid supporter of increasing the number of underrepresented minority doctoral students, Frierson played an integral part in developing outreach and support programs that have made UNC a national leader in minority graduate enrollment.

Frierson couldn’t be happier about coming to Gainesville.

“In my eyes, the dean of The Graduate School position at the University of Florida is the best of its kind in the country,” he said. “Although I have been at the University of North Carolina for a long time, I am rather looking forward to knocking the tar off my heel and becoming a Gator.”