Lederman to lead college’s Social Sciences Division

Understanding human beings and human behavior is a central theme of contemporary times, says Linda Costigan Lederman, who, on May 15, becomes the dean of the Division of Social Sciences in ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“That’s the importance of social sciences – understanding the individual in relation to others in the context of cultures and societies,” says Lederman, director of the Institute for Social Science Research at ASU and a professor of health communication in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication.

“Linda has a clear understanding of social sciences and has accomplished much as director of the Institute for Social Science Research. She has worked to position the institute as a research facility in support of funded external research for faculty across the university,” says Quentin Wheeler, ASU vice president and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “Following an internal search process that included interviews with a faculty committee, the other college deans and the provost, Linda emerged as our choice to head the Social Sciences Division.”

Lederman came to ASU in January 2006 from Rutgers University, and last August, she was selected as the founding director of the Institute for Social Science Research, a position she will continue to hold. Lederman will take the reins for the Division of Social Science from Alan Artibise, who was named executive dean of the college last December. Artibise also is the executive director of the Institute for Social Science Research, a role he will continue.

In her role as dean of the Division of Social Sciences, Lederman will manage 14 academic units, including the School of Geographical Sciences, the School of Global Studies, the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication, the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, the School of Justice and Social Inquiry and the School of Social and Family Dynamics; and, the departments of political science and transborder Chicana/o and Latina/o studies. Additionally, the division includes six programs: aerospace studies, military science studies, African and African American studies, American Indian studies, Asian Pacific American studies, and women and gender studies. There are 220 tenured/tenure track faculty in the division and her goal is to foster movement toward transdisciplinary research and help the units work collaboratively.

“This is a transformative time at the university and in the college. An important part of a dean’s job is to understand the visions of the units and to see what kinds of connections can be made to bring the faculty together in collaborative ways,” Lederman says.

A native of Long Beach, N.Y., Lederman has a doctorate in communication and information systems from Rutgers University, a master’s in speech communication from Columbia University, Moot Court Honors from the School of Law at Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Brown University. While in law school, Lederman particularly like moot court, so much so that she decided to leave law school to study argumentation, and communication and language.

“I became interested in the relationship between communication and behavior,” she says. “Now I design communication simulations for people to engage in and learn from,” she adds, noting the her law school experience with the Socratic method influenced her way of teaching. One of her simulations of college drinking-related decision making received an award from the U.S. Department of Education in 2000.

In addition to administrative duties as a dean, Lederman, who has authored 12 books and 65 journal articles, will continue her research in health communication, with an emphasis on alcohol use, abuse and addiction. She is currently at work on a book exploring the role of communication in understanding alcoholism and its treatment. Her recent research has been funded by grants from the U.S. Department of Education, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the U.S. Department of Justice and the New Jersey Consortium. In addition to her scholarly work, Lederman has an artistic flair. She’s been a painter and performer, and currently designs jewelry.

Carol Hughes, carol.hughes@asu.edu

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