EIU Media Relations

Irwin Named New Dean of EIU's Honors College

Bonnie Irwin will begin her 11th year at Eastern Illinois University as the new dean of the institution's Honors College.

She assumes her new role July 1, replacing the retiring dean, Herbert Lasky.

Lasky, who is credited for establishing Eastern's honors programs in 1982, expanded the program from 52 students to the nearly 700 enrolled today. He is retiring following 38 years of service to the university.

"I believe that Dr. Irwin will bring exceptional leadership to our honors activities and look forward to working with her to move our already superb honors programs to an even higher level," said Blair Lord, provost and vice president for academic affairs.

"No one will ever replace Dean Lasky, who has become an institution here at Eastern, but I know Dr. Irwin will bring her own ideas and creativity to the task."

As dean, Irwin will serve as the executive officer for the internal and external affairs of the Honors College with overall leadership responsibility for undergraduate honors student recruitment, retention and support, as well as honors curricula and their coordination with Eastern's academic deans and department chairpersons.

"I am honored to have been chosen to be the next dean of the Honors College at Eastern, and look forward to building on the tradition of excellence that has been the hallmark of the Honors College under the leadership of Dr. Lasky," Irwin said.

"I am excited by the new challenges that await me, and I am delighted to be able to serve the university and our students in a new capacity."

Irwin first came to Eastern in 1994 as a faculty member in the university's Department of English. In addition to her regular teaching duties, she served as the department's acting chair during the summers of 2001 and 2002, and was named Eastern's Professor Laureate for the 1998-1999 school year.

She received the university's Distinguished Honors Faculty Award in 1998; the EIU Achievement and Contribution Award, Service Category, in 2003 and 1999; and the EIU Achievement and Contribution Award, Balanced Category, in 2001 and 1997.

Irwin received her bachelor's and master's degrees, as well as her doctorate, in comparative literature from the University of California, Berkeley.

Her husband, Ned Huston, is a science fiction writer and instructor in Eastern's Department of English. She is the daughter of Robert and Martha Irwin of Moss Beach, Calif.