For the past 15 months I have had the distinct pleasure of being a guest in the Department of Dance in the role of interim chair. During this time, I have learned why the department has long been designated a “Center of Excellence” at Ohio State and recognized globally as a leading program (arguably the leading program) in the disciplines of dance and dance studies. I have constantly marveled at the creative genius and scholarly rigor of the department’s faculty, the unrivalled dedication and ingenuity of its staff, and the unbridled energy and eagerness to learn on the part of its students—characteristics so abundantly evidenced by the accolades trumpeted elsewhere in this edition of InForm. During my brief time in the department I am particularly honored to have been able to recruit two new faculty members—Assistant Professor Gerson Lanza Ruiz and Assistant Professor of Practice Cyrah L. Ward—into the program and to have participated in the successful reviews for promotion to the rank of professor of three others: Harmony Bench, Daniel Roberts, and Abby Zbikowski. And even though I had no personal role in the process, I am also thrilled to have been at the helm when we welcomed on board our newest staff member, production and stage specialist extraordinaire Madi Andre. Because my brief time in the department is probably best regarded as having constituted something of a “holding pattern,” I am eager to hand off the reins to the incoming chair, Associate Professor Crystal Perkins, whose four-year term begins on July 1 and under whose sage stewardship the department is destined, I believe, to reach unprecedented heights of achievement. Finally, I wish to close this message by expressing my thanks to Dean David Horn and Divisional Dean Dana Renga for entrusting me with this assignment as well as my most heartfelt thanks to all who welcomed me so warmly into the department and treated me with such consummate grace and patience throughout the last year and a half.  I will undoubtedly regard my time in the Department of Dance as one of the highlights of my academic career. 

GO BUCKS!!!

Andrew C. Shelton
Interim Chair, Professor of History of Art