McCubbin to step aside as dean of School of Human Ecology

Hamilton I. McCubbin, who has served as dean of the School of Human Ecology for nearly 15 years, will step down as dean July 1.

Hamilton I. McCubbin

After a year of independent research, he plans to rejoin the faculty of the school’s Child and Family Studies Department and the School of Social Work. The chancellor will appoint an interim dean and begin a national search for a new dean.

“Dean McCubbin has been a strong advocate of the school,” said Chancellor David Ward, “and we are most impressed by his ability to sustain his role as a major researcher while being a successful administrator.”

The School of Human Ecology is ranked third nationally among schools of Human Ecology. McCubbin oversaw its 1996 name and identity change from Family Resources and Consumer Sciences.

McCubbin’s research secured more than $8 million in grants to support research and training programs. During his administration, McCubbin served on the editorial board of 13 family journals and wrote or edited 12 books. In collaboration with the UW Foundation, the school has established six endowed centers or institutes of research, the Gallery of Design and three Bascom Professorships.

The dean and the chancellor recently signed collaborative agreements with three major universities in China and with the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences.

McCubbin completed his undergraduate, master’s and doctorate degrees at UW–Madison. Before joining UW–Madison, McCubbin served as director of the Family Studies Branch of the Naval Health Research Center and the director of research for the Army Corrections program.

He was director of the Department of Family Social Science at the University of Minnesota, and his post-doctoral studies include Yale University, a Bush Fellowship in Early Childhood Education at the University of Minnesota, a Mellon Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, and a fellowship at the Radcliffe Public Policy Institute.

McCubbin will remain on the faculty in the Department of Child and Family Studies. “New leadership brings excitement and opportunities and I look forward to supporting the school as we move into the new millennium,” McCubbin said.