The University of Massachusetts is a virtual hotbed for outstanding professors and administrators. Once again this has been proven by the election of Dean Lee R. Edwards as president of the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences, CCAS. Edwards has been the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at UMass for 11 years.

CCAS is a national, non-profit association of baccalaureate, degree-granting colleges of arts and sciences. It was formed in 1965 as an outgrowth of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. According to a released statement, the purpose of CCAS is to sustain the arts and sciences as a leading influence in American higher education. It serves as a forum for the exchange of ideas and information among deans, and plays a role at the national policy-making level.

“The knowledge and methodology offered by an arts and sciences curriculum serves as a bridge between contemplation and action for students, certainly, but also, more generally, for citizens of a functioning democracy,” Edwards said in regards to her new opportunity to help lead the nation’s higher education institutions through the challenges and prospects faced by the arts and sciences within the political and educational spheres.

Edwards served as president-elect of CCAS since May. She was responsible for organizing the association’s 2001 annual meeting. She will present the keynote speech at the 2002 meeting. She will serve for one year at the post.