Welcome to UK’s College of Arts & Sciences. It is with great pleasure that I address you as the College’s new interim dean. Having served as associate dean of faculty for seven of the last 10 years, I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the College toward its expansive goals, and determined to have Arts & Sciences set the standard of excellence for the University of Kentucky.  

With the start of a new academic year comes much promise of new beginnings. We just welcomed 16 new faculty members into our ranks, along with 5,800 students. Looking to the future, we are already making plans to hire another 15 new faculty members who will begin their UK careers in the fall of 2009.

Our departments of Psychology, Geography and Hispanic Studies are among a select group at UK that are designated Top 20 graduate and research programs. In addition, our faculty bring in $20 million annually in competitive research grants, strengthening Kentucky’s economy.

Our 350 faculty members receive national and international fellowships, including the Fulbright, Guggenheim, National Endowment for the Humanities, and National Science Foundation awards. They also earn research grants from such prestigious organizations as the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

As the largest college on campus, Arts & Sciences not only fosters a vast range of research and graduate training endeavors. It also serves every undergraduate student at UK through foundational classes in the humanities, social sciences and mathematical and natural sciences. I encourage you to explore all the diversity that A&S has to offer. This website is a gateway to the 16 departments and 15 interdisciplinary programs in the College, as well as the Arts & Sciences Advising Center and Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations.

My best to all of you this school year!

Sincerely,
Phil Harling
Interim Dean

Link to Phil Harling's profile page