A familiar face is returning to the dean’s office in the West Virginia University Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

Rudolph Almasy, associate dean for college development, will assume the duties of interim dean July 1, Provost Gerald Lang said. He will replace Dean M. Duane Nellis, who is leaving WVU to become provost of Kansas State University.

I am looking forward to continuing the momentum that Duane Nellis has developed,said Almasy, who also served as interim dean of the college from 1995-97.

Almasy came to WVU in 1969. He is an associate professor of English and served as chairman of the Department of English during the 1980s. He was associate dean for academic affairs in Eberly College from 1992-95 and has served in his current position since 1997.

His extensive administrative experience made Almasy the logical choice for interim dean, Lang said.

Dr. Almasy is the senior associate dean of the college and an experienced educator,Lang said.He is also most knowledgeable of the programs and operations of the college.

Almasy earned his doctorate in English renaissance literature from the University of Minnesota and publishes regularly in the field of 16 th century English reformation studies.

A native of Chicago, he earned a bachelor’s degree in English from MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Ill., and a master’s degree in English from the University of Minnesota.

He lives in Morgantown with his wife, Helen, director of quality improvement at Monongalia General Hospital. They have one daughter, Sara, a 2000 graduate of Eberly College.

Eberly College is the largest of WVU ’s 13 schools and colleges, with 6,300 students majoring in 30 undergraduate programs and more than 1,000 graduate students.

The search for a permanent dean will begin in the fall.