Langston Named Interim Dean of Cook Library

New College of Florida President Mike Michalson has named Douglas Langston, professor of philosophy and religion, as interim dean of the Jane Bancroft Cook Library.  Langston will serve until a full time replacement can be found for former Dean of the Library Joan Pelland, who retired from the position at the end of June after more than 20 years of service.

Langston began his career at New College in 1977 as an instructor and his first administrative duty was as Chair of the Library Committee in 1978-79.  He later served as Chair of the Division of Humanities from 1985 to 1988.  Langston served as the Interim Dean and Warden in 1997-98, when New College was still affiliated with USF.  He also served as Interim Associate Dean and Warden in 1998-99, during which time he worked closely with library personnel and with budgetary issues associated with the library.

Although originally scheduled for assigned research this fall, Langston has postponed his research leave and will serve as Interim Dean of the Library through the year if the situation calls for it.

As interim dean, Langston will be busy working on personnel and space issues at the library, as well as assisting in the search for a permanent dean.  He also hopes to complete a number of major scholarly projects that he originally had intended to work on during his leave.  These include editing the Norton Critical Edition of Boethius’s The Consolation of Philosophy and completing an essay on the influence of Chrysippus’s view of freedom on the medieval analysis of the relationship between God’s knowledge and human freedom.  The latter is an extension of a topic he covered in his first book, God’s Willing Knowledge: The Influence of Scotus’s Analysis of God’s Omniscience.

For more information contact Aimee Chouinard, Media Relations Coordinator, (941) 487-4152 or [email protected].