Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences Lynn Spangler has announced that she will retire at the end of the 2016-17 academic year.
Over 34 years at SUNY New Paltz, Spangler has made meaningful connections between her teaching, research and creative activities, accepted administrative challenges as a department chair and associate dean, and provided vital leadership in her roles on numerous central committees.
“Lynn’s institutional memory, expertise as a faculty member and administrator, and poise in the midst of urgency has made her an invaluable member of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and a true partner in the Dean’s Office,” said Dean of Liberal Arts & Sciences Laura Barrett. “We will certainly miss her and hope to send her off in style.”
Information about a retirement celebration in Spangler’s honor will be forthcoming from the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.
Spangler joined New Paltz in 1983 as an assistant professor in what was then called the Communication Department, teaching courses focusing on all things media – especially audio and video production.
Outside the classroom Spangler has been prodigious as a documentary filmmaker, and has primarily taken important figures from Hudson Valley history (including John Burroughs and Sojourner Truth) as her subjects. She has published extensively in disciplinary journals and authored a book, titled “Television Women from Lucy to Friends,” in 2003.
Spangler’s service to the campus community, her faculty colleagues and the student population has taken many forms, as she’s proven to be something of a “Swiss army knife,” willing to take on an array of new tasks and responsibilities.
She chaired the Communication and Media Department from 1999-2003, chaired a Committee on Educational Technology from 2001-03, led the General Education Board from 2008-12 and has served as Liberal Arts & Sciences Associate Dean for the last 14 years.
In these roles Spangler has been a steadfast supporter of faculty development, worked with departments on personnel, curricular and programmatic issues, and guided the College’s learning outcomes assessment efforts.
As she approaches her retirement, Spangler is looking forward to learning a new video editing program, traveling, tending to her beloved birds and practicing the piano.
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