NEWPORT, R.I. – President M. Therese Antone, R.S.M., has announced the appointment of Dr. Dean de la Motte to the position of vice president for academic affairs and professor of French and comparative literature. Dr. de la Motte is currently serving as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty at Belmont Abbey College near Charlotte, N.C. He will officially join Salve Regina July 1.

In a memo distributed to the faculty late Tuesday, Sister Therese thanked the search committee for "conducting a professional, collaborative and thorough process in seeking qualified candidates. I am confident in Dr. de la Motte's ability to carry forward the mission and vision of the institution as vice president for academic affairs," she said. The search process included presentations and casual greeting sessions where faculty and administrators could interact with candidates and later provide insights to the committee.

Dr. de la Motte has an educational background in comparative literature and also earned his doctorate in comparative literature with a concentration in French. He is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has been editor of two publications and has written numerous articles and conference papers on subjects ranging from the creation of the modern newspaper public in 19th-century France to the role of the chief academic officer in international education. He is also involved in the national conversation on church-related higher education, serving on the National Network Board of the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts, an ecumenical organization that seeks to "renew and enhance the connections between Christianity and the academic vocation."

At Belmont Abbey College, Dr. de la Motte has worked with faculty to develop new majors in international business, criminal justice and security studies, as well as to create or revise minors in justice and peace studies, environmental science, international studies, theatre, mathematics and physics. He oversaw the revision of the core curriculum, which was implemented in 2004, and established study abroad programs in England, Estonia, France and Germany. He is currently involved in developing a program in Ireland as well as proposing a new major in communication studies and an RN-BSN completion program.

As the vice president for academic affairs at Salve Regina, Dr. de la Motte will provide academic leadership and work with deans and faculty to formulate and implement long-range plans for academic programs. He will also participate in strategic planning at the senior administrative level and coordinate instructional development and enrollment management with academic departments. SALVEtoday asked Dr. de la Motte to share his thoughts regarding the recent appointment.

How do you feel about your appointment to the position of vice president for academic affairs?

I am honored to have been selected by Sister Therese, and by the recommendation of the search committee. She and the faculty and staff of Salve Regina have clearly taken the institution to new heights, from dramatically increasing the endowment to raising academic standards and developing an exciting, integrative core curriculum that strives to develop lifelong learners and responsible citizens of the world. It is my hope that my academic training and administrative experience can contribute in a substantial way to the university's goal to "create a vibrant learning community that generates new standards of academic excellence and is charged with intellectual challenge, diversity of thought and centrality of purpose."

What appealed to you about the position of vice president for academic affairs at Salve Regina?

First, the university's mission statement resonated immediately with me. The Sisters of Mercy are justly known for their genuine and full acceptance of all people, and practice this core value of mercy in all of their ministries. In short, they show hospitality and mercy not only in word but in deed, and this commitment plays itself out in higher education in numerous compelling ways: a pursuit of wisdom in all its diversity; a fostering among students and staff alike of a sense of universal justice that comes to us both from Catholic social teaching generally and the Mercy tradition specifically; a commitment to lifelong learning, since human knowledge and wisdom are never static or complete; and finally, a tradition of service to others, in which wisdom, mercy and justice come together to inform how we are to treat one another and, in turn, are to "work for a world that is harmonious, just and merciful."

Second, I was strongly attracted to the opportunity to work at an institution that clearly has exceptional leadership, a clear vision and a thriving community that lives its mission and is committed to true excellence. Through careful planning and patience, enormous strides have been taken in recent years, and even greater promise lies ahead.

Third, the opportunity to work at a larger, more complex institution with graduate programs, but that still retains a "small college" atmosphere, very much appealed to me at this moment in my career.

Finally, on a personal level, I have wanted to live in New England since I was a young child, and how could a 19th-century scholar not fall in love with Newport? In addition, my wife Karen's entire family lives in New England, and our daughter Maria plans to attend college next fall in Massachusetts, Maine or Vermont (institution TBA!).

What do you believe is Salve Regina's potential?

The campus is already among the most beautiful in the world, and so the university's emphasis in recent years has, quite rightly, been on increasing its academic rigor, its selectivity and its academic resources. I am committed to the continuation of that happy trend, and will play a supporting role to my fellow vice presidents whenever and wherever needed, from admissions to institutional advancement. Quite honestly, due to the momentum established in all areas under Sister Therese's leadership, I think the potential for the institution is almost limitless.

What do you bring to the university that can help the institution realize its goals?

As you can see, I certainly have enthusiasm for the position, the institution and its mission! I hope that my varied background in research, teaching, administration and community service will help me communicate with all constituencies as we seek, together, to move the institution forward in the years ahead.

My management style is highly collaborative: Where tough decisions are to be made, I do my best to imagine how others might feel. I believe that my immersion in another language and culture as a young man, as well as my long residence in very different regions of our own country, equip me especially well to bring empathy and understanding to the resolution of the many challenges that arise almost daily in the work of a chief academic officer. Since I have already served in this capacity for several years now, I am broadly conversant with the various academic disciplines and, perhaps even more important, with the way faculty members in the various disciplines work, and how they think. 

As one whose life was transformed by study abroad and who, much later, became a faculty leader of such programs, I am an enthusiastic proponent of international education generally. I thus look forward to helping promote programs abroad for our domestic students, the recruitment of international students to Salve Regina, and, of course, the exciting work of the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy.

I try always to keep in mind that students are at the center of what we do.  

Finally, I like to have fun at work, and try not to take myself too seriously. Rarely do I leave campus thinking that I have had a "bad" day, and in my experience employees adopt the attitude – for good or ill – of their supervisors. A positive but realistic outlook on the day's issues is something I strive consciously to attain, and I hope that habit of mind will quickly put my new colleagues at ease.

Personal Information

Born: Turlock, Calif., Feb. 5, 1961

Married since 1985 to Karen Abbondanza de la Motte, Ph.D. (native of Haverhill, Mass.)

Two children: Maria (18) and William (15)