The many accomplishments of two ISU faculty members qualified their selection as associate deans of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, a university official said.

Douglas Epperson, professor of psychology, is the new associate dean of administration and David Oliver, professor of genetics development and cell biology, is the new associate dean of research for the college.

Michael Whiteford, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said because both candidates had prior experience, it helped distinguish them from the rest.

“David Oliver understands federal funding, grants and contracts, and he is very well-versed in carrying out and getting funding,” Whiteford said. “Douglas Epperson had previous administrative experience as both interim department chair and associate chair.”

Epperson is the director of the counseling psychology program and was interim chair for the psychology department from 1996 to 1999.

Epperson also served as that department’s associate chair twice and is the former interim director of the Office of Precollegiate Programs for Talented and Gifted at Iowa State.

He has been a faculty member at Iowa State since 1979.

Oliver is the former chair of the department of botany and has been an ISU faculty member since 1996.

From 1979 to 1996, he was on the faculty at the University of Idaho, Moscow, where he was the associate director of the Institute for Molecular and Agricultural Genetic Engineering from 1987 to 1988.

Oliver also worked as an agricultural scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station at New Haven, Conn., was a visiting professor from 1988 to 1989 in Grenoble, France, and from 2000 to 2001 at Flinders University in Adelaide, Australia.

“We were really looking for individuals who have had high-level administrative experience,” Whiteford said.

The three associate deans in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences — Oliver and Epperson, along with associate dean of academic affairs Zora Zimmerman — will act as a team, Whiteford said.

Oliver said he has two main goals for next year. One is to maintain the ongoing commitment to emphasizing more research involving undergraduate students.

The other is to better explain granting opportunities for faculty in the humanities.

Douglas Epperson is excited about the opportunity to serve the college and address new challenges that it faces.

“My primary goal is to provide service and support to the dean and the college,” Epperson said.