The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will have a new dean as of June 1.

Peter Rabideau, who has been the dean of the College of Basic Sciences at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge since 1990, has been appointed to the position.

Richard F. Ross, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine and the chairman of the search committee, said Rabideau has a strong track record and commitment in increasing the diversity of faculty.

“He emerged in our national campaign search as an outstanding candidate for this position,” he said. “I think Dr. Rabideau is going to bring a lot of interesting and innovating ideas for strengthening our liberal arts and sciences program. I think he is going to bring strong leadership.”

Zora Zimmerman, associate dean for Academic Programs and Instruction in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, also said Rabideau will be a valuable addition to the department.

“He will bring expertise in science,” she said. “He has an excellent record, of course, and will be bringing with him quite a bit of experience.”

Rabideau currently is conducting research on the synthesis and chemistry of bowl-shaped hydrocarbons called “buckybowls.”

“He is certainly doing some exciting work and innovating research with ‘buckybowls,'” Ross said.

Rabideau has a B.S. in chemistry from Loyola University in Chicago, an M.S. in chemistry from Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.

He was a member of the chemistry faculty at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis for 20 years prior to working at Louisiana State University.

At Indiana University-Purdue University, Rabideau spent two years as acting department chair and five years as department chairman for the chemistry department.

In addition to being a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Rabideau also has served for two years on a National Science Foundation panel to study integrating graduate education and research training.