Meet Angelo State's New Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities

SAN ANGELO, TX — Dr. John E. Klingemann, chair of the Angelo State University Department of History, has been appointed the new dean of ASU’s College of Arts and Humanities, effective July 1.

An ASU faculty member since 2007, Klingemann is also an associate professor of history and previously served as interim chair of the Department of Communication and Mass Media. Prior to joining ASU, he worked as a history instructor for the BorderLinks nonprofit education agency in Tucson, Ariz., as curator of public programs and exhibits for the Museum of the Big Bend at Sul Ross State University, and as a researcher in the Center for Big Bend Studies at Sul Ross. He has also acted as an interpreter for the U.S. Federal Magistrate Court in Alpine.

As chair of the Department of History, Klingemann oversees 16 ASU faculty and staff, as well as the departmental budget, hiring of faculty, assessment implementation, the mentoring of junior faculty, course scheduling, and the preparation of faculty reviews and tenure and promotion dossiers. He also teaches a variety of history courses, from Signature Courses for incoming freshmen to online and in-class courses for graduate students.

Since taking over as department chair in 2014, Klingemann has led initiatives to implement a new plan for history students seeking teacher certification, construct online courses for high school dual-credit students, develop a long-term strategy for recruiting and retaining history majors, revise the curriculum for both undergraduate and graduate history courses, assist faculty in pursuing grant funding, and produce an annual authors lecture series with the Friends of the Porter Henderson Library and West Texas Collection.

Dr. Don Topliff, ASU provost and vice president for academic affairs, announced Klingemann’s appointment.

“Following a national search and on-campus interviews with three excellent candidates, Dr. Klingemann was selected as the new dean,” Topliff said. “He has proven his leadership and scholarship abilities as a department chair, a Fulbright scholar, and an active and dedicated member of the ASU Ram Family and the local community. I’m excited to see the direction he will take the College of Arts and Humanities. I’d also like to thank our outgoing dean, Dr. Carolyn Gascoigne, for her outstanding service to Angelo State.”

In addition to his teaching and administrative duties, Klingemann has published more than 20 book chapters, journal articles, short stories and translations, and he has made more than 80 presentations at professional conferences. He serves on numerous ASU campus committees, as well as being the faculty advisor for the Association of Mexican-American Students and the Ram Rugby Club. He is also the color commentator for radio broadcasts of ASU Rams football games. Off campus, he serves on the Board of Trustees for the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, the Editorial Council for the Center for Big Bend Studies, and the Board of Directors for the Community Reinvesting in Educational Opportunities initiative, among others.

Klingemann earned his bachelor’s degree in Spanish and his master’s degree in history at Sul Ross State University and his Ph.D. in Latin America studies at the University of Arizona.

As dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, Klingemann will oversee all academic programs and services in the Departments of Communication and Mass Media, English and Modern Languages, History, Political Science and Philosophy, Security Studies and Criminal Justice, and Visual and Performing Arts.