MACON — Mercer University President William D. Underwood today announced the appointment of Lake Lambert, Ph.D., currently professor and administrator at Wartburg College in Iowa, as dean of Mercer’s College of Liberal Arts, effective July 1. Dr. Lambert will succeed Dr. Richard Fallis, who announced that he will retire as dean this summer following nearly 10 years at the helm of Mercer’s oldest academic unit.
“Dr. Lambert is a person whose skills and experiences match those of highly effective academic leaders,” said Mercer Provost Wallace L. Daniel. “He is a person of vision with a strong commitment to the liberal arts and sciences and a collaborative leader who will also be an innovative dean. His experience in strategic planning will benefit the College, both in building on its distinctive heritage and in developing a culture of discovery.
“I want to express gratitude to the faculty search committee, ably chaired by Dr. Dale Moore, for its superb work on behalf of the College of Liberal Arts and the University. Members of the faculty committee did an extremely conscientious and skillful job in bringing well-qualified candidates for this important position. I would also like to express heartfelt appreciation to Dean Fallis, for his years of service and leadership of the College of Liberal Arts,” Dr. Daniel said.
Dr. Lambert serves as professor of religion and Board of Regents Chair in Ethics at Wartburg College, where he has been on the faculty since 1996. He also serves as executive director of the college’s Commission on Mission, an initiative to engage faculty, staff, students, alumni and trustees in strategic planning while maintaining its distinctive mission. He also serves as assistant dean for academic planning, working to foster collaboration among faculty leaders and administrators for effective program assessment and budgeting in coordination with the college’s long-range plan and fundraising priorities.
“I am honored to be the new Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and look forward to working with an outstanding faculty and staff who share my passion for liberal learning,” Dr. Lambert said. “Even during my short time on campus, I saw how a Mercer education is distinctive. The faculty’s personal relationships with students, student engagement in local and global communities, and the university’s focus on leadership and ethics offer students something unique in higher education.”
In addition to his teaching and administrative duties, Dr. Lambert has also maintained an active role in the scholarship of his field, religion and ethics. He published a book in 2009, Spirituality Inc.: Religion in the American Workplace, and has published articles and book reviews in scholarly journals, religious publications and the popular press, including USA Today.
From 2003 to 2008, Dr. Lambert served as director of the Center for Community Engagement and The Callings Initiative at Wartburg, a program funded by a $2 million grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc., which helped the college to further professional development and programs for student vocational discovery, as well as support and expand experiential learning and external partnerships. The efforts helped to further Wartburg’s reputation as a leader in experiential learning, including national recognitions from the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll and the Carnegie Foundation.
Dr. Lambert earned his Doctor of Philosophy in social ethics from Princeton Theological Seminary and his Master of Theological Studies from Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. He also completed his undergraduate studies at Emory, earning his Bachelor of Arts, majoring in economics and history.
Dr. Lambert is married to Kelly Duddles-Lambert, an accountant, and they have two children, a daughter, Bailey, 13, and a son, Zack, 9.
About Mercer University
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University enrolls more than 8,000 students in 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies – on major campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah and at three regional academic centers across the state. Mercer is affiliated with two teaching hospitals — Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah and the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, and has educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. The University operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. For more information, visit www.mercer.edu.
— 30 —
