Iowa State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has announced the appointment of Michael Bailey, professor of history, as interim chair of the Department of World Languages and Cultures (WLC).
Bailey began his two-year interim appointment on July 1, 2022.
“Michael brings strong administrative experience to his new leadership role, as a former director of the Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities and former interim chair of the Department of History,” said Beate Schmittmann, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “World Languages and Cultures is a thriving humanities department in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The department makes a critical contribution to the career success of all students at Iowa State, by helping them gain international experiences and cultural competencies that will serve them well in their future workplaces. As an excellent scholar and experienced administrator, Michael is the right person to sustain and strengthen the key role that the Department of World Languages and Cultures plays on our campus.”
Iowa State’s Department of World Languages and Cultures educates students across the university, offering language studies in American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish. Its cultural education includes American Indian studies, anthropology, classical studies, international studies, Middle Eastern studies, U.S. Latino/a studies and world film studies.
In addition, the department’s Languages and Cultures for Professions (LCP) program equips students in agriculture, business and engineering programs with cultural competency and language skills for successful global careers.
“World Languages and Cultures is a very strong and very interdisciplinary department — a department of departments, really,” Bailey said. “I look forward to continuing to build that cross-disciplinary collaboration within World Languages and Cultures itself and also between WLC and other departments across campus.”
An internationally recognized scholar of medieval and early modern European history, Bailey is the author of five books, has edited five books and has published numerous journal articles and essays. An outstanding educator, scholar and leader, his work at Iowa State has been recognized with multiple college and university awards, including the LAS Outstanding Achievement in Teaching Award, 2011; the LAS Excellence in Undergraduate Introductory Teaching Award, 2015; and the ISU Regents Award for Faculty Excellence, 2021.
In addition to his past leadership roles as interim chair of the Department of History and interim director for the Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities, Bailey has served as director of the history graduate education program multiple times.
He has held Fulbright, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and Humboldt fellowships abroad, as well as a Mellon Fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania and Solmsen Fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Bailey joined the Iowa State faculty in 2003. He earned his Ph.D. in history from Northwestern University.