University Times

David Miller, associate professor and associate dean of Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA), has been named interim dean of the school. His appointment will be effective July 1.

Miller, who has worked as an associate dean for eight years with departing dean Carolyn Ban, said he’s approaching his new duties with enthusiasm. “I’m delighted and look forward to the challenge,” he said.

Ban is stepping down from her administrative position and will be on sabbatical before returning to a teaching position at GSPIA.

Miller, who has been a member of the GSPIA faculty since 1998, also is co-director and professor at the Center for Public Policy and Management in Macedonia, where Pitt has established a program to meet public management education needs in that region’s emerging democratic states.

In addition, he is the commissioner of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, chair of the National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration’s local government management education committee and a member of Sustainable Pittsburgh’s executive committee.

A search committee formed to find Ban’s successor submitted candidates’ names to the Provost’s office earlier this year. Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs Andrew Blair said the provost has been reviewing the committee recommendations and that the dean search remains open. “The interim appointment is necessary because of the date of the current dean being on sabbatical and returning to teaching,” Blair said. “Timing has required that an interim be named because of Dean Ban’s stepping down.”

Miller, who has been appointed for a one-year term, said he plans to concentrate on maintaining stability in the school and continuing its momentum rather than tackling longer-term issues that best would be left to a permanent dean.

“Obviously, we’re a school in transition, therefore I have a shorter-term perspective,” he said, adding that he plans to focus on recruitment and retention issues to grow the student body.

He plans to continue the academic reform initiatives already underway, including the establishment of a new major in human security and a plan to capitalize on the diversity of degrees available through GSPIA as a recruiting advantage in the marketplace.

The new major awaits approval of the provost.

Miller said he’d like to begin using the new major in human security this fall as a recruiting tool for the fall 2007 term.

Miller is a political science graduate of Syracuse University, earned an M.P.A. at Kent State and a doctorate at GSPIA.

Before coming to the University, Miller was director of management and budget for the City of Pittsburgh and managing director of the Pennsylvania Economy League.

—Kimberly K. Barlow