New Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences

In September, President Wim Wiewel announced that Bruce Suttmeier, associate professor of Japanese, will serve as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Suttmeier has been interim dean since July 2017. “Bruce has shown himself to be a thoughtful and action-oriented leader who can move the College of Arts and Sciences forward,” President Wiewel says. “He brings to my leadership team wisdom and perspectives shaped by his long relationship with Lewis & Clark faculty, staff, students, and alumni.”

A University of Rochester graduate with a PhD from Stanford, Suttmeier has been at Lewis & Clark since 2001. As associate dean for faculty development from 2015 through 2017, he managed faculty searches, orientation and mentoring, tenure/promotion reviews, and professional development programs.

“I enjoy this work immensely, in part because of the people I’m lucky enough to work with, but also because I see more clearly the crucial and necessary role the dean plays in supporting and strengthening the institution,” says Suttmeier. “We offer the best kind of education to our students—not only in the abstract sense of deep, transformational learning but also in a practical sense of giving students the critical thinking and communication skills that will help them succeed in work and in life.”

Suttmeier’s teaching in Japanese language, literature, and civilization, as well as a first-year course on travel and travel writing, have won praise from students and colleagues. His published research has examined war memory and trauma in Japanese fiction of the 1960s as well as Tokyo’s frenetic preparations for the 1964 Olympic Games.