Stephan Wilson named Dean of College of Human Environmental Sciences at Oklahoma State University

Friday, October 26, 2007

(GOODWELL, Ok., Oct. 26, 2007) – The Oklahoma State University/A&M Regents today approved the appointment of Dr. Stephan M. Wilson as dean of the College of Human Environmental Sciences at OSU after an extensive national search.   Wilson is the former senior associate dean and professor in the College of Health and Human Sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno.

“We are very pleased Dr. Wilson has accepted our offer to become dean of the College of Human Environmental Sciences,” said interim OSU System CEO and President Marlene Strathe.  “He is an accomplished scholar with extensive experience who will provide the necessary leadership to this outstanding college to assure its continued influence in the state and nation.”

As a Fellow of the National Council on Family Relations, Wilson’s lifetime contributions to cross-cultural and cross-national family studies will be honored by the NCFR with the presentation of the Jan Trost Award at its national conference in November.

Wilson becomes the fifth dean and the first male dean in the history of the College of HES.  He replaces Dr. Patricia K. Knaub, who has served as dean the last 18 years and announced her intention a year ago to step down.

Wilson served as chair of the Department of Human Development and Family Studies at University of Nevada, Reno and is currently the interim director of the Nevada Center for Ethics and Health Policy and co-director of the SAGE Consortium (Scholars for Aging and Ethics).

Earlier in his career he served as a U.S. Peace Corps teacher in Kenya, and returned 22 years later with his family to teach at Kenyatta University in Nairobi as a Visiting Senior Fulbright Scholar.  He continues collaboration with colleagues at Kenyatta University and with colleagues at several universities in China.

Prior to UNR, Wilson served as acting chair and later director of graduate studies in the Department of Family Studies and director of the Research Center for Families and Children at the University of Kentucky. In addition, he has held faculty positions at Virginia Tech, Illinois State University and Montana State University where he was the acting department chair of the Department of Health and Human Development and director of Human Development and Counseling.

Wilson graduated Cum Laude from Wabash College with a bachelor’s degree in biology and philosophy. He received a master of science degree in child and family studies and a Ph.D. in human ecology from the University of Tennessee.  

Wilson has served on the editorial board and as a guest editor for “Marriage and Family Review” and the editorial board for “Family Relations” and has reviewed for many other scholarly journals.  Most recently, his research program has focused on adolescent social competence across cultures, examining family and other influences on youth connectedness/separateness, required adult social skills, self-esteem, and achievement. Other areas of his research have included rural and Appalachian families, cross cultural families and family social capital influences on developmental and status attainment outcomes.  He is the author of many papers and books and has presented his findings to national and international conferences.

Beyond the National Council on Family Relations, Professor Wilson is a member of Phi Kappa Phi, the Society for Research on Adolescence, the International Society for the Study of Personal Relationships, the American Association for Family and Consumer Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and Omicron Nu.

As the new dean of the OSU College of Human Environmental Sciences, Wilson will oversee the work of three departments and one school that provide bachelor of science degrees in 13 areas of study, master of science degrees in 10 fields of study and  Ph.D. degrees with specialization in one of four functional areas. The college is also a member of the Great Plains Interactive Alliance (Great Plains IDEA), offering three online master of science degree programs. For more information, go to www.ches.okstate.edu .

Oklahoma’s only university with a statewide presence, Oklahoma State University is a five-campus, public land-grant educational system that improves the lives of people in Oklahoma, the nation, and the world through integrated, high-quality teaching, research and outreach.  OSU has nearly 33,000 students across its system and nearly 21,000 on its Stillwater campus.  Established in 1890, the Stillwater campus is the home of the OSU System.  The STATE’s university boasts students from all 50 states and nearly 120 nations, and has more than 200,000 alumni throughout the world.