Colorado State University Names Heather Hardy Dean of the College of Liberal Arts

Colorado State University officials announced today that Heather K. Hardy, professor and chair of the Department of English at Northern Illinois University, has been named the new dean of the College of Liberal Arts.

"Following a national search, we are pleased to announce that Dr. Hardy has accepted the offer to become the next dean of the College of Liberal Arts," said Peter Nicholls, provost and academic vice president at Colorado State. "She brings a strong record of teaching and scholarly excellence and the promise of providing exceptional leadership for the college and the university."

Hardy will assume her new post on July 1. She will replace Robert Hoffert, who is entering transitional retirement after more than 25 years of service to Colorado State.

"I am most pleased to have been invited to join the Colorado State University community as dean of the College of Liberal Arts," Hardy said. "The college has an excellent reputation, and I am very much looking forward to working with the faculty and staff to advance the missions of the college and university."

Hardy has proven experience in budget and resource management, personnel, faculty development, outreach and developing interdisciplinary and international programs. "We are confident that Dr. Hardy’s talents and experiences will be invaluable as she works with faculty to further the mission of the College of Liberal Arts," Nicholls said.

Hardy began at NIU in 1993 as an associate professor in the Department of English and Women’s Studies Program. In 1995, she was promoted to professor and became director of undergraduate studies in English. She took over as chair of the department in 1998.

Prior to NIU, Hardy served as an associate professor of linguistics at the University of North Texas and as visiting assistant professor of linguistics at Rice University, the University of Texas at Arlington and Texas A&M. Throughout her career in higher education, Hardy has consistently been a leader for many department, college and university-level committees, councils and other administrative programs. Her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities and several other organizations.

Hardy earned a doctorate in linguistics from the University of California-Los Angeles in 1979 and a bachelor’s degree in both linguistics and English from Rice University in 1974. She is the principal compiler of the award-winning book, "Dictionary of the Alabama Language," which was prepared in collaboration with Cora Sylestine, native speaker of Alabama. She also is principal editor of the co-edited book, "The Native Languages of the Southeastern United States," currently in press. Hardy has two additional books in preparation.

Hardy has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed journal articles in the areas of linguistics, Native American languages, syntax and semantics, English literature and a variety of related topics. She has additionally presented over 40 papers on aspects of the grammars of the Native American languages Alabama and Tolkapaya Yavapai at conferences including the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association, the Linguistic Society of America, Mid-America Linguistics Conference, Linguistic Association of the Southwest and others across the United States.