Following a national search, Mount St. Mary’s University has named Bryan J. Zygmont, Ph.D., as dean of the College of Liberal Arts (CLA), effective August 1. CLA, the university’s largest college, is home to many of the university’s core curriculum courses.
Zygmont replaces Peter Dorsey, Ph.D., who has served as dean since 2016 and came to the Mount in 1987. Dorsey will be taking a sabbatical before returning to the university as an English professor.
Zygmont was a faculty member at Clarke University, a Catholic liberal arts institution, in Dubuque, Iowa for a decade before accepting his current position as the associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Louisiana Tech University. At Louisiana Tech, he has revitalized the study abroad program and has been instrumental in creating high-impact graduate programs.
While serving as an assistant professor of art history at Clarke University, Zygmont taught American studies as a Fulbright Scholar in Poland in 2013 before rising to the rank of professor in 2017. He has continued to teach at Louisiana Tech.
“As we began this search, we were all looking for a person who would be a tireless champion of the liberal arts. I am confident Dr. Zygmont will be that champion,” said Provost Boyd Creasman, Ph.D.
“I am honored to join the exceptional faculty and staff of the College of Liberal Arts at Mount St. Mary’s University and to contribute to its more than two centuries of proud tradition in Emmitsburg,” Zygmont said. “I look forward to my collaboration with new colleagues and cannot wait to meet and serve the needs of present and future Mount students. So much of my academic life has been forged by the time I spent pursuing my Ph.D. at the University and Maryland and then teaching at a small Catholic liberal arts institution. I am delighted beyond words to return (in a way) to both and will carry this joy with me as I walk about the beautiful Mount campus.”
Zygmont is the author of Portraiture and Politics in New York City: Gilbert Stuart, John Vanderlyn, John Trumbull and John Wesley Jarvis. He has a working knowledge of five languages, including Latin, Polish, French, and German. He earned his doctorate in art history from the University of Maryland College Park and master’s and bachelor’s degrees in art history from the University of Arizona.
Led by Christine McCauslin, Ph.D., dean of the School of Natural Science and Mathematics, search committee members included Associate Professor of Philosophy Richard Buck, Ph.D.; Professor of Spanish Language and Culture Christine Blackshaw, Ph.D.; Department Chair and Associate Professor of History Timothy Fritz, Ph.D.; Assistant Professor of History Elizabeth Strauss, Ph.D.; University Professor of English Carol Hinds, Ph.D.; and Assistant Professor of Theology Luis Vera, Ph.D. Marie Lalor, the assistant to the dean of the School of Natural Science and Mathematics, coordinated the search.
Zygmont is married to Anna Kelley and they have two sons, Clark, 8, and Hugh, 6. You can follow him on Twitter at @DrBryanZygmont.