photo by: University at Albany

Jeanette Altarriba

A dean who has spent about 30 years in the New York state university system is the fourth and final candidate to lead KU’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.

Jeanette Altarriba will make a public presentation at 2 p.m. Friday in Slawson Hall at the University of Kansas’ Lawrence campus. People who want to attend the presentation remotely can do so at kansas.zoom.us/j/92343095735#success. The passcode is 907615.

Altarriba is the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University at Albany – State University of New York. She has had a 30-year career at the University at Albany, including serving as a vice provost for undergraduate education, director of the university’s cognition and language laboratory, chair of the department of communication and chair of the department of psychology.

She has served as the leader of Albany’s College of Arts and Sciences since 2019, and is responsible for oversight of 21 academic departments and more than a dozen centers or institutes, according to information provided by KU.

Altarriba’s research often has focused on cognitive psychology, with a particular emphasis on how bilingualism influences how people use and store information. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Florida International University and a master’s and doctorate in cognitive psychology from Vanderbilt University.

KU is seeking a dean for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences after years of interim leadership, when its former dean, Carl Lejuez, left to temporarily serve as provost for KU. The college’s current interim dean, John Colombo, has been serving since 2019.

The college is KU’s largest academic unit, with 11,000 undergraduate students, 1,700 graduate students, 700 faculty members and 375 staff members, spread across 50 departments, programs and centers.

Altrarriba is the last finalist scheduled to interview for the position of executive dean for the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. Alfred López of Purdue University, Arash Mafi of the University of New Mexico and Mitchell McKinney of the University of Akron previously have been announced as candidates.