Graduate School fills two key associate dean posts

Two veteran UW–Madison faculty have been named to associate dean positions in the UW–Madison Graduate School.

Steve Ackerman has been named as the new associate dean for the physical sciences, a position he has filled on an interim basis since January.

A professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences, Ackerman joined the faculty in 1992. He first came to UW–Madison in 1987 as a research scientist for the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies, an institute he now directs and which is housed in the UW–Madison Space Science and Engineering Center.

An accomplished, award-winning teacher, Ackerman’s research focus is in the area of satellite meteorology, a field developed in large measure at UW–Madison in the 1960s. Ackerman is well known locally and nationally for his efforts to bring science to the public through mass media and other channels of outreach.

Daniel Lee Kleinman, chair of the department of community and environmental sociology and the director of the Holtz Center for Science and Technology Studies, was appointed Graduate School associate dean for social sciences and will begin his new duties in August.

Kleinman received his doctorate from UW–Madison and has held faculty appointments at the University of Houston and the Georgia Institute of Technology. He joined the UW–Madison faculty in 2000 in what was then the department of rural sociology. He is well known for his scholarship on the relationship between science and society and citizen engagement with science and technology.

“These are critical leadership positions,” Graduate School Dean Martin Cadwallader said in announcing the new appointments. “We are fortunate to have individuals of this caliber as these are challenging roles to play. We expect they will continue to help position our university as one of the world’s preeminent institutions of research and graduate education.”