Wendy Sternberg '90 has been appointed as the new dean of Academic Departments and Programs and professor of psychology. Sternberg will take over July 1 for David Hayes, who will serve as acting dean of the faculty and vice president for Academic Affairs before retiring in December.
At Haverford College since 1995, Sternberg has been a professor of psychology and for the last four years, an associate provost.
"We are excited and proud to welcome Wendy back to Union," said Therese A. McCarty, the Stephen J. and Diane K. Ciesinski Dean of Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs. "Her expertise and perspective will be invaluable in supporting and advancing Union's academic program and the work of the faculty."
The dean of Academic Departments and Programs works with department chairs and interdisciplinary program directors to support academic excellence at the College. The dean is responsible for faculty development, overseeing faculty hiring, participating in faculty reviews, designing and conducting faculty orientation programs, and administering internal research grants and fellowships, among other duties.
Sternberg was selected from among nearly 100 candidates after a national search.
"As an alumna, she has a special relationship with our institution, but she also has nearly two decades of experience as a faculty member and administrator at Haverford College, one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country," said Don Rodbell, chair of the Geology Department and co-chair of the search committee that recommended Sternberg. "This, along with her strong record of scholarship and teaching, makes her ideally suited for the position."
The recipient of numerous honors, including the Phi Beta Kappa Award for Excellence in Teaching, Sternberg has been widely published in the area of the neuroscience of pain and its inhibition during times of stress. She has broadened her interests to include how to cultivate in students the great values of the liberal arts, how to measure success and how to expand educational opportunities to bring about positive changes in the world.
Sternberg has secured grants from the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health, among others, and she has presented at a number of major conferences and workshops.
Sternberg graduated cum laude from Union with a bachelor's in psychology and biology. She received her master's and Ph.D. in psychology (behavioral neuroscience area) from UCLA.
"I am thrilled to be returning to Union," Sternberg said. "While I have fond recollections about Union's past, I am even more excited about its future. My husband Jason (Feingold '89) and our son, Jake, are also looking forward to this new chapter in our lives."