Shirley Dowdy, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has announced that she will retire on June 30, 2001.

“I put my all into being dean, putting everything else on hold for seven years,” Dowdy said. “I have two grandchildren and it’s time to be with them.”

After retirement, Dowdy plans to become more active in her parish, St. Francis Xavier College Church. Also, she will catch up on activities from the past such as drawing, gardening and singing in a chorus. Dowdy said she is an avid reader and may even enroll in some courses.

Dowdy said she has worked intensely on the time-consuming deanship.

The College of Arts and Sciences includes the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. It is the largest of Saint Louis University’s colleges, instructing 41 percent of the student credit hours at SLU.

“It’s time to retire,” said the 66-year-old. “There is a season for everything and it’s simply my time.”

Dowdy earned a doctorate in Mathematics from Notre Dame University.

Prior to joining the SLU family in 1994, she was an associate dean for six years at West Virginia University.

Upon leaving SLU, Dowdy says she will miss the people the most.

She has interacted with students through the several statistics classes she has taught. She also had a Student Advisory Department which included 15 student representatives from major departments which she meet with about three times a year.

Membership on various university committees allowed her to work with such students as Student Government Association President Jay Perry.

Provost Sandra Johnson said, “Dowdy was a very effective dean.” She worked with the Office of Development to raise funds for the college and provided leadership to the University community as a whole.

She built the faculty and was a good manager of the college’s resources, Johnson said. She was involved with SLU2000 by adding new faculty, which provides some interesting courses, Johnson said.

Dowdy announced her retirement one year in advance to allow for a smooth transition. “It’s a long process to find a dean,” Dowdy said. “It takes about a year to complete a search for this position.”

The search for a new dean will begin with the appointment of a search committee.

Dr. Patricia Hagan, associate dean in the Graduate School, is the chair for the appointment of the committee.

According to Johnson, the committee should be formed by early September.