Case Western Reserve University President Eric W. Kaler and Provost Joy K. Ward announced today that David Gerdes, a renowned physics scholar and department chair from University of Michigan, will become dean of the College of Arts and Sciences on March 1.
Gerdes, the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Physics and a professor of astronomy, has served on the University of Michigan faculty since 1998 and as chair of the physics department since 2019. He also serves as chair of the Michigan Society of Fellows, which promotes interdisciplinary scholarship across the university.
During his tenure as department chair, Gerdes has focused on recruiting and promoting faculty, modernizing and enhancing the curriculum, increasing donor support, expanding research opportunities for undergraduates, and strengthening the department’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. In addition, he recently worked closely with the leadership of University of Michigan’s research division, College of Engineering, and College of Literature, Science and the Arts to establish an interdisciplinary Quantum Research Institute, which has received $36 million in university funding so far.