Interim dean, advisory board named for international studies

Guido Podestá, associate dean of international studies and associate director of the International Institute at UW–Madison, will serve as interim dean of the Division of International Studies and Vice Provost for Globalization through the 2012-2013 academic year.

He replaces Gilles Bousquet, who will take a leave of absence to serve as interim chancellor of UW-Eau Claire.

“Guido is a respected administrator whose institutional knowledge will be of great assistance during a time of transition,” says Provost Paul M. DeLuca Jr. “We are thankful for his willingness to serve and look forward to continuing progress under his leadership.”

Podestá, a professor and former chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, previously directed the university’s program in Latin American, Caribbean and Iberian Studies. Since joining the university in 1988, he has received awards including a Romnes Faculty Fellowship, a resident fellowship from the Institute for Research in the Humanities and a senior fellowship from the American Council for Learned Societies.

In addition to Podestá’s duties as dean, he will work with colleagues to manage the recommendations of a recent ad hoc committee report on the division’s governance and organization. The provost has named 12 faculty members and administrators to the board, chaired by David McDonald, professor of history.

Members of the board include Caitilyn Allen, science advisor to the dean of International Studies and professor of plant pathology; Marianne Bird Bear, assistant dean, International Studies; Michael Corradini, Wisconsin Distinguished Professor of engineering physics; Elizabeth Covington, executive director of the Center for European Studies; Suzanne Dove, director of outreach for the Center for International Business Education and Research and Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy; Margaret Hawkins, professor of curriculum and instruction; Yoshiko Herrera, director of the Center for Russia, East Europe and Central Asia and associate professor of political science; Kristopher Olds, professor of geography; Jonathan Patz, director of the Global Health Institute and professor and director of global environmental health; Joann Peck, associate professor of marketing and associate dean of undergraduate programs in the Wisconsin School of Business; and Mark Sidel, Doyle-Bascom Professor of Law and Public Affairs.

The advisory board plans to convene near the beginning of the fall semester.