RADFORD -- Radford University has hired an author and scholar to be the new Dean of the College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences effective July 1, 2008.

Brian Conniff comes to RU from the University of Dayton, where he has been Professor of English and, for the past eight years, Chair of the Department of English. He has served as President of the Academic Senate, as Chair of the Academic Affairs Committee for the College of Arts and Sciences, and on the Provost’s Council. He has also worked extensively in the community as co-founder of the Dayton Literacy Project and a founding member of the steering committee for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

“Radford clearly has the administrative vision and the faculty commitment to become a national model of a comprehensive university focused on student achievement,” Conniff said. “The College of Humanities and Behavioral Sciences has a strong faculty committed to both teaching and scholarship. The structure of the college and the interests of the faculty will provide many opportunities for innovative collaboration across disciplines.”

Conniff earned his B.A. in psychology from Rutgers University, his M.A. in English from the University of Scranton, and his Ph.D. in English from the University of Notre Dame. 

Conniff is the author of a book on modern poetry and is currently completing a book on race, morality, and the law in contemporary American prison writing. He has published research on American, British, Irish, and Latin American literature, as well as literacy, service-learning, and higher education. His articles have appeared in a wide range of leading journals, including American Literature, Modern Fiction Studies, Religion and Literature, and The Journal of Reading.