Two academic leadership posts at Valparaiso University are being filled by a distinguished psychologist and a scholar of American literature.
Dr. David Owens, an associate professor of English who has written about American war literature, has been appointed to the position of assistant provost, while Dr. David Rowland, a professor of psychology who has directed Valpo’s graduate studies and continuing education programs during the past decade, has been promoted to the position of associate provost and dean of the Graduate School.
Dr. Owens’ areas of responsibility will focus on faculty affairs, including faculty development, academic planning, sponsored research, and matters of tenure and promotion. Dr. Rowland’s primary responsibilities will include graduate education, continuing education, joint degree programs and entrepreneurial ventures.
Both appointments will take effect July 1.
Dr. Owens has conducted extensive research on American writer Ambrose Bierce, and is author of “The Devil’s Topographer: Ambrose Bierce and the American War Story,” published in 2006. He serves on the National Advisory Board of The Ambrose Bierce Project and currently is engaged in research on Civil War fiction. Before joining Valpo’s faculty, Dr. Owens taught at the United States Military Academy and Purdue University.
Prior to pursuing an academic career, Dr. Owens served as an infantryman in the U.S. Army for 21 years. During his military career, he was second in command of a parachute infantry battalion, served as an assistant inspector general for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command and commanded an infantry company that secured the armistice village of Pan Mun Jom in Korea. In these several command posts, Dr. Owens specialized in making strategic and tactical plans operational in the field.
He earned his Ph.D. in English from Purdue University, a master’s degree in English from the University of Georgia and a bachelor’s degree in arts and sciences from the U.S. Military Academy, where he concentrated upon the natural sciences and engineering.
Dr. Rowland is an internationally-respected researcher in the area of human sexual response and dysfunction, and has written more than 120 book chapters and articles published in psychological and medical journals. He is editor of the Annual Review of Sex Research, associate editor of the Journal of Sex Research, co-edited “The Handbook for Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders” and serves on the advisory boards of several international pharmaceutical companies.
Dr. Rowland joined Valpo’s faculty in 1981 and served as chair of its Department of Psychology before assuming leadership of the University’s programs in graduate studies and continuing education in 1998. Under his leadership, Valpo has experienced substantial growth in graduate student enrollment and launched several new programs, among them Chinese studies, information technology, sports administration and business. Dr. Rowland also has cultivated graduate school partnerships with universities in China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria and other countries.
He earned his Ph.D. in biopsychology and a master’s degree in psychology from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Southern Illinois University.