Dr. John Sheridan to Take on New Leadership Role at the College of Arts and Sciences

Associate Professor John Sheridan, of Rutgers University–Newark’s Department of Chemistry, has been named Senior Associate Dean of FASN.

Sheridan will replace Associate Professor Sherri-Ann Butterfield, who is slated to become RU-N’s next Executive Vice Chancellor. He assumes his new post on July 1, bringing to the job 30 years of experience in various capacities at RU–N, including sitting on or chairing numerous campus-wide curriculum-development committees, teaching, research and advising.

In 2005–2006, Sheridan was Chair of the FASN Committee on Assessment of Undergraduate Programs, which produced a set of recommendations that became known as the Sheridan Report. That document proposed the development of a new undergraduate curriculum; a set of specific learning outcome goals and assessments; and the creation of new majors. Those recommendations have had a far-reaching impact on undergraduate education at RU-N, paving the way for significant revisions in the General Education requirements.

For more than a decade, Sheridan also served on the Courses of Study Committee and worked to implement the campus-wide Writing Across the Curriculum requirement.

From 2000 to 2011, he served as the Chemistry department’s undergraduate coordinator and advisor, and has served as Chair of the department from 2011 to the present.

Over the years, Sheridan has been equally passionate about teaching and research.

He has taught General Chemistry I/II classes for undergraduates; upper-level Inorganic Chemistry courses; and the Inorganic Chemistry laboratory, the capstone course for chemistry majors in their final semester, which he has helped develop since its introduction in the early 1990s. In addition, he has taught Inorganic and Organometallic Chemistry graduate courses and has mentored Ph.D students.

In 2010 and 2012, Sheridan was principal investigator on two National Science Foundation grants totaling $430,000 and $354,000 respectively.

Originally from Sheffield in the UK, Sheridan received his B.Sc. (1982) and Ph.D. (1985) in Chemistry from the University of Bristol. Following postdoctoral studies at Penn State University, he joined the Department of Chemistry as an Assistant Professor in 1987 and was promoted to Associate Professor six years later. His research interests are in inorganic and organometallic chemistry and inorganic polymer chemistry.

“I relish this opportunity to make a positive contribution to FASN at this exciting time, with the opening of Newark Express and the completion of the Life Sciences II building on the horizon,” says Sheridan. “I look forward to working on behalf of RU-N on this larger stage and providing a science perspective in the Dean’s office, while at the same time contributing to our overall mission.”

FASN Dean Jan Ellen Lewis was equally excited about Sheridan’s appointment.

“Along with a longstanding commitment to undergraduate education, extraordinary management skills, demonstrated success in increasing the diversity of the faculty, an excellent sense of humor, uncommon personal decency, and a deep appreciation for classical music, John will also bring to the Dean’s Office some excellent ideas about how to advance our research mission, particularly in the sciences,” says Lewis. “I’m thrilled to welcome him to our team.”