12 April 2006

Dr. Charles Ross appointed dean of Longwood’s College of Arts and Sciences

Dr. Charles Ross, interim dean of Longwood University’s College of Arts and Sciences, has been appointed to the position on a permanent basis, effective immediately.

Dr. Ross, professor of physics and former director of pre-engineering programs, had been interim dean since last June. Before becoming interim dean, he had chaired the Department of Natural Sciences for two years.

“I am very pleased that Dr. Ross has agreed to be the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences,” said Dr. Wayne McWee, vice president for academic affairs, who announced his appointment. “I have enjoyed working with him during his interim year, and I look forward to a productive relationship in the future.”

Arts and Sciences is the largest and most comprehensive of Longwood’s three colleges, encompassing nine academic departments (one of which, Natural Sciences, will split into two departments in July), as well as the Liberal Studies, International Studies and Women’s Studies programs. The Liberal Studies program, which prepares students for teaching careers in elementary and middle schools, is Longwood’s largest academic program, with about 800 majors.

An active scholar who has published extensively, Dr. Ross is the author of two books, Trial by Fire: Science, Technology and the Civil War (a required text for a University of Virginia course on the history of technology) and Civil War Acoustic Shadows. He contributed four of 10 chapters to another book, Never for Want of Powder: The Confederate Powder Works, due out in March 2007.

He is an often-quoted authority on how acoustic anomalies known as “acoustic shadows” influenced command decisions in the Civil War. Other current research interests include nanotechnology involving nanomagnets and quantum-dot cellular automata, and the effects of solar activity on cosmic ray background. He received Longwood’s Maria Bristow Award for Faculty Excellence in 2002.

In 2004 he was appointed to a three-year term on the board of directors of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR). The IALR, based in Danville, is a regional research and technology center seeking to aid Southside Virginia’s economic transformation.

Dr. Ross, a Northern Virginia native, came to Longwood in 1992 after teaching at a private high school in Baltimore for four years. He has a B.S. degree in nuclear engineering, an M.S. in engineering physics and a Ph.D. in materials science, all from the University of Virginia.

He became interim dean after Dr. David Cordle, who had been dean, left to assume the same position at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.