IU School of Liberal Arts announces two new Associate Dean appointments

Dr. Jennifer Thorington Springer, Associate Professor of English and Interim Associate Dean for Student Affairs, will be appointed Associate Dean for Student Affairs in the IU School of Liberal Arts at IUPUI and Professor of English, effective July 1, 2020.

After serving as Interim Associate IDean for Academic Programs since January 2019, Dr. Marta Antón, Professor of Spanish, will be appointed Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the IU School of Liberal Arts, effective July 1, 2020.

“Both of these leaders have demonstrated excellence, not only in their disciplines, but in their interim positions, and in recent months have demonstrated their commitment to think outside of the box to respond to the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has presented,” said Robert Rebein, interim dean. “We are exceedingly fortunate to have these two fine colleagues who are committed to the success of our students, faculty, and staff. “

Dr. Thorington Springer joined the English faculty in the IU School of Liberal Arts in 2001 and will be promoted to full professor this year. She has served as the founding Director of the IUPUI RISE Program, Associate Chair in the Department of English, and is an adjunct faculty in the Africana Studies and the Women’s Gender, and Sexuality Studies programs. Dr. Thorington-Springer is also an affiliate at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. The recipient of the 2011 Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Multicultural Teaching, 2011, Dr. Thorington Springer continues her commitment to promoting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as a member of the school’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Dr. Antón brings extensive experience in curricular development and assessment to this position and has been a faculty member at IUPUI since 1992, having served as Chair of the Department of World Languages and Cultures, Director of the Program in Spanish, Associate Director for the Spanish Resource Center, and Faculty Research Fellow at the International Center for Intercultural Communication. Professor Antón was awarded the Cross of Alfonso X ‘El Sabio’ for merit in Education, Ministry of Education, Spain in 2019. Since 2018, she has also served as Editor-in-Chief of The Modern Language Journal.