Mark Byrnes named liberal arts dean at Middle Tennessee State
The Murfreesboro Post
April 18, 2011
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.
