McCombe appointed dean of the College of Arts and Sciences

SUNY Distinguished Professor of Physics Bruce McCombe has been appointed as the new dean for the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) following a search that began last May.

Formerly associate dean of the college, vice provost, dean of the graduate school, and most recently interim dean, McCombe has served UB in many capacities over the last 25 years.

"I think I have a very good perspective on how this place works, in particular how the College of Arts and Sciences works," McCombe said.

According to Provost Satish K. Tripathi, administration at UB fully supported McCombe's appointment.

"Both President Simpson and I have a very high regard for his commitment to UB," Tripathi said.

McCombe's predecessor, Uday P. Sukhatmeleft, left in July 2006 to take the position of executive vice chancellor and dean of the faculties at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis. It was at that point McCombe took over, never thinking his interim appointment would turn into a permanent appointment.

"When I took that position, I had no intention of becoming a candidate," McCombe said. "There were several events that led me to take a serious look at the position, and I discovered that I actually liked it."

The process of finding a new dean began in May 2006 with the development of a 13-person national search committee. The committee included professional consultant Ilene H. Nagel, Ph.D., who had the responsibility of finding qualified candidates and convincing them to apply.

McCombe said that, having served on a similar search committee years back, he found it was a proven process.

"That was a very similar process to what was carried out in this case," he said.

According to McCombe, the search committee advertises the position, convinces qualified people to apply, then narrows the field to about a dozen candidates.

The chosen 12 are then narrowed after brief off-campus discussions with the university president as well as Tripathi, which Tripathi said were often called "airport interviews," because of their secrecy.

McCombe said he found meeting at the Marriott near campus with Tripathi kind of funny, adding that he was glad to be chosen as one of the four finalists.

"There were only two other candidates interviewed, and I felt that I was better qualified than either of them," McCombe said, citing his administrative experience and time spent at UB.

Beginning July 1, McCombe will be responsible for 27 academic departments, 13,000 undergraduates and 2,000 graduate students at UB.

McCombe said that his predecessor began to improve the low numbers of the college's faculty, and in order to continue that "positive trajectory," he will try to hire more faculty members.

He said that the new faculty was made up of "a lot of relatively young people, with a lot of energy and a very positive attitude for the future."

"This really provides something very positive to build on," he said.

The current strength of the college, and possibilities lying ahead make McCombe look forward to his new position - despite having to work on the weekend.

"I work on Saturdays and Sundays, which I think is necessary to do the kind of job that you need to do and that the college deserves having done," he said.