Roanoke College names new assistant vice president for curriculum and advising

Leslie Warden, who has taught art history and archaeology at Roanoke College since 2012, has been selected as the College’s assistant vice president for curriculum and advising. She will start her new role on July 1, 2023.

In the position, which is new to both Warden and the College, Warden will work collaboratively across campus to shepherd improvements in curriculum, advising and assessment. She will direct the Inquiry (INQ) curriculum and coordinate with the Teaching Collaborative and others to offer pedagogical development opportunities in INQ. In addition, Warden will supervise directors and coordinators of academic advising, honors, experiential learning, global engagement, health careers advising and scholarships/fellowships.

She will also serve on the Curriculum, General Education and Academic Assessment committees; help to coordinate new faculty orientation; assist with Convocation, Commencement and other academic events; and support student success, retention and other institutional goals, among other responsibilities.

“Leslie is an interdisciplinary teacher and scholar who has accumulated considerable administrative experience as a result of directing a multi-year archaeology project in Egypt, in addition to her multifaceted departmental and governance work on campus,” said Kathy Wolfe, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the College. “Her skills as a convener and collaborative problem-solver were especially evident this past year in her participation on both the Faculty Personnel Committee and the Restructuring Task Force. We are thrilled to welcome Leslie to the Academic Affairs team.”

Warden, the Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo Associate Professor of Art History at Roanoke, has served since 2016 as director of the Kom el-Hisn Provincialism Project, an archaeological excavation in Baheira, Egypt. Since 2007, she has also been head ceramicist for the North Kharga Oasis Survey in Egypt’s Western Desert. In addition, Warden continues to serve as Egyptology area editor for Culture and History of the Ancient Near East, a series from Brill Academic Publishers.

Warden holds a BA in anthropology from the University of California, Davis, and an MA and Ph.D. in near Eastern languages and civilizations from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the Roanoke College faculty, she taught history at West Virginia University Institute of Technology.

“I have always been impressed by the breadth of talent and dedication of Roanoke's faculty across divisions,” Warden said. “I am excited at the opportunity to support faculty, nurture collaboration, and expand interdisciplinary teaching and learning.”