[418] Byrnes Is MTSU's New Liberal-Arts Dean

BYRNES IS MTSU’S NEW LIBERAL-ARTS DEAN
Murfreesboro Native Named to Post After National Search

FOR RELEASE: April 15, 2011
EDITORIAL CONTACT: Gina E. Fann, 615-898-5385 or gfann@mtsu.edu

MURFREESBORO—MTSU has chosen longtime professor and community leader Dr. Mark Byrnes as the new dean of the College of Liberal Arts after a national search, officials announced today.
Byrnes, a Murfreesboro native who is also a product of the Murfreesboro and Rutherford County school systems, has served as acting and interim dean following the illness and May 2010 death of Dr. John N. McDaniel, who served as MTSU’s dean of liberal arts for 26 years.
“Dr. Byrnes has served with distinction at MTSU as a faculty member, associate dean and interim dean,” said University Provost Dr. Brad Bartel. “The entire University community respects him and looks forward to his upcoming leadership of the College of Liberal Arts.”
Byrnes, a nationally recognized expert on the American presidency and Tennessee politics, has taught political science at MTSU since 1991 and was associate dean of liberal arts from 2006 to 2009.
A graduate of MTSU who earned his master’s and doctoral degrees at Vanderbilt University, Byrnes also was the recipient of one of the MTSU Foundation’s 2010 Public Service Awards, which were presented at the Fall Faculty Meeting last August.
He has coordinated MTSU’s Legislative Internship Program since 1993, selecting and supervising 12 to 16 students to work with the Tennessee General Assembly each spring.
"Liberal Arts is a large and diverse college, serving 3,600 majors and, through the General Education program, virtually every MTSU student,” said Byrnes.
“I'm excited about the opportunity to lead the college and plan to continue its tradition of focusing on students and supporting our faculty and staff. I graduated from a MTSU liberal-arts department, Political Science, and have worked as a professor and administrator here for 20 years. I'm sure I'll enjoy this role in the college as I have the others."
As dean, Byrnes will direct 10 academic departments offering 20 bachelor’s degrees, five master’s degrees and two doctorates, as well as nearly 20 interdisciplinary majors and minors, and 10 different centers and programs; a dean’s office staff of 10; and 315 full-time faculty members and 165 adjunct instructors. The College of Liberal Arts currently grants about 700 degrees annually.
The new dean also is chairman of the Rutherford County School Board, elected by his fellow school-board members and currently serving his second two-year term. He was first elected to the school board, which oversees more than 38,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grades, in 2004.


Founded in 1911, Middle Tennessee State University is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution located in Murfreesboro and is the state’s largest public undergraduate institution. MTSU now boasts one of the nation’s first master’s degree programs in horse science, and the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C., acclaims MTSU’s Master of Science in Professional Science degree—the only one in Tennessee—as a model program. MTSU recently unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences. 


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IN BRIEF: MTSU has chosen longtime professor and community leader Dr. Mark Byrnes as the new dean of the College of Liberal Arts after a national search, officials announced today. Byrnes, a Murfreesboro native who is also a product of the Murfreesboro and Rutherford County school systems, has served as acting and interim dean following the illness and May 2010 death of Dr. John N. McDaniel, who served as MTSU’s dean of liberal arts for 26 years. Byrnes, a nationally recognized expert on the American presidency and Tennessee politics, has taught political science at MTSU since 1991 and was associate dean of liberal arts from 2006 to 2009. The new dean also is chairman of the Rutherford County School Board, elected by his fellow school-board members and currently serving his second two-year term. He was first elected to the school board, which oversees more than 38,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grades, in 2004.

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ATTENTION, MEDIA: For a color JPEG of Dr. Byrnes, please contact Gina E. Fann in the Office of News and Media Relations via e-mail at gfann@mtsu.edu or by calling 615-898-5385. Thanks!