Plymouth State University getting new president

BOZEMAN, Mont. --The dean of Montana State University's College of Letters and Science has accepted a job in New Hampshire.

Sara Jayne Steen was named president of Plymouth State University; she starts work July 1.

"We're delighted for Sara Jayne Steen," MSU president Geoff Gamble said. "Her outstanding leadership ability has shown clearly in her work at Montana State University, and we expect as she moves into the president's role she will continue to demonstrate the excellent leadership that we have seen from her here."

Steen began teaching in MSU's English department in 1978 and became department head in 1996. In 2002, the American Council on Education selected her for a yearlong, in-residence fellowship to study higher education administration at the University of Delaware. She became dean of MSU's largest college, Letters and Science, in 2003.

Steen is a scholar of Renaissance literature and has published a number of books, papers and journal articles.

University president Donald Wharton retires at the end of this school year.