Bruce Blonigen, dean of faculty and operations for the University of Oregon’s College of Arts and Sciences, will serve as the college’s interim dean, Provost Jayanth Banavar announced Sept. 24.

Blonigen will succeed W. Andrew Marcus, the Tykeson Dean of Arts and Sciences, who announced that he will step down from his role in December.

Previously, Blonigen served as interim dean of the Lundquist College of Business in 2016 and was associate dean of social sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences from 2013 to 2016. Prior to that, he was the head of the Department of Economics for five years.

“He is uniquely qualified to fill this interim position, and I am grateful that he is willing to step forward,” Banavar said.

The interim appointment will be for two years, according to the provost’s office. During that time, humanities divisional dean Karen Ford will serve as senior divisional dean for the College of Arts and Sciences. In that role, she will continue leading the humanities but adds several other duties. Those include handling promotion and tenure at the college, implementation of the Diversity Action Plan and program assessment.

“The college will be in good hands with Bruce and Karen in these interim roles,” Banavar said. The college’s leadership team “has worked very well together under Andrew and we know that there will be a smooth transition as we move forward.”

Banavar also announced that he will form a task force to analyze the current structure of the college and determine whether it should be reorganized. The college has three divisions: the humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences. Banavar said he will work with President Michael Schill during the next several weeks to determine the specific duties of the task force, which he says will include faculty members and staff.

The issue about how the college should be organized has come up in the past, Banavar said.

“This is not a new question, but we feel now is the time to find the answer,” he said. “We will actively consult with faculty and staff throughout CAS as we formulate the plan and committee membership for this group’s inquiry.

“This is not about trying to find efficiencies, and it is not a move to silo some divisions in an attempt to focus elsewhere. This is about having a robust examination and discussion of the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, and the right structure to advance the academic mission of the institution.”

The full memo is available on the provost’s website.