Dean's Message

Welcome to the Emeritus College of  Arizona State. 

I am both honored and delighted to welcome you in this, the Twentieth Anniversary year of the College.  I thank my immediate predecessor, Dr. Mark Lussier, for his outstanding leadership of the College during his tenure, and I thank the many deans who preceded Mark for their work in making ASU’s Emeritus College one of the most successful and innovative in the country. 

The Emeritus College adds value to Arizona State University as a place of opportunity for emeritus faculty. It was established in 2004, “to give a home and focus to continued intellectual, creative and social engagement of retired faculty with the University.” To this end, the Emeritus College looks both inward and outward. It looks inward to the Emeritus faculty themselves. It does so by supporting scholarly research and creative activity through the College’s Research and Creativity Grants Program, by offering Creative Writing Workshops to College members, and by fostering collegial interaction among the faculty through the Emeritus College Symposium, where emeritus faculty deliver papers, give presentations and display their artwork. This November 2024 we will host the 15th Annual Emeritus College Symposium. The College also fosters continued intellectual, creative and social engagement by its members through the publication of their articles and artwork in Emeritus Voices, the Journal of the Emeritus College -- In fact, no other university’s emeritus college publishes a similar literary-art magazine of such depth and creativity – and with the publication of The Emeritus Press, the Emeritus College’s newsletter of events and information about the College.   

The Emeritus College also looks outward. Emeritus faculty continue to contribute to the university and our community. The Guide to Emeritus College Lectures and Courses lists the lectures and courses that Emeritus College members offer to ASU and the Phoenix metropolitan area through The Academy of Continued Learning. College members can participate in public education programs for primary and secondary schools in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, and the College sponsors a Colloquia series of lectures by eminent scholars that are open to the public.    

Also, on display to the public since 2006 is The Emeritus Art Collection, at the ASU Downtown Phoenix Campus at the Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions, on the 4th through 9th floors of the University Center building, and in the Nursing North and South buildings. This art illuminates these buildings as centers of culture, creativity, and innovation.  The year-round exhibition consists of over 280 works of art created by ASU emeritus faculty who are members of the Emeritus College, and  include acrylics, pastels, etchings, ink washes, oils, woodcuts, watercolors, fiber art, and mixed media.  

These are only some of the ways the Emeritus College does good will, by serving its members and adding value to the university.  As a place of opportunity, the Emeritus College enables emeritus faculty to learn from one another, continue to grow intellectually and creatively, remain engaged with the university, and help our larger community. Please join us in these endeavors!   

Myles V. Lynk, Law
Dean, Emeritus College