Borunda, Leffingwell appointed to College of Arts and Sciences leadership team
Friday, December 16, 2022
Media Contact: Elizabeth Gosney | CAS Marketing and Communications Manager | 405-744-7497 | egosney@okstate.edu
Oklahoma State University’s College of Arts and Sciences recently announced two new additions to its leadership team.
Dr. Mario Borunda from the Department of Physics was named associate dean and senior inclusion officer in November, replacing Dr. Craig Freeman, who took a position at OSU-Tulsa.
Dr. Thad Leffingwell from the Department of Psychology was named associate dean for facilities in December. Dr. Kristen Baum had previously been fulfilling duties associated with the position in addition to her responsibilities as associate dean for research.
“Both of these men demonstrate strong leadership skills,” said Dr. Keith Garbutt, CAS interim dean. “Although we had qualified candidates for the positions, Drs. Borunda and Leffingwell stood out as the best fits for their respective roles. They’ve striven to better their departments, mentor students and support the overall land-grant mission of OSU.”
Borunda became a faculty member at OSU in 2012 after earning bachelor’s degrees in physics and mathematics from the University of Texas at El Paso and a Ph.D. in physics from Texas A&M. He spent nearly four years at Harvard University as a postdoc and research associate.
“In my new role, I am intrigued by the possibility of tackling essential issues and, ideally, finding ways to create buy-in from all stakeholders so that CAS and OSU can be the place where all students, faculty and staff can thrive,” Borunda said. “I have been passionate about working on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts with different national organizations and supporting DEI initiatives within various OSU programs. Diversity is a core asset vital to fulfilling OSU’s educational mission.”
Leffingwell most recently served as the head of the Department of Psychology. After finishing a master’s degree at the University of Arizona, he earned his doctorate at the University of Washington and completed a pre-doctoral internship at the Puget Sound VA Healthcare System in Seattle. A clinical health psychologist, Leffingwell has been at OSU since 2000.
“The College of Arts and Sciences utilizes almost a million square feet of facilities on the OSU campus and providing good stewardship of those spaces is a top priority for the college,” Leffingwell said. “As a longstanding department head in Psychology, I have had to make efficient use of the facilities resources available to us and I look forward to applying those lessons within CAS.”
Borunda and Leffingwell will officially begin their new roles on Jan. 1, 2023.
