MACON — Following a national search, Mercer University Provost Dr. D. Scott Davis today announced that Dr. John Thomas (Tom) Scott, professor and chair of the History Department in Mercer University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), has been appointed dean of the University’s oldest academic unit.
Dr. Scott has served as interim dean of CLAS since last August, when then-Dean Dr. Anita Olson Gustafson assumed the presidency of Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina.
“I am pleased to remove the interim tag off Dr. Scott’s title. In his short time as dean, he has proven to be an extremely effective leader for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences,” Dr. Davis said. “Tom is absolutely committed to working with a dedicated faculty to enhance the opportunities for our students who matriculate in CLAS, the academic cornerstone of the University.”
Dr. Scott, who formerly served as University Marshal, joined Mercer’s faculty in 1991 and has also directed the Honors Program. His academic specialty is early American and U.S. religious and intellectual history.
“I am humbled and blessed to take on this role on a more permanent basis,” Dr. Scott said. “I have discovered this year just how skilled, dedicated, creative and energetic the CLAS faculty truly is. I am honored to continue to serve them and Mercer students in this role. I thank the provost and the president for their confidence in me.”
Dr. Scott earned his undergraduate degree in history from Vanderbilt University and holds an M.A. in history from the University of Georgia and a Ph.D. in history from The College of William and Mary. He studied also at the University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom. Dr. Scott is the author of numerous academic journal articles and a book on the 1730s Wesley Mission to Georgia, published by Lehigh Press. He is co-editor, with Dr. Achim Kopp of CLAS, of a collection of journals of Moravians who came to Georgia in the 1730s, also from Lehigh Press.
