Honora Chapman, former interim dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, has been appointed as dean of the college starting May 2021.

Chapman’s appointment was announced by Fresno State Wednesday in a news release. She was first appointed as the associate dean of the College of Arts and Humanities in January 2016. In July 2019, she began serving as the interim dean.

Chapman’s tenure at Fresno State started in 2002 as an assistant professor of classics and humanities in the College of Arts and Humanities. She later worked as the coordinator of classics for the department of modern and classical languages and literatures.

Chapman previously served as the director of the Smittcamp Family Honors College from 2009 to 2014.

In 2013, she received the provost’s award for excellence in teaching, and Chapman inaugurated the lecture series Fresno State Talks later that year. Chapman then delivered the first Fresno State Convocation faculty address in 2014.

The College of Arts and Humanities is composed of many departments including: art and design; communication; English; linguistics; media, communications and journalism; modern and classical languages and literatures; music; philosophy; and theatre and dance. It also includes the Armenian Studies program at Fresno State.

The college is also one of the largest academic departments at Fresno State with about 150 full-time faculty members and more than 160 additional employees, the press release said.