Associate Dean and IEP director Sheila Dwight named interim dean at UC Riverside Extension
 Riverside, Calif. – Associate Dean and International Education Programs (IEP) Director Sheila Dwight has been named the interim dean of UC Riverside Extension and Summer
Sessions until a new dean is selected. Dwight will be responsible for the daily operations at UC Riverside Extension. She will begin Nov. 1.
“I had planned to retire in December, but when I was asked to step up as interim dean, I put off my retirement for a while and said ‘yes’,” Dwight said. “I am committed to the
lifelong mission of Extension, which serves as a bridge to the local and global community.”
Jack Azzaretto, the former Extension dean and vice chancellor of Public Service and
International Programs, accepted a new position as dean at University of West Florida.
“As interim dean, Dr. Sheila Dwight’s many years of dedicated UCR service mean that she knows and understands the campus and will be able to move Extension’s mission forward,” Azzaretto said.
Dwight was named Distinguished Volunteer this year by Sister Cities International and received the International Futures Award for Exceptional and Innovative Leadership in 2002 from the University Continuing Education Association.
She has worked at Extension for 34 years since she was hired as the writer in 1972. She earned her B.A. and M.A. in English at Whittier College and her Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Riverside. Dwight specialized in 17th Century literature and the work of English poet John Milton. “I so loved Extension, however, I have never looked for a position in my own field,” Dwight said.
Dwight’s responsibilities continued to expand and in 1975, she was asked to put together an English training program for a group of 25 Saudi Arabian students from King Faisal Medical University. That initial program was the beginnings of IEP. Today IEP is the largest English as a Second Language Program in the UC system. Through Dwight’s vision and leadership, IEP opened the Gangnam-UCR International Education Center in the district city of Gangnam-gu in Seoul, South Korea, and the UC Riverside Beijing International Education Center in China.
Dwight is a resident of Gavilan Hills in Riverside County and has lived there since 1965.
UC Riverside Extension is the continuing education division of the University of California, Riverside. Extension offers more than 1,800 courses and 79 certificate programs. To register for classes, call (951) 827-4105. To receive a free UC Riverside Extension catalog, call (951) 827-3806.
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