Dunaway named Arts and Sciences associate dean
A Mississippi State faculty member with an extensive background in criminal justice and sociology is the new associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences.
As associate dean of academic affairs and student services in the university's largest academic unit, Gregory Dunaway coordinates all aspects of the undergraduate programs, including curriculum issues, student advising and awards, and scholarships.
With administrative offices in Allen Hall, the college provides the majority of the university's general education courses. Among its separate 14 departments are nearly two dozen academic degree programs, more than 5,200 students and some 350 full-time faculty members.
"The first thing on my agenda is to learn as much as I can about individual departments," Dunaway said. "I also want to work with academic coordinators to improve academic advising and services for students and down the road, would like to assist in developing and enhancing programs within departments."
During a distinguished campus career of more than two decades, Dunaway has served as undergraduate coordinator of the sociology and criminology programs, director of the criminal justice and corrections certificate program and director of sociology graduate studies. Several years ago, he also served as the college's interim associate dean.
The Thomas Bailey Professor of Sociology and former sociology department head, he was instrumental in creating the state's only criminology degree program. Additionally, he has been a research fellow at the land-grant institution's nationally recognized Social Science Research Center.
His research interests include social factors associated with crime and delinquency, criminal justice and correctional policy. He has conducted research on a number of Mississippi justice programs, including a drug court program evaluation, survey of the juvenile detention facilities and study on multijurisdictional drug task forces.
Dunaway, a Loyola University Maryland graduate who also holds master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Cincinnati, succeeds Dave Breaux, who recently became graduate school dean at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Margaret Kovar | University Relations
