May 14, 2015

SIU Board of Trustees approves appointments

by Tom Woolf

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Personnel matters dominated today’s (May 14) meeting of the Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees.

During their regular session, the trustees approved the following SIU Carbondale appointments:

  • James T. “Tommy” Bell as the university’s 13th director of intercollegiate athletics, effective June 1. He will replace Mario Moccia, who left SIU Carbondale to take the top athletics position at New Mexico State University. Bell, who had been athletics director at Western Illinois University since 2013, was associate director of institutional advancement for Saluki athletics from 2001 to 2007.
  • Meera Komarraju, currently professor and chair of the Department of Psychology, as dean of the College of Liberal Arts, effective July 1. Komarraju has been a member of the faculty for nearly 20 years, and has served as associate dean of student and curricular affairs in the college and as undergraduate psychology program director. She previously served as president of the Faculty Senate, and currently co-chairs the chancellor’s search committee.

The board approved the following appointments at SIU Edwardsville:

  • Jeff Waple as vice chancellor for student affairs, effective July 1. Waple has more than 20 years of experience in student affairs and currently serves as assistant vice president for student engagement and dean of students at Northern Kentucky University. Previous positions have included director of campus life and Gemmell Student Complex at Clarion University in Pennsylvania, and associate director of residence life for dining services and associate director of residence life for Greek affairs, both at Bowling Green State University.
  • John Navin as dean of the School of Business, effective July 1. Navin, a professor in the Department of Economics and Finance, has served as interim dean since June 2013. He has been a member of the SIUE faculty since 1991.
  • Curt Lox as dean of the School of Education, Health and Human Behavior, effective July 1. Lox, who has served as interim dean since May 2014, joined the faculty in 1996. He served as associate dean from 2003 to 2009 and as chairperson in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education from 2009 to 2014.