Jackson Family Distinguished Chair of English Donald Hall has been appointed the new chairman of the Department of Foreign Languages in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University .

�€?I am very excited about serving as chair of the foreign languages department, whose mission and strengths I have long admired,�€? Dr. Hall said. �€?With a bachelor’s in German and master’s in comparative literature, and experience as a professor of English as a second language in Africa , I will be drawing on many aspects of my educational and administrative background in the coming two years.�€?

Hall will continue to hold his position as Jackson Chair in English and to teach in the English department.

“I am so pleased that Dr. Hall will be the next chair of the department of foreign languages. His academic background and administrative experience will be very important to the department as it moves forward to implement a strategic plan for 2010,”said Dean of the Eberly College Mary Ellen Mazey.

Hall came to WVU in 2004 after having served as chair of the department of English and interim associate dean at the California State University , Northridge. He completed his undergraduate education at the University of Alabama , and received his doctorate from the University of Maryland . He has published widely in the fields of British studies, queer theory, cultural studies and professional studies.

He is a recipient of the University Distinguished Teaching Award at CSUN , was a 2001 Lansdowne Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University of Victoria ( Canada ), was the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in Cultural Studies at Karl Franzens University in Graz , Austria , for 2004-2005, and will serve as a Fulbright Senior Specialist at the University of Helsinki, Finland, this summer.

Susan Braidi, associate professor of foreign languages, will serve as the new associate chair. Braidi received her doctorate from the University of Delaware and specializes in the fields of applied linguistics, second language acquisition and syntax.

For more information, contact Hall at 304-293-3107 or at Donald.Hall@mail.wvu.edu .