Randolph-Macon College
Selects New Associate Dean

Professor returns to R-MC after U.S. Supreme Court appointment

Ashland, VA - Randolph-Macon College political science professor Dr. Lauren Cohen Bell has been selected as the college's new Associate Dean. Bell, who has taught at R-MC since 1999, took a temporary leave of absence in 2006-2007 to accept a yearlong fellowship at the United States Supreme Court, where she was assigned as the fellow at the United States Sentencing Commission.

Dr. Bell has distinguished herself in every aspect of her work as a faculty member at this college, said Dr. Bill Johnston who recently joined Randolph-Macon as the Provost. In conversations with her during the appointment process, I have found her insightful, full of creative possibilities, intent on helping the faculty and students at the College and filled with desire to uphold high standards set by our outstanding faculty.

Among many accomplishments at Randolph-Macon, Bell has devoted a significant amount of time to leadership activities. She has served on the Academic Integrity Council, helped facilitate leadership and community development programs with the Greek community, has been an advisor to numerous student groups including the campus newspaper and Political Science Student Association and was formerly the College's Pre-Law Advisor and the Assistant Director of the Honors Program. Bell has served on various faculty committees and has received numerous awards, honors and grants for her teaching abilities, scholarship and passionate volunteerism.

I am honored by this appointment and deeply appreciative of the opportunity to work closely with the outstanding faculty and students that I've gotten to know over the past several years, said Bell. I look forward to returning to campus and to working with the Randolph-Macon College community to help provide our students with the best liberal arts education possible.

Bell was only one of only four fellows selected for the 2006-2007 U.S. Supreme Court Fellows program, and was the recipient of the Program's 2006-07 Tom Clark Award for outstanding contributions to the Fellows program. She was also the American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Immigration from 1997-1998. She has written extensively on issues involving the Judiciary and Congress, publishing Warring Factions: Interest Groups, Money and the New Politics of Senate Confirmation in 2002,and numerous single- and co-authored articles in journals such as The Journal of Politics, Political Research Quarterly, The Journal of Legislative Studies, The Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, and Judicature.

Bell earned her B.A. in political science from the College of Wooster, Ohio, in 1994 and an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the Carl Albert Congressional Research and Studies Center at the University of Oklahoma in 1997 and 1999, respectively.

The R-MC associate dean appointment is set as a three-year, rotating position with the possibility of renewal and includes a teaching assignment of two courses each year. Dr. Bell will begin her new role on Monday, August 20, 2007.

For more information, contact Anne Marie Lauranzon at 752-7317 or alauranz@rmc.edu.