Greg Simpson takes helm of CLAS

June 15, 2009

The University of Kansas is pleased to announce Gregory B. Simpson as interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, effective July 1.

Simpson has been on faculty at KU since 1991, serving as chair of psychology from 1999 to 2009. Simpson also served as an acting associate dean for the College in 2005-2006, and is associated faculty with the Child Language Program and the Center for East Asian Studies. Simpson began his academic career on the faculty of the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Simpson's research is centered in cognitive psychology and psycholinguistics. He has published 50 articles and chapters, and, in addition to over 60 conference presentations has been invited to present his research at universities in the United States, Europe, and Asia. He edited a book Understanding Word and Sentence (1991), and is co-editor of the forthcoming Handbook of East Asian Psycholinguistics: Korean.

Simpson is a member of the Psychonomic Society, the Association for Psychological Science, and the Midwestern Psychological Association. As chair of psychology, he was a member of the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology, for which he served as Secretary and President of the Executive Board. In 2004-2005 he was a Senior Administrative Fellow at KU, and in 2005 received a Kemper Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching.

Simpson received a bachelor's with honors in psychology from the University of the Pacific (1973), and a master's in psychology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (1975). He received a doctoral degree in experimental psychology in 1979 from the University of Kansas.

Simpson is married to Mary-Margaret Simpson, who serves as the public information officer for the Life Span Institute. They have one child.

Simpson succeeds Joseph E. Steinmetz, who accepted a new position as executive dean and vice provost of arts and sciences at Ohio State University.