David Dzurec, Ph.D., Named Associate Dean for CAS

David Dzurec, Ph.D., was appointed associate dean for The University of Scranton’s College of Arts and Sciences, effective January 1, 2022.

Dr. Dzurec joined the faculty of the University’s History Department in 2008. During his time at Scranton, he has served as interim associate dean for the College of Arts and Sciences, interim executive director of the Slattery Center for the Ignatian Humanities, and was chair of the History Department from 2015 to 2021. He also served as vice president of the Faculty Senate, co-chair of the Faculty Senate Curriculum Committee, chair of the Conference Committee on Curriculum, faculty advisor, and held several leadership positions within the Faculty Affairs Council Executive Committee, including chair. He served as the University’s faculty athletics representative to the NCAA and as the faculty mentor for the University’s cross-country and track teams. In 2018, he received The University of Scranton Provost’s Award for Service and Leadership. 

In the announcement of his appointment as associate dean, Jeff Gingerich, Ph.D., provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at the University, wrote that Dr. Dzurec brings “experience to the role, as well as his extensive Committee work, scholarship, and teaching.” He also noted “Dr. Dzurec has been a strong advocate for our Jesuit and Catholic identity, serving on the Jesuit Center Advisory Board” and that Dr. Dzurec “designed the First-year Faculty Seminar which he now co-facilitates with the Jesuit Center. This program, which focuses on Jesuit educational principles, emphasizes our Catholic and Jesuit mission and its flourishing within our community, both intellectually and personally.” 

Dr. Dzurec’s research and teaching interests focus on the early United States, American Foreign Relations, and the history of the Jesuits in the United States. His publications include a book, “Our Suffering Brethren: Foreign Captivity and Nationalism in the Early United States,” and numerous articles in scholarly publications that include The Historian, War in History, The Journal of New York History, Catholic Historical Review, and The Journal of the Early Republic. In 2015, he served as a Fulbright Core Scholar, teaching American history and politics at Trnava University in Slovakia. 

Dr. Dzurec earned his bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University, his master’s degree from the University of Connecticut and his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University.