Kimberly Rivers has been appointed as the interim dean of the College of Letters and Science (COLS) at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, Provost John Koker announced over the weekend. Rivers will begin her new role in August. 

Rivers, who earned a doctorate in medieval studies from the University of Toronto, joined the history department at UWO in 1995 and was promoted to professor in 2010.

Rivers is presently an interim associate dean in COLS―a role she began in 2017. Before that, she served two terms as history department chair and has taken on a number of administrative and service roles across the college. Koker thanked her for willingness to serve as interim dean.

“Kim is an excellent teacher, scholar and University citizen who was honored as a recipient of the 2016 John McNaughton Rosebush Faculty Award and the 2006 University Distinguished Teaching Award,” Koker said.

The provost thanked Colleen McDermott for her service as acting and interim dean since August 2017. 

McDermott served as cochair of the biology department from 2000 to 2009 and has been a member of the UW Oshkosh faculty since 1991. She also serves as the campus veterinarian.

“She (McDermott) continues to exhibit strong leadership while being asked to make many difficult decisions,” Koker said, adding that he intends to begin a national search for the COLS dean during the 2020-21 academic year.