The former director of an Institute of Technology’s program has become the first assistant dean of the Graduate School this fall.
Samuel Moore will take on the tasks of the school’s former director of equal opportunities but with a new emphasis on undergraduate outreach.
Moore, the former assistant to the dean of the Institute of Technology, was appointed to the position in August and said he is pleased with the change.
“(It’s) a good opportunity,” Moore said. “It will give me a broader reach to work across departments.”
As program director of the Academic Program for Excellence in Engineering, Moore coordinated efforts to provide academic support to black, Chicano-Latino and Native American engineering students.
Christine Maziar, vice president of research and dean of the Graduate School, appointed Moore to the new position partially because of his expertise in minority recruitment.
“Sam is uniquely well suited for this position,” Maziar said. “He led a program in the Institute of Technology that was focused on maintaining a diverse community. He ran it with aplomb.”
Originally from Rockford, Ill., Moore attended the University of Illinois to study industrial design. He earned his master’s in education and his doctorate in communications from the University of Texas-Austin.
Moore said he hopes to strengthen campus diversity by targeting underrepresented areas in University Graduate School recruitment.
“Graduate education is a means for people to raise their economic standard,” Moore said. “But for some groups, there is a disproportionate number of people who don’t have that opportunity.”
He said many people confuse affirmative action policies with racial quotas. Moore supports providing all students with equal access to the University without offering certain minority groups advantages.
“(It’s) good for the whole University when (students) are exposed to people of different backgrounds,” Moore added.
Encouraging more undergraduates to undertake research opportunities is another one of Moore’s duties.
“It’s a great preparation for all students, no matter what they are going into,” Moore said. “We want to increase the number of students that have that opportunity.”
Peter Hudleston, associate dean of student affairs in the Institute of Technology, praised Moore.
“He was particularly effective in identifying new faculty people of color,” Hudleston said. “He did a good job for us.”
Moore said he will miss what he calls the Institute of Technology’s “big secret.”
“All the faculty teach,” he said. “People probably think that all the IT faculty have all these graduate students doing all the teaching for them, but even the dean (teaches).”

Bryan Keogh covers professional schools and welcomes comments at [email protected] and at (612) 627-4070 x3232.