Bradley A. Bielski, Ph.D., has been selected as the new dean and chief administrative officer at Kent State University at Tuscarawas. Bielski was named after a national search. He currently serves as vice president for academic affairs and dean at Thomas More College in Crestview Hills, Kentucky.
“Brad Bielski’s lengthy experience at a fine liberal arts college and his kind, caring and positive personality will combine to make him an excellent leader of the Tuscarawas Campus,” said Todd Diacon, Kent State’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “Students, faculty, board members and community leaders are excited by his selection, and I am especially glad that he accepted our offer.”
Bielski succeeds Gregg L. Andrews, Ph.D., who announced in October 2013 that he would be leaving the dean post effective July 1, 2014. Andrews will work with the associate provost and Regional College dean and teach at Kent State Tuscarawas with the intention to retire July 1, 2015, after 30 years of service to the university.
“I am honored to be selected as the dean and chief administrative officer of Kent State University at Tuscarawas,” Bielski said. “I wish to thank the entire Tuscarawas Campus community, the university and the truly invested members of our region. Kent State Tuscarawas has made great strides under the remarkable leadership of Dr. Gregg Andrews. During his tenure, the university brought forward new academic programs along with capital investments to support those programs and made the campus a cultural center in our community. We have a wonderful institution due to a talented and dedicated faculty, invested staff and students with a passion for learning.
“I have already met many people in the region and have been very impressed by how strongly our community values Kent State University at Tuscarawas and education at all levels,” Bielski continued. “I am excited about where we are today and even more energized by the momentum we have moving forward. Working collaboratively, we can serve the needs of our students and advance communities in which they live. I would also express my sincere gratitude to Kent State President [Lester A.] Lefton and Provost Diacon for offering me this incredible opportunity.”
Bielski first came to Thomas More College in 1995. Since 2004, Bielski has served as the academic vice president and dean of the college. His areas of responsibility include all traditional academic departments, accelerated education (TAP), graduate studies, the Registrar’s Office, Lifelong Learning, Institutional Planning and Effectiveness, the Library and Retention Services. From 1995-2004, Bielski served as a member of the chemistry department, teaching physical chemistry, general chemistry, undergraduate research and selected analytical courses. He served as the chair of the department from 2002-2004 and also as the chair of the Faculty General assembly.
His research interests included quantum statistics (Bose-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac), statistical thermodynamics and quantum chemistry, as applied to both low-temperature and high-temperature systems. He is published in Spectrochimicia Acta, The Journal of Applied Spectroscopy and The Journal of Analytical and Atomic Spectroscopy. As a faculty member, he received funding from the National Science Foundation, the Center for Integrated Science and Mathematics, George Renaker Charitable Trust, Acer Inc. and Cinergy. He has continued to work collaboratively on external funding, contributing to grants received from the James Graham Brown Foundation Inc., the U.S. Small Business Administration, Cinergy (Duke Energy) and U.S. Bank.
Bielski is active in several professional and community organizations, serving or having served as chairman of the board for the Brighton Center Inc., chairman of the board for the Northern Kentucky Council of Partners, chair of the AIKCU Chief Academic Officers Association and a member of the Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities, Strive Partnership, Leadership Northern Kentucky, Vision 2015 and the Board of Trustees of Thomas More College.
Bielski received both his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and his doctorate in the area of physical chemistry from the University of Cincinnati.
He and his family will be moving to the New Philadelphia, Ohio, area from Newport, Kentucky.
For more information about Kent State Tuscarawas, visit www.tusc.kent.edu.
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Media Contacts:
Eric Mansfield, emansfie@kent.edu, 330-672-2797
Emily Vincent, evincen2@kent.edu, 330-672-8595