Libby Walker Appointed Dean of WSU Honors College

Dean Libby Walker
Dean Libby Walker

PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University announces that Elizabeth A. “Libby” Walker is the dean of the University Honors College.

Walker served the college as interim dean for nearly two years, and was previously associate dean (2004-2007) and assistant dean (1996-2004).

“Libby Walker has done an outstanding job of leading the Honors College through a period of positive change and growth,” said Provost and Executive Vice President Warwick M. Bayly.  “She played an active role in the university reaccreditation process and has been an integral part of our efforts to improve our programs and curriculum for outstanding students even in the face of difficult budgetary times.”

Walker, a WSU alumna, was, for example, instrumental in developing and implementing a revised Honors College curriculum that went into place in fall 2008 for new incoming students; it includes a foreign language competency requirement.  The college hosted the Western Regional Honors Council conference at the Davenport Hotel in Spokane in March of this year; Walker was elected the new president of the professional organization.  And, funding for Honors scholarships and initiatives has continued to grow under her leadership.

Walker became interim dean when Mary F. Wack left the Honors dean position to serve as the vice provost for undergraduate education.  A search for a permanent dean closed in 2008 with no candidate selected.

An Iowa native, Walker earned her Ph.D. in political science and public policy from WSU, her master’s degree from the State University of New York-Buffalo, and her bachelor’s degree from the University of Colorado.  In 2003, Walker was the WSU delegate to the Bryn Mawr Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education.  She taught political science at WSU and the University of Idaho, and in the Women Studies Program at WSU, and was a visiting lecturer at the University of Toulouse in France.

Contact: Beverly Makhani, Communications Director, Undergraduate Education and Honors College, 509-335-6679, makhani@wsu.edu