Yen-Hwei Lin has been recommended to serve as Interim Dean of Michigan State University’s College of Arts & Letters, effective June 10. She will assume the role of Interim Dean Designee until the MSU Board of Trustees meeting on Friday, June 28. Pending board approval, Lin will succeed Christopher P. Long, who has served as Dean since July 2015 and has accepted a position at the University of Oregon to serve as its Provost and Senior Vice President beginning in mid-June.
A Professor of Linguistics, Lin has chaired the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures in the College of Arts & Letters since 2018. In the chairperson role, she has been responsible for overseeing the academic operation of the department, long-range and strategic planning for the development of departmental programs, preparing and administering the budget, faculty and staff recruitment and annual reviews, and supervising course schedule preparations and teaching assignments.
Lin has served in additional administrative roles within the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures, including Department Coordinator, Associate Chair, Director of Graduate Studies for Linguistics, and Coordinator of the Chinese program. She was also a Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) Academic Leadership Program Fellow, a BTAA Department Executive Officer Program member, and a Lilly Teaching Fellow.
Lin has a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin and came to Michigan State University in 1989. Her research focuses on phonological theory and phonological patterns in Chinese languages, with additional interests in phonetics, sociolinguistics, and cognitive science. She has been Co-Director of the Phonology-Phonetics Research Group and Experimental Lab in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures; core faculty of MSU’s Cognitive Science Program; affiliated faculty of the Second Language Studies Program; and a core faculty member of MSU’s Asian Studies Center.
“I look forward to partnering with the college’s exceptional faculty, staff, students, leaders, and alumni to continue with the excellent work we have done and move forward with our collective vision and strategic plan.”
Dr. Yen-Hwei Lin
“In her leadership role in the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures, Dr. Lin has worked to promote the diversity and global reach of the department’s programming and to advance academic excellence and student success,” said MSU Interim Provost Thomas Jeitschko. “She is committed to enhancing undergraduate and graduate education and to fostering community outreach and engagement. I am confident that her knowledge about, leadership experience within, and familiarity with the College of Arts & Letters will provide stability and continuity for the college during this time of transition.”
As a nationally and internationally established scholar in Chinese linguistics, Lin currently serves as Co-Editor of Lingua Sinica, Associate Editor of Language and Linguistics, and is on the editorial board of the Journal of East Asian Linguistics. Since 2017, she has been a member of the advisory board of the Institute of Linguistics at Academia Sinica in Taiwan. She has published widely in journals and book volumes and is the author of “The Sounds of Chinese” (Cambridge University Press, 2007) and co-editor of “The Cambridge Handbook of Chinese Linguistics” (Cambridge University Press, 2022).
“It will be an honor to serve the College of Arts & Letters during this transitional period,” Lin said. “I look forward to partnering with the college’s exceptional faculty, staff, students, leaders, and alumni to continue with the excellent work we have done and move forward with our collective vision and strategic plan.”
An acting chair for the Department of Linguistics, Languages, and Cultures will be appointed soon. A national search for the next Dean of the College of Arts & Letters will begin in the fall.
Written by Jenny Jimenez and originally published by MSU Today
