CLEVELAND -- Jill Korbin, professor of anthropology in the College of Arts and Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, is the college's new associate dean. She succeeds Angela Woollacott, professor of history, who is on sabbatical.

"Jill is a distinguished anthropologist who has excelled in teaching and research. She has earned the respect of faculty members and administrators," said Samuel Savin, the college's dean.

She has shown vision in developing or leading a number of programs, Savin added, including the Mann Scholars Program; the Schubert Center for Child Development, of which she is co-director with Richard Settersten from the Department of Sociology; and the Childhood Studies Program, which she directs. During two academic years, she served as the acting chair of the Department of Anthropology.

As a member of the college's Executive Committee, "she exhibited a solid understanding of the complex and multidisciplinary nature of the College of Arts and Sciences," Savin said. One of her new responsibilities will be to oversee curricular matters.

Korbin joined the CWRU faculty in 1981 as an assistant professor. She became an associate professor in 1987 and a professor in 1994. Her research centers on child and family related issues and the Amish.

Prior to CWRU, she had other research or teaching positions at the University of California's Los Angeles and Irvine campuses, University of Colorado Medical Center, and California State University. She was honored in 1986 with the Margaret Mead Award from the American Anthropological Association and the Society for Applied Anthropology.

Korbin earned her B.A. in 1971, M.A. in 1974, and Ph.D. in 1978 from the University of California at Los Angeles, where she studied anthropology.