UI names new Obermann Center director

IOWA CITY -- Teresa Mangum, associate professor of English in the University of Iowa College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has been named the new director of the UI Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, effective July 1. Mangum succeeds Jay Semel, who retired this month after directing the center for nearly 30 years.

The Obermann Center is one of several units moving from Oakdale Hall, which is to be razed over the next fiscal year. Beginning in September 2010, the center's temporary home will be a house at 111 Church St.

Named in honor of UI professor emeritus C. Esco Obermann and his wife, Avalon, the center provides an environment and resources for reflection, writing and the exchange of ideas. Scholars from a variety of disciplines and institutions form research communities at the center, where they work individually and together on projects, seek feedback and engage in intellectual exchanges.

Mangum served a one-year term as associate director of the center, founded and co-directed the Obermann Graduate Institute on Engagement and the Academy, organized a summer seminar on age studies, co-directed a Cmiel Research Semester on human-animal relations, and hosted the Obermann humanities symposium, “Platforms for Public Scholars.”