HARRISBURG, Pa. — Penn State Harrisburg announced today the appointment of Jeffrey Beck as the director of the college’s School of Humanities, effective July 1.
Beck currently serves as the dean of the Nathan Weiss Graduate College at Kean University, Union, New Jersey. He also has served as assistant dean and associate dean of graduate studies at East Tennessee State University (ETSU), Johnson City, Tennessee. Beck has 23 years of teaching experience between the two institutions, having been promoted from assistant to associate to full professor at ETSU and hired as dean with the rank of professor at Kean. He has also held teaching positions at Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana. Beck has taught as an English professor and worked with departments in arts and sciences throughout his career.
“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Jeffrey Beck as the new director of the School of Humanities," said Chancellor Mukund Kulkarni. "Dr. Beck brings a wealth of extensive administrative and academic experience, leadership abilities and proven success as a scholar and able administrator. We look forward to welcoming him to the Penn State Harrisburg community.”
A literary historian, Beck has authored the books, “The American Indian Integration of Baseball” and “Writing the Flesh: The Herbert Family Dialogue,” as well as many peer-reviewed articles, notes, magazine articles and reviews. He has received grants from the National Endowments for the Humanities (NEH) to pursue his research, and has served many times as a panelist and reviewer for the NEH.
“I am very excited to join Penn State Harrisburg as the director of the School of Humanities,” said Beck. “I am looking forward to working with the school’s outstanding faculty and staff to continue the significant research and learning opportunities in progress and explore new ideas to advance the School of Humanities even further.”
Beck holds a doctoral degree and a master’s degree from Indiana University, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa. His research interests include literary history, digital humanities, poetry and aesthetics.