Following a national search, Dr. Lisa Bond-Maupin has been selected as the founding dean of the new College of Social Sciences and Communication at UALR. Her appointment is effective July 7.

“She is the right leader for this important college as we continue UALR’s advancement as a top metropolitan, community-engaged research university,” said UALR Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Zulma Toro. “Dr. Bond-Maupin’s dedication to faculty and student success, her wealth of experience in building academic programs and departments, and dedication to diversity in all its dimensions will serve the college and our institution well.”

“I am thrilled to be joining the UALR family and the larger Little Rock community,” Bond-Maupin said. “It is a privilege to become the founding dean of the new College of Social Sciences and Communication. The staff and faculty of this new college share commitments to relevant scholarship and creative activity, engagement through community partnerships, and providing students with learning opportunities beyond the classroom. I look forward to supporting and promoting the excellent departments, programs, centers, and radio/television stations that are the core of this new college.”

Michael Schwartz, dean and professor of law at the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law, led the national search.

The College of Social Sciences and Communication will include eight departments offering degrees at the baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral levels, including the School of Mass Communication and the departments of Speech Communication, Rhetoric and Writing, Criminal Justice, Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology, Political Science, and the Institute of Government. The college will also support several interdisciplinary research centers and institutes, including University Television, KLRE/KUAR public radio, the Survey Research Center, the Center for Nonprofit Organizations, and the Center for Public Collaboration.

Bond-Maupin, associate dean for Planning and Department Affairs in the College of Arts and Sciences, joined New Mexico State in 1995 as an assistant professor in sociology/anthropology. Her career focus has been on juvenile justice in communities of color. She was the founding department head for the Sociology Department and helped establish the Women’s Studies Program.

She received a doctorate in justice studies in 1992 and master’s degree in social work in 1987 from Arizona State University and a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1982 from the University of Missouri.