After 23 years as the Director of the Collegium V Honors Program and seven years as dean of the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College, Edward Harpham will be stepping down from his administrative post, effective January 1.

Harpham, a political science professor, will be taking a year-long sabbatical, after which he intends to return to the University in a faculty position. Douglas Dow, current associate dean of the Honors College, will assume the position of Interim Dean of the Honors College while the University conducts a national search for a permanent replacement.

“I’m excited to be turning things over to [Dow]; it couldn’t go to a better person,” Harpham said. “This is a personal decision, for family reasons, but I’m very excited because we’ve got to keep building this program, and it’s good for a new generation to take over that project. The Honors College was created to promote excellence across the board at the University. We’ve got a good base to build from, and I hope it continues to grow. And Dow is a great person to be leading that. There’s a lot of changes coming, and I think they’re pretty exciting.”