New Morrissey College leaders
Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J., has announced the appointments of faculty members Brian Gareau and Ethan Baxter to newly created leadership positions in the school.
Gareau, an associate professor in the Sociology Department who also holds an appointment in the International Studies Program, has been named senior associate dean for faculty affairs and academic planning. Baxter, a professor in the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department, has been appointed associate dean for the STEM Disciplines.
“As the pace of our faculty hiring, the scale of our research efforts, and the complexity of our academic programs all continue to grow, it became clear to me that the administrative bandwidth in the Dean’s Office needed to grow as well,” said Fr. Kalscheur. “Brian and Ethan have demonstrated great leadership abilities and I am grateful for their willingness to take on these new positions. I look forward to working closely with them in our shared efforts to continue building academic strength and scholarly excellence in the distinctive mission of the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences.”
Brian Gareau (Lee Pellegrini)
Gareau most recently served as associate dean for the Core, a position he held from 2018 until the end of the 2022-2023 academic year. An environmental sociologist, he studies global environmental governance, especially the governance of ozone layer depletion and global climate change, and publishes on theorizations of society/nature relations, alternative development, and agri-food systems. He leads a multi-disciplinary research lab investigating the social and ecological dynamics of cranberry production in New England and global climate change.
In his new role, he will assist Fr. Kalscheur with all areas of the faculty lifecycle in the humanities and social science departments of the Morrissey College. He will serve as a point of contact for department chairs and other department leaders on personnel issues, and assist in reviewing faculty search requests, faculty hiring, faculty evaluation and merit review, developing faculty programming, working with departments on strategic planning, and helping supervise interdisciplinary programs, among other responsibilities. He will work with Fr. Kalscheur to develop mission formation programming and orientation as a way to connect faculty, particularly new Morrissey College faculty, with the University’s mission.
“I am eagerly anticipating the opportunity to help foster a culture of academic excellence and professional growth among our faculty,” said Gareau. “During this first year, my top priorities will be to become familiar with our faculty’s current needs and development opportunities. I am excited to help support and devise academic planning to connect departmental initiatives with the University’s strategic plan and distinctive mission, ensuring that we continue to deliver exceptional education and research outcomes while fostering an inclusive and supportive academic environment for all of our faculty colleagues.
“I look forward to meeting with all department leaders in MCAS as soon as possible to hear more about their concerns and aspirations for their faculty and departments as a whole, and I’m excited to help departments think strategically about how to help them achieve their goals and those of MCAS.”
Ethan Baxter (Lee Pellegrini)
Baxter will assist Fr. Kalscheur with all areas of the faculty lifecycle in the STEM departments of Morrissey College (Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, and Psychology/Neuroscience). He will serve as a point of contact for department chairs and other department leaders on personnel issues, and help in reviewing faculty search requests, faculty hiring, faculty evaluation and merit review, new graduate programs, working with departments on strategic planning, and supporting research.
A BC faculty member since 2015, Baxter is an award-winning geochemist interested in the broad processes occurring within and between the Earth’s crust, mantle, and surface, and who seeks to unravel the history of the planet, as well as predict certain aspects of its future. Baxter and his students have done field research throughout New England as well as in California, Ontario, Austria, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Scotland, the Greek Isles, and China. He also is the creator and host of the YouTube series “Every Rock Has a Story” aimed at inspiring curiosity about, and responsibility for, the Earth among schoolchildren and helping them see themselves as scientists.
From 2016-2022, he served as chair of the Earth and Environmental Sciences Department where he oversaw the launch of the department’s Ph.D. program.
“I’m honored and excited to take on this new role and to help support the sciences at BC,” said Baxter, who participated in BC’s Ignatian Leadership Development Program. “We want to think strategically about where we want to be five, 10 years down the road in terms of STEM. There is great interest in working together, being more collaborative, more efficient, more interdisciplinary. That takes consistent attention and creative thought.”
Baxter says the creation of this role speaks to the University’s commitment to the sciences. “Our designation as a R1 university means we engage in high-quality research and scientific inquiry, but doing science at BC is more distinctive.
“My job is to creatively explore ways in which our research, teaching, and service can be integrated with student formation and serve the common good beyond the STEM disciplines and beyond the walls of campus.”