ITHACA, N.Y. -- Ross Brann, the Milton R. Konvitz Professor of Judeo-Islamic Studies and chair of the Department of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University, has been named house professor and dean of the Alice H. Cook House for upper-level students on West Campus, Cornell President Hunter Rawlings announced today.

Alice Cook House is the first house being built as part of the West Campus House System for sophomores, juniors and seniors. The groundbreaking and naming for the late Alice H. Cook, a noted professor in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations and Cornell's first ombudsman took place at a ceremony April 28.

The $200 million West Campus Residential Initiative calls for the construction, over the next six years, of five residential houses, with 350 upper-level students living in each house under faculty leadership and each house with its own dining hall, common rooms and library.

"This is an historic appointment," Rawlings said. "The committees that have worked on planning the house system envisioned this position held by, as they put it, a 'distinguished senior faculty member,' and Ross Brann certainly embodies that description. The committee could not have made a better choice.

"The goal of the new house system for upper-level students is to create an environment that more closely links the residential life of students to the academic mission of the university. Faculty leadership is at the core of this transformation, and the role of the house professor and dean is pivotal," Rawlings said

Isaac Kramnick, vice provost for undergraduate education, explained that the house professor is the dean and leader of the house community, responsible for providing intellectual and social direction for the house. Brann will live in the house with his family and work closely with the assistant dean and the House Council, the student-run house governance structure, to maintain the welfare of the house community and its individual members, Kramnick said. "Ross is the perfect professor to head the first house," Kramnick said. "He has been involved with planning the house system for the past five years and will provide abundant energy and enthusiasm as he presides over the social, cultural and intellectual life of Alice Cook House."

Brann said he applied for the position because his own undergraduate experience, "including the mentoring by faculty I enjoyed, was so powerful and foundational for me intellectually, socially and politically that I simply never left a campus. I continue to be stimulated by research, writing and discussions with colleagues. Yet I have always found intellectual engagement with students deeply enriching. Indeed, I think of our work with students as the most significant thing we as faculty do at Cornell.

"I am truly excited by this appointment," Brann added. "I relish the opportunity to lead in building the first West Campus house community of students, staff and faculty because this venture represents the most significant re-casting of the undergraduate experience in the history of Cornell. The success of this ambitious program will certainly transform the experience of those who live in and work at the first house, and subsequent houses. Over the long haul the house system has the potential to influence positively and broadly the very nature and quality of faculty and student interaction across the seven undergraduate colleges. These are goals to which I have tried to devote myself during my 17 years at Cornell."

Brann, who joined the Cornell faculty in 1986 after teaching at New York University, is the author and editor of five books and the recipient of a John S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and three National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships. He was awarded the Stephen and Margery Russell Distinguished Teaching Award in the College of Arts and Sciences in 1996 and an Outstanding Educator recognition from in 1997.

He was recommended to Rawlings for the house leadership position by a committee of students, faculty and staff led by co-chairs Kramnick and Edna Dugan, assistant vice president of student and academic services. Committee members included seniors Kate Forester and Joshua Roth; graduate student Dan Grossman; faculty members Jennifer Gerner, professor of policy analysis and management and associate dean of human ecology, Lee C. Lee, professor emeritus of human development, and Nick Salvatore, professor of American Studies; and Ray Dalton, executive director, Office of Minority Educational Affairs, and Leslie Sadler, assistant director for faculty and special programs, Campus Life community development.

Applications were solicited from all tenured members of the Cornell faculty "who have demonstrated their distinction in teaching and research and a commitment to faculty-student interaction beyond the traditional classroom." Five faculty members applied for the position.

"We were very pleased with both the outcome and the process of the search for the house professor and dean of Alice Cook House," Dugan said. "We appreciated the efforts, energy and thoughtfulness of the search committee members."