April 9, 1999		Peter Goldsmith to Be New Oberlin College Dean of Student Life and Services Media Contact: Marci Janas
	The Role of the Dean of Student Life and Services   Photograph by Joseph Mehling Courtesy of Dartmouth College		OBERLIN, OH--Oberlin College President Nancy S. Dye has announced the appointment of Peter D. Goldsmith as the College's new dean of student life and services. Goldsmith's appointment, which follows a national search, becomes effective July 1, 1999. "The search committee did a fine job of fielding four excellent candidates for this deanship," said President Dye. "I am delighted with the outcome. Peter Goldsmith's background will serve him--and Oberlin--extremely well as dean of student life. His sensitivity to Oberlin's history and ethos, and his commitment to helping students develop to their fullest potential as engaged citizens of the world, will be a great benefit to us all." Since 1993, Goldsmith has been dean of first-year students and adjunct associate professor of anthropology at Dartmouth College. From 1986 until 1993 he served as director of studies at Princeton University's Mathey College--one of its undergraduate residential colleges--where he was also lecturer in the program of Afro-American studies and the department of anthropology. From 1984 until 1986 he was assistant dean of students in the division of the social sciences at the University of Chicago, where he also lectured in the social sciences and advised students. "I am delighted to have been chosen Oberlin's next dean of students," Goldsmith said. "It is Oberlin's students, above all, that attracted me to the position. Their history of social activism, their diversity, their commitment to intellectual discourse and artistic excellence--these are the things to which I am committed and which are at the heart of the finest college experiences. I am looking forward to getting to know them." An anthropologist by training, Goldsmith has for years combined teaching with his administrative duties. At Dartmouth and Princeton, he has taught regularly on such topics as "Constructing Ethnic Identities in American Cultural History" and "Religious Innovation in the African American World." The Smithsonian Institution Press published Goldsmith's book, Making People's Music: Moe Asch and Folkways Records, in 1998. This spring his book received the Ray and Pat Browne Award from the Popular Culture Association for the best book in the biography/autobiography category. Several public radio programs have interviewed him concerning the book, including National Public Radio's "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross. Goldsmith received his bachelor's degree in English and his master's in sociology, both from Boston College. He earned the Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Chicago. "I'm extremely pleased that Peter Goldsmith will be our next dean of student life," said Ray English, director of libraries at Oberlin and chair of the search committee. "He has a clear vision of the role of student life at Oberlin, he's especially capable at relating student life concerns to academic life, he has a personal and intellectual commitment to issues of diversity, and he has a fine ability to relate to students. Peter's values fit exceptionally well with Oberlin's and I'm confident that he will enjoy the respect of our entire campus community." Deb McNish, who had been serving as interim dean of student life and was also a candidate for the position, withdrew herself from consideration when she was offered, and accepted, an appointment as dean of student development at Earlham College. "The applicant pool for this position was excellent," said English. "Our committee faced a difficult decision in choosing among exceptionally qualified final candidates. The search committee is confident that Peter Goldsmith possesses a combination of qualifications and abilities that will serve Oberlin especially well at this point in our institutional history."