The new dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, William “Bill” Tolman, will be stepping into a familiar environment when he joins St. Thomas on July 1.

Tolman, whose hiring was announced Thursday, is a veteran of the Minnesota winters; before joining Washington University in St. Louis as the vice dean of research and entrepreneurship, he worked at the University of Minnesota for 27 years as a professor, and, from 2009-2017, the chair of the Chemistry department.

Now, as he heads back to the Twin Cities, Tolman will look to bring more experiential learning to St. Thomas and illuminate the common good through connecting with faculty, staff and students.

“It’s not unusual for universities to have (the common good) as a core value,” Tolman said in an interview with TommieMedia. “But what really drew me was how explicitly it is put forth by the University of St. Thomas, and how it’s built into, sort of baked into, everything that is done, how decision decisions are made.”

Tolman will replace Mark Stansbury-O’Donnell as dean of the university’s largest college. Stansbury-O’Donnell was made interim dean in 2020 after Yohuru Williams stepped down to become the Founding Director of the Racial Justice Initiative. In an announcement to the university, VP and Provost Eddy Rojas said Stansbury-O’Donnell shaped the program well for the future of the university as it relates to the 2025 Strategic Plan.

“His steady leadership helped to carry the college forward during a very challenging time in our university’s history,” Rojas wrote.

Tolman said the university’s push toward interdisciplinary learning as well as upcoming projects outlined in the 2025 strategic plan were compelling for him.

“Another aspect of it that was really attractive to me was the emphasis on interdisciplinary, scholarly work, research, creative practice,” Tolman said. “The new STEAM complex is an incredibly exciting opportunity to build new programs, to bring people from across arts and sciences together to solve the greatest problems that humanity faces.”

While the Ohio native knows the Twin Cities, he is excited to be on St. Thomas’ campus to get to know the faculty, staff and students on a more personal level.

“The first thing I’m going to do when I get to St. Thomas is spend a bunch of time getting to know the community,” Tolman said. “Getting to know the faculty, staff and students, and really listening to the community to understand what it is that people want, what it is that they like, what it is that they feel strongly about, and I think through that listening process that will help me understand better.”

While Tolman has primarily focused on research, he is looking forward to adding his style into St. Thomas’ culture as a teaching institution. Additionally, Tolman hopes to elevate St. Thomas’ reputation outside the classroom.

“One of the things that really strikes me is that St. Thomas is really interested in becoming a major player on the national stage,” Tolman said. “I think being a part of that is really exciting and really presents an opportunity to drive the university to greatness moving forward.”

Tolman, who has been living “in the dormitories essentially” as a way to connect to students at Washington University, is not only excited to get back to his Twin Cities bike routine, but also to be in a place he calls home.

“We just love the Twin Cities. We spent 27, 28 years there and we have a lot of friends and it’s a great community,” Tolman said. “The culture is wonderful. We love the theater scene, we love the arts. It’s just a wonderful place and we’re just really thrilled to have this opportunity to come back. For us it’s home.”

Tolman said he hopes he will be seen as an empathetic leader who helps solve problems across multiple disciplines at the university.

“If people look back at my time as Dean and say, ‘during that period, the university implemented a lot of new initiatives and… that faculty and staff felt valued and empowered,’ I would be very happy,” Tolman said.

Scout Mason can be reached at maso7275@stthomas.edu.
Angeline Terry contributed to this report.