Dr. Audra Merfeld-Langston, associate professor of French at Missouri University of Science and Technology, has been named interim chair of the department of arts, languages, and philosophy. She will serve as interim chair starting Jan. 1, 2016, and a search will take place during the 2016-17 school year for a permanent department chair.

Merfeld-Langston takes over for Dr. Lance Haynes, who has served as chair of the department since 2010. Haynes will step down as chair on Jan. 1, 2016, but will remain on campus in a teaching and research capacity and will continue to coordinate Missouri S&T’s multidisciplinary studies program.

“Dr. Merfeld-Langston will lead the department as it continues to recruit talented faculty and students and grow its academic programs,” says Dr. Stephen Roberts, vice provost and dean of the College of Arts, Sciences, and Business at Missouri S&T, “I thank Dr. Merfeld-Langston for her willingness to take on such important tasks during this time of transition.”

A member of the faculty since 2007, Merfeld-Langston earned a Ph.D. in French and francophone studies from Pennsylvania State University that same year. Before joining the Missouri S&T faculty, Merfeld-Langston served as coordinator of the French Summer Intensive Language Institute at Penn State.

“I would also like to recognize and thank Dr. Haynes for his many years of service as chair of the arts, languages, and philosophy department,” says Roberts. “I wish him well in his continued role at the university.”

Haynes joined the Missouri S&T faculty as an assistant professor in 1984. He was named associate professor in 1990 and professor in 1998. Prior to coming to Missouri S&T, Haynes served as a visiting professor at Saint Olaf College, and an instructor and teaching associate at the University of Minnesota. He also served as an independent communication consultant.

“I’ve enjoyed serving as chair but I’m looking forward to reinventing myself as a professor once again,” Haynes says.